Havre de Grace - Piers

While walking the waterfront on my visit to Havre de Grace I noticed the piers jutting out into the bay. Having lived in Newport, RI for 36 years, and having been gone from there for 4 years now, I really got homesick looking at all that wide salt water and the wooden piers. I had to get some shots. And I realized that the best format for that would be black and white. So here are three shots of piers in the Chesapeake Bay at Havre de Grace, shot in b&w and making me miss Newport. Enjoy!

© 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Havre de Grace - The Concord Point Lighthouse

The Concord Point Lighthouse anchors the northern end of the Havre de Grace Promenade. Built in 1827, it's one of the oldest lighthouses on the East Coast of the US in continuous use, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It's a beautiful sight, and sits on one of the most gorgeous waterfront sites in Havre de Grace. Here are some shots I took of the place. Enjoy!

The entrance to Concord Point

A view of the lighthouse

Another view of the lighthouse

The keeper's house

© 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

Havre de Grace - The Promenade

And interesting feature in Havre de Grace is the Promenade, a wooden boardwalk that travels a half mile along the waterfront. Along the way are a wetland bay cove, great views of the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay, and a great old stone hotel that was a prime meeting (and drinking) place during the Prohibition era. I'd walked it years ago and couldn't wait to visit again. There's a Decoy Museum (decoys being hand-carved wooden replicas made to resemble ducks and other waterfowl to lure them within the reach of hunters' guns) along the way as well, as the Chesapeake Bay area is recognized as the home of some of the best carvers in the world. I went in, but I didn't take any pictures, going on the assumption that museums really don't like you taking pictures of their exhibits; click on the link above to visit their website.

In any event, here are the best of the shots I took along the Havre de Grace Promenade. Enjoy!

A view of a section of the Promenade

A view from the Promenade

The old Bayou Hotel

The gazebo at the Tydings Park end of the Promenade

Another scenic view from the Promenade

© 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

Havre de Grace - The Vandiver Inn

I traveled with family down to Havre de Grace, MD earlier this week for my niece's wedding there. Havre de Grace is an old Maryland town with a long history, and is situated at the point where the Susquehanna River empties into (or becomes, really) the Chesapeake Bay. It has a rich history and an incomparable beauty, and it offered much to be explored with the camera.

The weeding was held, and most of the wedding party and guests stayed, at the Vandiver Inn on Union St. This was a gorgeous place and a great venue for the wedding and reception. It consists of the Vandiver Mansion and two adjacent guest houses, Kent and Murphy. My mother and I both had rooms in Murphy House.

I didn't take pictures of the wedding and reception; they had an official wedding photographer and a videographer, plus the place was crawling with people with cell phone cameras, so that aspect of the festivities was more than covered, and as far as this blog goes it really wasn't of any interest to anyone but my family. But I did get some shots of the inn so you can see how gorgeous that place is. Enjoy!

Vandiver Mansion, the main house of the Vandiver Inn

Murphy House, the guest house where my mother and I had rooms

The arbor entrance to the wedding area between Kent and Murphy Houses

The wedding gazebo area before they set it up for the wedding

© 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger