Places to Go - A Day at the Beach (in APRIL!) - Flag Ponds Nature Park (Lusby, MD)

Last Monday the kids had a random day off school, which I wasn't exactly thrilled about at first. But then the 83 degree forecast came out. So I talked my friends into a day at the beach. The water wasn't exactly swimmable, but still what a great way to celebrate the end of winter.

Flag Ponds is only about 1.25 hours from DC, making it the perfect day trip. It's also supposed to be a great place to find fossils and sharks' teeth, but we mainly played in the sand.

Places to Go - Searching for Shark Teeth & Swimming in the Chesapeake Bay at Flag Ponds Nature Park (Lusby, MD)

Even though we've lived in DC for almost 10 years, this was our first day trip to the beach. Originally, I didn't really know where to go and then once I learned, I never managed to find the right time. But now that we've made the trek, we will most definitely return.

Originally we planned on visiting Calvert Cliffs State Park, but my friend read that Flag Ponds has more shark teeth and a shorter hike to the beach (only half a mile), so we changed the plan.

After a quick walk through the forest, we arrived to several shallow tide pools containing lots of mini fish and even a few egrets. Absolutely beautiful. After the kids wet their feet, we walked just a little bit further to the uncrowded beach [note - we went on a Monday, so I'm not sure how busy Flag Ponds becomes on weekends]. The water was bathtub warm, shallow, and, sort of perfect if you can forget about pollution problems in the Chesapeake Bay. (I personally chose to forget).

The boys attempted to catch fish in a bucket (it didn't work) and build a pirate ship out of driftwood (also a failure), while the girls searched for shark teeth and fossils (we found one tooth, then lost it in the water). All in all, we spent about 3 or 4 hours relaxing in the sun. And though the drive is long(ish) at 1.5 hours, the roadside scenery makes for a very mellow trip - lots of farm stands and forest, almost no traffic.

If you're interested in a visit, click here for more info on Flag Ponds. Admission costs $6 per car. The park also contains several trails, which we couldn't manage while carrying bags of beach boys, blankets, towels, and picnic lunches. But maybe next time?