(08/04/12) Seaglass Hunting on the Eastern Shore

While there is a ton of stuff for us to do at the house and more than enough errands to fill a day, George and I need some time to talk about life things and the easiest way to get that time is to get away from our house. That way, we can't run errands or do chores. It usually doesn't matter what we go and do, as long as we go, for we can always find something interesting. Today, I had asked that we go for a ride over the Bay Bridge and look for sea glass on some of the rocky beaches of the inner Eastern Shore. We found three pieces of "city" sea glass on the shores of Upper Waterton Lake while on our trip. I had searched earlier this week for some beach suggestions and had found two that I thought were promising. The first place we went was Tolchester Beach, Maryland.

Back near the turn of the last century (not the recent one), there was a resort at the Tolchester Beach location. It was located in Kent County, just north of the still prosperous town, Rock Hall. The resort was open from 1877 until 1962 and you could reach it by land and by sea; steamer ships would make the trip down from Baltimore daily. Twenty thousand tourists could swamp this place on any given day, so a lot of rubbish was generated. Glass fragments from that rubbish have been tumbling in the sea ever since and becoming pieces of sea glass. Tolchester Beach was ranked as an "excellent" beach (6-20 pieces found per hour) by one beachcomber to "poor" (0-2 pieces found per hour) by another beachcomber. All this shows is that some people are better at finding things than others and that there is glass to be found on Tolchester Beach! So, with an open mind, we headed out in the car, bound for the Bay Bridge with Sutter asleep in the backseat. We were stuck in Bay Bridge traffic for more than 80 minutes, before we even got to the tollbooths! We got to see a fellow in the car ahead of us driving while shaving his head. Wow. Hazardous driver alert!

All of the traffic made us run a lot later than I had hoped. Initially, I had timed our drive to put us at the beach 40 minutes before low tide, giving us a longer window in which to search the greatest amount of beach. We got there 40 minutes after low tide, which meant the water was slowly on its way back up/in. I don't know what I was expecting for the beach, but I was not expecting a sign reading "Private Beach" at the parking area.

 A neighborhood surrounds the beach and apparently has decided to enforce the "everyone must wear a permit tag" this year. While I understand that a community could be frustrated by the traffic and littering that public access can undeniably bring, privatizing the beach is ridiculous. Technically, individuals can own the shoreline, but not the land underneath the water. If tide goes in and out, this leaves several feet that are public land. I've actually been run off a beach before by a neighborhood watch -- Cove Point community in southern Maryland near the Calvert Cliffs Power Plant. I had parked in the neighborhood and approached on foot. They were justified in asking me to move my car and leave. However, if I had accessed their beach via kayak, they would have had no leg (or beach) to stand on, as long as I did not venture up onto their imported sand. I was only in the area to photograph the Cove Point Hollow Lighthouse, only visible from the beach. Sigh.

 So, we parked anyway and asked some locals what the deal was. We were told not to worry about it and to have a good time. Apparently, there is some dissension within the community itself about the privatization of their beach! We took a little baggie for the finds, a big baggie for litter and Sutter, on a leash. The beach was a very rocky one. Most rocks were between the size of a dime and a tennis ball. Sutty liked standing in the water, but when the very, very little waves came in, he would lean away from them. He tried to drink the water a few times and tried rolling in a dead fish carcass. We found 10 pieces in an hour. 

 After we finished at Tolchester Beach, we headed to Rock Hall, Maryland. A  very different terrain awaited us. This beach was sand and pebbles, with big jetties to break any incoming waves. There was a big "no dogs" sign, but there was a couple with their dog on the beach and a town worker in the area who did nothing about it. Sigh. Sutter was tired, so he happily slept in the air conditioned car while we made a quick sweep of the beach. Finds of clear glass here were tricky! There is a lot of quartz in this sand and even though we had a whole bag full of finds, when we got home, it had dried, and we realized some of our treasures were... rocks. I know. So after sorting the men from the boys (er, I mean the glass from the rocks), here's what we got from Rock Hall.