Dove to Tour the Chesapeake Bay
The Maryland Dove will sail to different ports of call around the Chesapeake Bay this summer.
After being built in partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the state-funded ship was commissioned and delivered to Historic St. Mary’s City in August 2022.
During the tour, the Dove will be open to the public for free deck tours at each of the heritage areas for one to three days at a time.
“We look forward to partnering with fellow heritage areas,” said HSMC Director of Education Peter Friesen, “to help connect the traveling exhibit with communities further away than our typical audience.”
The Dove and its dockside exhibits emphasize the waterways of the region, pre-colonial heritage, and interactions between different cultures. The ship and its exhibits are designed to elicit conversation, highlighting the depth of history represented in the area and the interactions between Native peoples and European colonists. It is a unique representative of the complicated history, representing colonization and the effects on those that called the land home.
The first stop on the tour will be Baltimore, docked in Fells Point, and will be there for three days. The hours of operation will be 10am to 4pm June 20; 10am to 5pm June 21; and 10am to 1pm June 22. Docking will be Broadway Pier at 920 South Broadway in Baltimore. Street parking and parking garages are available.
From there, the ship will sail to Havre de Grace and be open to the public 10am to 5pm June 24 and 25. Docking will be at Hutchins Memorial Park at 100 Congress Ave. in Havre de Grace.
The next stop will be Cambridge on June 30 and July 1, both days open from 10am to 5 pm. Docking will be at Long Wharf at 2 Yacht Club Drive in Cambridge.
Finally, the ship will be docked in Crisfield from September 1 to September 3 as part of their National Hard Crab Derby. You will be able to find the Dove docked at Somers Cove Marina at 715 Broadway in Crisfield. The ship will be open to the public from 10am to 5 pm all three days.
Maryland Dove sails as a steward of Historic St. Mary’s City and a representation of a cargo vessel that arrived, along with the passenger ship Ark, in 1634. When not traveling, it can be found docked in Historic St. Mary’s City.
The tour is made possible thanks to a grant from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority.
