The River Meets the Bay

It was really much too warm for a day in early April.  Marcia and I started from her house in Takoma Park and zoomed up I-95 toward Havre de Grace, Maryland.  Temperatures were climbing into the high 80s and we actually had to put the air conditioning on in the car.

We exited I-95 at route 155 and headed northwest away from Havre de Grace.  Once when I was very young, my dad took us on a Sunday ride down to the Conowingo dam. Since he worked for the Philadelphia Electric Company who owned the dam, he wanted to see it. I have very vague recollection of that drive. I thought the area around it would make a nice day trip.

As we wound our way along the rural road we turned off for a spell to check out Susquehanna State Park. There along the banks of the river we found an old grist mill. A long forgotten rail line lay in ruins in the brush along the water’s edge.  This was a remnant of the rail line that supplied the builders of the dam in the late 1920s.  High on the hill behind us was the home of a Civil War officer who resigned as a Union officer to take up arms with the Confederacy. It was a warm peaceful Spring day. Perfect!

Marsh brought her binoculars and scanned the area for any interesting sights, including the bald eagles that have been seen in the area. Though we didn’t spot any eagles,  in the middle of the Susquehanna we found plenty of cormorants crowded together on rocks like theater goers waiting in the lobby for the show to begin. 

Winding back up the small two lane road we headed toward Route 1 where we  crossed the river atop the dam. (Conowingo is a Susquehannock word for "at the rapids". )  I thought perhaps the sight of the dam would bring back a memory from that Sunday ride so long ago, but alas it was all pretty new to me. The dam itself is not terribly impressive, though at the time of its completion in 1928 it was the second largest hydroelectric project by power output in the United States, with Niagara Falls being the largest.

As we drove across the dam we got a great view of the river downstream and the lake upstream. We could not stop on the dam but we were able to pull off the road on the northeastern shore where we saw many gulls and other birds near the base of the dam scanning for the remains of fish chewed up coming through the spillway.

Traveling south on route 222 we skirted the northern bank of the river until we entered the town of Port Deposit. This very small town with the river only 200-300 yards away, has a long history. The area was first noted by Capt. John Smith in the 1600s. Port Deposit is the northernmost deep water port at the head of the Chesapeake Bay.  The Susquehanna is a shallow river that originates in western New York state. Goods from all along its route were brought to Port Deposit by rafts called Susquehanna Arks. The raw materials were then offloaded and transferred to ships bound for various ports. And that is how the town got its name. http://www.portdeposit.com/History/PastistheFuture.htm

Port Deposit is also known for its blue granite quarry. It is believed that some of the blue granite was used in the construction of Ft. McHenry.

This small quaint village of 900 people is just a fly speck along the river now. It certainly struck Marcia and I as a town that time forgot.

Continuing on down route 222 we wound our way through Perryville and across the Rte 40 bridge over the mouth of the Susquehanna where it enters the Chesapeake Bay, to the town of Havre de Grace.  Havre de Grace has history dating back to the Revolutionary war.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havre_de_Grace,_Maryland

After browsing a used bookstore (and me buying 4 more books on Ancient Rome) we sauntered up the street to an antique store and quietly looked at the various items there. Lunch outside by the river was a joy after this winter’s epic snowfalls. After lunch we searched out the local home made ice cream store only to find it would not be open for the season for another week.  We settled for chocolate at the candy emporium.  

A jaunt down to the lighthouse and a walk along the promenade with its cool bay winds was a refreshing way to wind down the day. Part of the promenade crosses a wetland area where we spotted a turtle and many ducks. Mother nature was all around us at this junction of the noble Susquehanna and the mighty Chesapeake Bay. It was a great way for two old friends to share the warm Spring weather and the  pleasure of each other’s company.