If you’re visiting our beautiful city this summer, make sure to set aside some time to visit the Annapolis Maritime Museum. Full of interactive exhibits and programs, home to America’s last standing oyster packing plant and boasting unrivaled views of the Annapolis Harbor and Chesapeake Bay, the Annapolis Maritime Museum is a fun and educational excursion for the whole family. The standing mission of this unique museum is an honorable one, “to connect visitors, residents and especially students, to Annapolis’ unique maritime heritage and the natural wonder of the Chesapeake Bay.”

The Annapolis Maritime Museum is broken into two sections, the 7,000 square foot McNasby Oyster Company Building and the 6000 square foot Barge House. Guests to the museum enjoy exclusive access to Chesapeake Bay with the Cap’n Herbie Sadler Waterman’s Park, TKF Meditation Garden, picnic deck with piers for fishing, or crabbing and a beach for canoeing, kayaking and more.

Guests can also explore a variety of rotating exhibits yearly, while the signature exhibit, “Oysters on the Half Shell” stands year-round. This exhibit is like no other – touch a giant oyster’s heart, view fish, crabs and more in an 850 gallon aquarium or meet a 455 million year old horse shoe crab. Meet a real-life Maryland Diamond Back Terrapin and step aboard a real waterman’s workboat to see how oyster are harvested. Many of these interactive exhibits are narrated by actual employees of the McNasby Oyster Company.

Summer is the perfect season to enjoy a day of hands-on maritime education for kids of all ages at the Annapolis Maritime Museum. Check out the website for more information.