Customer Reviews

Longstreet Highroad Guide to the Chesapeake Bay (Longstreet Highroad Coastal Guides)

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This is a very comprehensive guide to enjoying the natural beauty of the Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding rivers and parks. I have on several occasions used the phone numbers on the book to contact fishing holes and parks, and they all have been reliable and true to their descriptions on my visits.

The book gives ample attention to the lesser known regions of the area, and spends equal amounts of time exploring Maryland, Virginia and the Delmarva penninsula. In each geographical section, the authors describe the natural and historic draws, as well as give directions, cite a few restaurants and hotels (with prices). Very helpful for someone who is not very familiar with the area.

The thing I really liked about this book was it explained wildlife and history of the Bay region well, as well as explain the delicate environmental state of the Bay in the last 100 years. This book is a must have for those exploring the Bay region.

This is the same book that was formerly stocked by Amazon as the Longstreet Highroad Guide to the Chesapeake Bay - I think it's being printed by a different publisher now. It's an excellent guide, particularly if you are interested in nature. It includes a nice overview of the natural history of the Bay and then goes on to list attractions around the Bay, divided up into different regions. Each section includes maps, general attractions, parks, natural areas, fishing and boating opportunities, restaurants, driving directions, lodging and campground information.

This book povides a lot more then visitor information. I've read several guides to the Chesapeake Bay region and this is the only one that gives the reader a real feel for the area. Places an emphasis on the natural environment. Some guide books spend a lot of time on things around the Bay and ignore the BAY itself. This one has it all. I find myself going back to it often.

Getting inside the mind of Deane Winegar is like going on an expedition. In this case, in and around the Chesapeake Bay--a unique, large body of water and land mass.

Let me give you a sampling of her approach throughout this handsome, well-organized book:

Page 7: "Approximately 75 percent of organic material on earth is produced by phytoplankton [algae, for example]. If the phytoplankton should crash, the entire chain of life would crumble...." And what would cause the crash? It is all that residue from those farms, factories and home owners' lawns in the lands that feed the bay. All the way from Cooperstown, New York and many miles east and west.

Page 14: "Loss of habitat, sedimentation, dredging, disease, oxygen-robbing nutrients, and over-harvesting have reduced this important bivalve [oyster] to less than one percent of its historic numbers."
Page 15: Did you know that the abdominal shell covering of a crab is called an "apron"--and it's one way to determine its sex; the claws are another.

Winegar's CHESAPEAKE BAY is like a travel log. This book was published in 2000 and researched before that (11-12 years ago), some of the information can be found on today's computer engines and websites--and some of that will be more up-to-date. But you most likely will not learn about the interesting nooks and crannies which the author has uncovered for the simply- and more-adventurous. And all this information will not be delivered in a slick commercial-style language, but a comfortable I've-experienced-it conversational tone. In other words, she takes you there. And it's motivation that's hard to resist.

Her book breaks up the Eastern and Western Shores of the Chesapeake Bay into explorable areas, going clock-wise from Virginia Beach, through northern Maryland to the two Virginia counties on the Eastern Shore. Most areas of interest have the following indispensible information: directions, activities and their dates, local eateries, fees, facilities, closest towns, lodgings, interesting and varied gardens and museums, conservancies, phone numbers, and more. In addition, here's a real plus: Most often you will discover the fascinating history of the places and events.

Finally, although the personal, on-ground research for this volume was done up to 12 years ago, this is NOT a "dated" book. I know that since my family history is rooted in the Eastern Shore. After all, how much of the natural areas, flora and fauna and events have really changed in only a decade--new technology aside? Winegar's CHESAPEAKE BAY is equal to her award-winning co-written book on the Virginia Mountains; that is, this is a real winner, too, in this reader's mind.

This is a gem. The author writes so beautifully she sometimes outshines the allure of the Chesapeake-Bay wonders she is describing. I'm amazed with the thoroughness of the research that went into this "magnum opus." It makes me want to take a month off and just explore some of the natural wonders of the Chesapeake Bay she describes. Can the real thing match the paradise she created?