Italian Stewed Tomatoes

Italian Stewed Tomatoes

5 tomatoes- cored and chopped ( I did not peel as most your nutrients are in the skins)
Chopped green bell pepper
¼ tsp celery seed or chopped celery ( I didn’t have celery on hand)
½ tsp basil
1 tsp sugar

Mix all ingredients in pot. Cover and cook til desired consistency.

Homemade Fabric Softener

2 Cups White Vinegar
2 Cups Baking Soda
4 Cups Water

Combine slowly and carefully over sink. The baking soda and vinegar will fizz.
Pour into plastic bottle, cover, and shake.

*Hint - Reuse your "Downy" bottle.

Use 1/4 cup in the final rinse or in a "Downy Ball".

Go green with appliances

Unplug electronic appliances
When not in use, DVD players, televisions, stereos, printers, scanners and other appliances continue using a small amount of power.
In the average home, three-quarters of the electricity used to power home electronic is consumed while the products are off. So unplugging can mean electric bill saving.

Today's Shopping Trip - $114.12 and earned $2 ecb's

Walmart shopping trip. Spent $3.64. The bottles are for the kids to mix up their powdered gatorade. 

(2) 2qt mixer bottles and dental floss

CVS  spent $34.18 and received $2 in ECB's

(5) Kleenex, (3) poptarts, (4) boxes cereal, (8) rolls toilet paper, (2) 2n1 shampoo and conditioner, (3) Lady Speed Sticks, (2) Kotex tampons, (2) boxes Rice Krispie treats, (2) bottle Palmolive

 Giant Spent $13.87

(20) cans Fancy Feast, (1) Edge shave gel, (3) Skintimate shave gel, (4) Skintimate shave cream

Safeway  Spent $62.43 (not pictured 2 cases 32oz bottles of Gatorade)

(3) Tositidos, (4) Ruffles, (4) boxes cereal, (3) 1/2 gal Silk, (3) 409, (4) Classico sauce, bananas, plums, (2) dole fruit bowls, (2) Eggos, Cinnamon apple chips, (3) hot pockets, 8ct box popsicles, (24) 32oz gatorades (not shown)

Homemade Rolls and Cinnamon rolls

This is a very versatile recipe making hot dog rolls, hamburger rolls, sandwich rolls, sub rolls, dinner rolls and even cinnamon rolls.

1 1/4 cups skim milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil or 1/3 cup canola oil

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/4 teaspoons bread machine yeast



1 Place all ingredients in order recommended by your bread machine manufacturer.
2 Select dough cycle and start machine.
3 I preheat my oven to 100°F and turn off.
4 When dough cycle is complete remove from machine and proceed.
5 I roll into a long log and cut into 12 pieces for hot dog buns or 9 pieces for large hamburger buns.
6 How big you want them is up to you.
7 For Hot Dog Buns, I roll out till they look like long skinny wieners,.
8 Hamburger Buns, I flatten with my palm till about the thickness of a pancake. They rise beautifully and look as nicely shaped as store bought ones.
9 Put on parchment-lined baking sheet so sides are almost touching.
10 You can brush with melted butter if you wish but I never bother.
11 Cover with cloth and put in the warm oven for 45-60 minutes to rise.
12 When doubled remove from oven.
13 I bake mine on the top shelf in my oven.
14 Turn oven to 400°F and when you put the buns in the oven, reduce temperature immediately to 375° and bake hot dog buns 15 minutes and hamburger buns 17 minutes.

15 CINNAMON BUNS. Use 1/3 cup sugar in recipe. Made 10 large buns.
16 Roll out to about 12 x 15" and spread with filling (recipe follows)
17 Set oven to 400° and turn down to 375° when you put buns in. Bake 20 minutes.
18. cool and spread on icing ( Recipe follows)

Filling
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon.
Mix all together and spread on roll.

Icing (or just use powdered sugar and milk - mix to desired consistency)
1/2 cup soft butter
1 1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 oz cream cheese
2 Tablespoon Whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt

Go green with your computer

Power down your computer
The "sleep mode" reduces energy use by 60 percent to 70 percent, the EPA estimates. As for turning computers on and off, despite a popular misconception, this won't harm the equipment. It will, however, save energy as long as the computer will be inactive for 16 minutes or more. If your job doesn't require constant computer use, break the habit of turning it on first thing and keeping it on all day.
When "Mr. Electricity" Michael Bluejay calculated two extreme examples of what it would cost to run a computer -- one high-end computer that's left on 24/7, and one that uses less energy to begin with and runs just two hours a day -- he found that the first would cost $405 a year to run. The other? Just $5.50.

How to save when eating out

Do you like to go out to eat but the prices are keeping you home? There are several ways to save money when you go out to eat.

1. coupons - do an internet search for coupons to the restaurant you want to eat at, go to the restaurant webpage and see if they have any coupons listed that you can print, watch for coupons in the mail for your local restaurants.

2. gift certificates - use restaurant.com and print certificates for the places you want to eat. A $25 gift certificate will normally cost you $10 unless......do what I do and wait for the 80% code (have it emailed or search 80% code for restaurant.com) and then you pay only $2 for a $25 certificate. Check it out today!

3. Go to restaurants that offer kids to eat for free. Not sure where these are or what days it is offered. Try kidseat4free.com, http://www.kidseatfor.com/, and http://www.kidsmealdeals.com/.

4. Do you want restaurant food but don't want to go out? Why not do an internet search for your favorite meal at your favorite restaurant and make it at home. Or you can try http://www.cdkitchen.com/copycat/, http://www.all-restaurantrecipes.com/ or http://bestcopycatrestaurantrecipes.blogspot.com/.

5. Instead of dinner go out for lunch instead as your lunch choices are usually cheaper.

6. Share a meal with someone or eat an appetizer as your meal

7. Order water to drink.

8. Buy and Entertainment Book. First I would make sure you will use it enough to cover the cost of the book.

9.  Go during the week and catch the weekly specials.

10.  Skip dessert and eat one at home or skip it altogether.

11. Set a budget before you head out. Find their menu on line and plan before you leave.

12.  If you order a large meal..eat half then and get the other half to take home giving you 2 meals for the price of 1.

Homemade Sugar Free Vanilla Creamer

3/4 cup non-dairy coffee creamer
3/4 cup sugar substitute like Sugar Twin, Splenda, etc. (I use Splenda)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in blender and process until well combined. Place in jar, seal and label.

To use: Add 1-2 Tbsp. to fresh cup of coffee, stir well.

Go green with Blu-ray discs

Use Blu-ray discs
Blu-ray discs are half made of paper, so they can be shredded, making them easier to dispose of and recycle than CD's.
The discs cost more, but also hold more than five times the storage capacity of traditional CDs or DVDs.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

1 bar soap (grated- I used Fels Naptha)
1/2 cup borax
1/2 cup washing soda
3 gallons total water
use 1/2 cup per full load- 1/4 for small half loads.

grate and melt 1 bar soap into pan filled with 1 gallon water- do not boil. Once dissolved add borax and washing soda-stir to dissolve....add 2 gallons water, pour into containers....can use right away....will "gel" in a few hours. ( I stored mine in the 5 gal bucket and stirred it before each use)

Meatballs

1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp worchestershire sauce
1/4 tsp pepper
1 egg

Mix all together, shape into balls and bake uncovered on 400 for 20-25 minutes

Go green with your newspaper

Read online media
Many publications have online versions that include much or all of the content found in print, as well as extra online features, so tree-saving advocates don't have to miss out on their news. A University of California, Berkeley, study found that reading a newspaper on a personal digital assistant as compared to a print version resulted in less release of CO2. Do you really need a printed copy? Try reading it at a Starbucks, public library or share a subscription with your neighbor.
Because online versions of print newspapers and other publications are often free, making the switch can mean subscription price savings.

Homemade Mock Oxi-Clean

1 cup powdered cascade
1 cup Clorox II
5 gallons hot water

Soak overnight
You can mix up the recipe and use it all at once or I mix the dry ingreds and keep stored in a cool dry place. Then when I need to soak some items I use 2 scoops (scooper left from old oxi clean) in a kitchen sink full of hot water. I used to do all at once and soak the items in the washer but it is wasteful doing like that if you only have 1-2 items.

Maple Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup maple-flavored syrup
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2-1 tsp chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Combine all ingredients except chicken in a bowl and set aside (I do it in a large glass measuring cup).

Place chicken breasts in crock pot and season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour sauce over the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours. ( mine usually only takes up to 4 hours)

When ready to serve, remove and shred chicken. Add shredded chicken back to pot with sauce and mix well. Serve on buns. ( I can usually just use 2 forks to pull meat apart while still in the pot

Go green with your landline

If 5 percent of U.S. households chose one corded phone over the cordless model, the energy savings would total 140 million kilowatt hours annually -- enough talk time to keep 130,000 teens' phone lines busy for every waking hour of the summer.

Do away with cordless.
If you need to buy a new phone for a bedroom or home office, consider buying one with a cord. You'll save about 28 kwh of energy per phone annually. Standard corded phones consume little energy, while cordless units draw constant power during charging and standby modes.

(taken from bankrate)

Homemade Reusable Sandwich Container

This is a great way to reuse a clean milk jug, and to save from using all those sandwich baggies. This is also a better alternative to store bought ones because it's not a big deal if one gets thrown away by accident. Make some now and be ready when school starts.

Materials
1-gallon milk jug
Marker
Scissors
Thumbtack
Adhesive-backed Velcro dot

Instructions
Mark a clean 1-gallon milk jug.

Cut along the lines with scissors. To make the crease lines, use a thumbtack to pierce a row of dots at 1/4-inch intervals across each side of the jug, 1 3/4 inches up from the bottom. Fold the flaps at these dotted lines, then open them and fold them in the opposite direction along the lines (this will make the flaps easier for your kids to open and close). Fold up the box and add an adhesive-backed Velcro dot closure.

Ways to save in the laundry room

There are so many ways to save in the laundry room.

Lets start with the washer....wash clothes in cold water and cold rinse, make sure to wash full loads but do not over stuff the washer as the agitation is what helps to clean the clothes, experimenting using less of the recommended amount of detergent seeing how far you can cut back without interfering with the cleanliness of your clothes, research the prices of detergent and determine a set price that you will allow yourself to spend (example: I never pay more than $2.99 for a 32oz bottle of detergent and I use 1/2 of the recommended amount per load unless clothes are extremely dirty), instead of buying laundry detergent you can always make your own (which works great if you don't have hard water like me), don't buy overpriced stain removers (use items you already have around the house..dawn dish liquid (food and grease stains), shampoo (body oils), etc.., if clothes are really dirty use 1/2 amt of detergent and soak for a few hours then add another 1/2 amt of detergent and wash. Add vinegar to the bleach compartment and sprinkle baking soda in the wash to brighten, soften and help with static.

The dryer is easy....Don't use it and unplug it. Air dry clothes on drying racks and/or clothes lines, don't use fabric softener sheets as they are bad for the dryer-if you do use them cut them in half, use the shortest setting possible to allow clothes to dry and to prevent dryer running needlessly, make sure to empty lint trap after each load and wash it thoroughly every so often to prevent build up of fabric softener which can cause a fire.
I am sure there are more and as I think of them I will add to this.  If you have any tips you'd like to share we would love to hear them.

Homemade Glass Cleaner

This is my favorite recipe for homemade glass cleaner. It works great! If you want it blue just add a drop of food coloring but really there is no need to do so.
1 cup alcohol
1 cup water
1 tbsp white vinegar.
Mix all together and store in a spray bottle. Please do not forget to label the bottle so everyone knows what it is.

This mixture could also be used on sinks, countertops, etc....

Go green with your cell phone

Unplug cell phone chargers
Only 5 percent of the power a cell phone charger uses actually works to perform the charge. So it's best to unplug it when not in use rather than add to the world's pollution created with that wasted energy.
It may seem insignificant, but every little bit of saved energy adds up to electric bill savings.

Go green with your printer

Think before you print
Read through a document before simply printing the whole thing out to handle later. Could you electronically file the information or copy-and-paste only the portions you need and then print out a single page rather than a dozen? With online media, look for the printer-friendly button so that the article uses as few pages as possible. And for documents that must look a certain way, always use the "print preview" button first. Also, print on both sides of the paper when possible.
Depending on the project, you could save reams of paper as well as expensive printer ink.

Terra Cotta Pot Craft - Coffee Theme

Another fun craft to do. I made this to give my daughter for her 19th birthday. She actually chose the colors and I was supposed to  make it last year and never got around to it. I already had everything here it was just the matter of me taking the time to do it.  I'm not sure what I am going to put in it but I was thinking maybe some of her favorites like truffles and Twizzlers.

Altered Composition Book

Supplies I started with

Completed Project

This was a quick, easy and fun project to complete. I purchased a store bought black and white composition book and the rest of the materials I had here. I used a 12x12 piece of scrapbook paper, mod podge, 8x10 piece cardstock and scrapbook embellishment. Open your minds and let your imagination run wild as the possibilities with this is endless! Why not make that child in your life one of these as a back to school gift?

Blackberry Cobbler

Once again we had already eaten some before I remembered to take a picture

1/2 cup butter 2 cups self-rising flour ( i used 1 tbsp corn starch then added enough flour to make 1 cup and did this twice) 1 cup Sugar 1 cup Splenda

2 cups milk 3 1/2 cups blackberries ( I just sprinkled on until I thought there was enough and mine were frozen)

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Once oven temperature is reached melt butter in a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2.	In a medium bowl stir together the flour, sugar and milk; batter will be slightly lumpy. Pour mixture on top of melted butter in baking pan. Do not mix butter and mixture together.
3.	Drop blackberries into batter; if more crust is desired add less blackberries. Bake in preheated oven for one hour or until golden brown. Next time I will add more blackberries. Original recipe from  allrecipes

Banana Bread

This is an amazing banana bread! I made this for my Mom, Larry and Aunt Anita to take on their trip this morning to North Carolina. I only use overripe bananas that I have frozen specifically for this reason or if I can get overripe bananas at a reduced price. When using the frozen bananas, I just take them out and let them thaw. There is no mashing needed, just open and squeeze into bowl.

1 1/2cups all-purpose flour ½ cup wheat flour 1 teaspoon baking soda Pinch of salt 1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup ideal brown sugar 2 eggs, beaten 5 mashed overripe bananas

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2.	In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3.	Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Originial Recipe can be found at allrecipes

Baked Ziti

I forgot to take the picture until after we all had gotten some.

I have been using this recipe for years and it is always a hit. Don't let the ingredients scare you away...you will be surprised when you taste it! I hope you all enjoy it as much as we do.

16oz Ziti pasta
(2) 24 oz jars spaghetti sauce
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
6oz shredded mozzarella cheese
6oz sliced provolone cheese
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 lb ground beef
1 med onion
grated parmesan cheese

Brown ground beef and onion. Drain. Add sauce, basil and oregano. Simmer 15 minutes. Cooked ziti and drain. Mix ziti with sour cream.

Spray a 9x13 pan. Layer 1/2 of ziti, provolone cheese, 1/2 of sauce, rest of ziti, mozzarella cheese and rest of sauce. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top and bake on 350 for 20 minutes.

Button Monogram

I got this wonderful idea from sparing-change. I thought it would make a great gift for Alyssa, our newest niece that was born in April of this year. I personally think this turned out great. It took some planning and some patience but doing that I was able to get all the items without spending a dime! I got a bunch of frames off freecyle along with some butterfly embellishments, the paint, glue, paper and acrylic sealer I had here already, and the buttons were purchased off of Amazon.com using gift cards I earned with swagbucks.

Before

One layer of buttons

Two layers of buttons and butterfly embellishments

Completed project

Homemade Italian Bread

Italian Bread Using a Bread Machine

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon light brown sugar (I used brown sugar blend) 1 1/3 cups warm water (110 degrees F /45 degrees C) 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (I omitted) 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast 1 egg 1 tablespoon water 2 tablespoons cornmeal

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Place flour, brown sugar, warm water, salt, olive oil and yeast in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
2.	Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Form dough into two loaves. Place the loaves seam side down on a cutting board generously sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover the loaves with a damp cloth and let rise, until doubled in volume about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). (I sprinkled cornmeal on my pizza stone and put the dough on it and then covered mine and set in the oven for an hour)
3.	In a small bowl, beat together egg and 1 tablespoon water. Brush the risen loaves with egg mixture. Make a single long, quick cut down the center of the loaves with a sharp knife. Gently shake the cutting board to make sure that the loaves are not sticking. If they stick, use a spatula or pastry knife to loosen. Slide the loaves onto a baking sheet with one quick but careful motion. (letting ir rise on the stone prevented this step)
4.	Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Original recipe can be found here at allrecipes

Local Library

This is one of our local libraries which is located about 20 minutes from our house. We have one closer but I needed to go in the other direction to the store and this one was right there next to it.

The view of part of the adult section from the stairs going up to the children's section.

Darin and Bailey doing the self checkout

A display on top of a bookcase in the children's section.

Do you have a library near you? In this tight economy the Library should be everyone's choice for entertainment. I mean where else can you get books, movies, music, and video games all for free! The kids and I visit ours several times a month. Our Library also offers so many neat free programs for both children and adults. Why not call or visit your Library and see what they have to offer? They might just surprise you!

Aloe Vera Plant

To me every home should have an aloe plant. This is a picture of my Aloe plant which sits in my kitchen. This is one of the easiest plants to maintain and to me one of the most useful. The Aloe needs very little water and prefers a wide container over a deep one as the roots grow shallow. Mine is almost due to be transplanted to a wider container. I love the way the Aloe looks but the best part is being able to use the gel inside on burns, cuts and insect bites. By looking at the picture you can tell that some of the leaves are no longer pointy and the tips are brown. This is where we have broken pieces off to treat burns from cooking and to treat insect bites. The plant heals itself very quickly so it is always ready to use. Why not get one for your home and see the wonderful benefits of not having to buy commercialized burn creams and insect bite treatments. Just cut or break off a leave, slice open and use the gel inside.

Saving Electricity

A few months back a fellow blogger over at sparing-change did a blog about reducing their carbon footprint. It was then that I took a nice long look at my electric bill as far back as I could go, which was May 2009, and I was shocked and appalled at what I found. 


Needless to say, just that simple post made my  mind race trying to figure out inexpensive ways that I could cut back without stretching my already stretched budget. Here are the results of what I found:                2009 - Avg 48.277 (245 days 18828 kwh)
                          2010 - Avg 49.368 (364 days 17970 kwh)
I could not believe we were using that many kwh a day.Everything in our house is electric and we ranged from 6-3 people living here depending on the year. Since September 2010 there have been 4 people living here.


I unplugged the dryer in May and had a clothes lines installed outside that can accommodate 4 good size loads of laundry. I had purchased this item almost 4 years ago and it sat in our shed. I also starting using an accordion drying rack I had purchased about the same time. Since then I added another drying rack that I received from a fellow freecycler. These racks allow me to dry clothes indoor on rainy days. I also only use cool water for washing so we are not paying to heat the water.


In June I turned off the desktop computer which was barely ever used but stayed on. I made a conscious effort to keep my laptop and phone charger unplugged unless being used as these were always plugged in. I also unplugged lights and other small items that were never used.  We took 2 of the 4 bulbs out of the overheard light in our living room and I unplugged my Keurig only plugging it in the mornings for our coffee. In our bedroom the TV, DVR and DVD player are plugged into an outlet that works with a wall switch so instead of leaving that on all day we hit that switch when we leave and turn it on at night when we are ready to settle down. 


During the winter we had the heat set at 68 while we were home and had it drop to 64 while everyone was gone. For the we waited until it got over 80 in here to turn the air condition on and we only have set on 78. We do use fans in the bedrooms and if it gets too warm upstairs the kids sleep in the livingroom which is in the basement where it's cooler. On days where the temperatures have been in low to mid 80's during day and low 70 at night we turned it off and opened the windows. This has allowed us a few weeks during the summer without running the air.


Check with your electric company and see if they have any promotions or ways to save money and electricity. I let BGE install a switch on our heat pump and told them they could cycle it at 100% when needed and install a switch on the hot water heater that they can cycle also. Not only has this helped us save some kwh and money because of that but I get a credit of $50 on my bill for June, July, August and September for the heat pump and then $25 each of those months next year and the following years that I have it and then $25.00 a month for Oct, Nov,Dec and Jan for the hot water heater and then next year for those months it will be $12.50. Hey every little bit helps.


Now to see the difference!    2011 - Avg 38.89 (182 days 7078 kwh). So far that is a saving of 10.478 kwh a day over last year. I hope this is just the beginning and that I can find other small ways to cut back our carbon footprint without spending too much money. 

Simply White Bread

This is a picture of the bread and the original recipe follows it. However, I did not follow the recipe exactly so see my notes.  Also, the next time I make this I will be experimenting with a few of the ingredients to try and make it healthier.

The family loves the way the bread tastes and smells. I do too but my favorite is how easy it cuts with no crumbles. This is going to make a great bread for sandwiches!

Simply White Bread II

1 cup water 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon salt 3 cups bread flour 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

DIRECTIONS:

Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select cycle; press Start. Original post from -

allrecipes

*NOTES

I used organic honey, just a pinch of sea salt and 1 1/2 tsp yeast from bulk pkg. I put everything in bread machine and used the dough cycle. I took dough out and placed in a loaf pan sprayed with butter flavored cooking spray and baked on 350 for 20 minutes. It was a little bit doughy in the very center so next time will go an extra 5 or 7 minutes.

Next batch I will skip the honey and use Splenda and skip the salt all together and cook a bit longer and see how that does. If that works with no problems then I intend on trying to reduce the oil to only 1 tablespoon. Stay tuned for updates with pictures and comments.

*UPDATE

Tonight when making bread I skipped the salt and honey. I added 2 Tbsp Splenda and cooked for 30 minutes. The bread is perfect!

Chesapeake Beach, MD 20732

I was born and raised in Calvert County, Maryland. I spent my years growing up between Chesapeake Beach and North Beach, leaving the county briefly for almost 3 years only to return and make my home once again in Chesapeake Beach.

We are but one very small town along with many others that makes up our wonderful Calvert County. Although, small we have fun things to do here and our history is amazing.

In the summer our town is busy with lots of tourists coming to stay in our local beach front resort, eat at one of our many seafood restaurants, fish, tour the railway museum, come to the waterpark, or just to play on the beaches.

Below is a brief summary on our history along with a few pictures. Following that I will share a few pictures of our current attractions.

Otto Mears, a Russian immigrant and railroad tycoon, moved east from Colorado in 1895 with a vision to build a resort on the Chesapeake Bay and a railroad linking it to Washington, D.C. The vision became reality on June 9, 1900, when thousands of excursionists disembarked from the train at Chesapeake Beach station and were saluted by a uniformed brass band at full volume.

In the early years, the fare for the round trip train ride from District Line station at the eastern corner of Washington [see Seat Pleasant, Ed] to Chesapeake Beach was 50 cents. Express trains took about 60 minutes to make the trip; “locals” took about 90 minutes. At the resort, there was a mile of boardwalk lined with concession stands and amusement booths. Other attractions included a carousel complete with Wurlitzer organ, a roller coaster, a band shell, various other “popular entertainments,” and dancing in the pavilion to the music of J. Worthington Krunkley’s orchestra. But the the greatest attraction was the water of the Chesapeake Bay, where hundreds of bathers took the plunge every day.

Extending out into the Bay was a long pier that visitors used for strolling, fishing, and crabbing. Steamboats carrying excursionists from Baltimore docked at the end of the pier.

The elegant Belvedere Hotel catered to Washington’s tired and jaded for two decades until it was destroyed by fire on March 20, 1923.

The hotel was not rebuilt. Patronage had been declining for several years; affluent Washingtonians now had automobiles that carried them swiftly to ocean beaches. In 1933, a hurricane irreparably damaged the resort’s facilities. On April 15, 1935, the last train left Chesapeake Beach. The Chesapeake Beach Railway Company shut down, and the rails were torn up.

The town of Chesapeake Beach was left behind, but it survived. Charter fishing gained popularity. In 1946, a group of entrepreneurs refurbished the amusement park and added a salt water pool. In 1948, slot machines were legalized in Southern Maryland, and business boomed.

Remnants of the old resort are still visible today. The Chesapeake Beach Railway Station on Mears Avenue, for example, has been renovated to house the Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum.

In the summer of 1995, the town opened the Chesapeake Beach Water Park, complete with water slides and a hydraulically controlled flowing river. The Northeast Community Center has been built to provide regional recreation andmeeting facilities. The faces have changed and buildings have been rearranged, but Chesapeake Beach is still a pleasant home for its residents and a welcome sight to visitors arriving by car or boat.

HISTORICAL PICTURE (CIRCA 1910) COURTESY OF CHESAPEAKE BEACH RAILWAY MUSEUM

(taken from Chesapeake Beach)

Here are some snapshots of my beautiful town. (boats at one of the docks, Flag in Veterans Memorial Park and the town Clock)

One of the memorials at the Veterans Memorial Park.

This is my kids playing on one of our beaches.

A picture of the Rollercoaster that was here a long time ago

 Our waterpark located 5 minutes from my home

 Our welcome sign and a picture of our local crabs

Check out sparing-change and link up to share about your hometown