Beach #69 North Beach

Beach #69 North Beach, 9023 Bay Ave, North Beach, MD 20714

​Hello from the beautiful Chesapeake resort town of North Beach, Md! Originally plotted in 1900, North Beach billed itself as “Washington’s most popular salt water resort.” North Beach took a hit when Hurricane Isabel (downgraded to a tropical storm by the time she arrived but we all still say hurricane around here because she felt like one) stormed through in 2003.
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Tonight North Beach shines, and I enjoyed a walk on the boardwalk to celebrate the end of Beach Week 2021!

So, I made it to 37 beaches this year and 32 beaches last year. That's 69 beaches in 10 days of exploring. Although drop-by visits to the Chesapeake’s diverse beaches are not ideal, I consider these whirlwind trips to be reconnaissance for choosing places to return to with family and friends and the time to truly enjoy what each place has to offer. 

This probably sounds like folks who live or visit around here have plenty of beach access. You may have noticed that my photos show few people. Consider, though, that I had the luxury of taking vacation time and doing my exploring during the week in the off-season, something not everyone can do.

It’s a different story in peak season, especially weekends, when many of the places I traveled to are filled to capacity, and park employees must turn people away at the gate. Or, if there is no gate, there's simply no parking left for all the people who want to visit. This was true even before the pandemic, but now, even more people are turning to nature for solace and recreation. Our demand for water access and outdoor recreation is pushing our parks to the limits.

One natural area preserve that I visited this year had no trash cans and no bathrooms, and there were just a handful of unofficial parking spots. Many of you know this is customary for nature preserves meant for low human impact. This worked fine for my off-season, weekday, brief visit, when I was the only one on the beach for most of my time there. But a local woman told me that on summer weekends, there are hundreds of visitors a day, many of whom stay for a significant amount of time. Hundreds. Remember, there are no bathrooms and no trash cans and very little parking. Remember, too, that every single one of those hundreds of visitors a day has the right to be there. 

Just down the street from the last beach I visited this year (North Beach in North Beach, Maryland), is the resort town called Chesapeake Beach. To visit their public beach, called “Bayfront” or “Brownie’s Beach” by locals, you must literally be a local. Since 2020, it's only open to municipal residents as a Covid-related precaution. Potential for collapse along the cliffs area there is another concern. This is a reminder to check for the latest information on beach closures before you go.
Communities are grappling with how to provide public access, including near my home, where Sandy Point State Park fills to capacity and turns people away on the most glorious summer weekends.

I certainly don't have the answers, but I do know that we need more parks. Parks don't make themselves. Here's a shout-out to everyone working in conservation and trying to create more opportunities for people to visit beautiful places like these. Now more than ever, it is important that our federal, state and local governments, along with nonprofits, foundations and private donors, work to conserve more sites for public access to the Bay. 

What started out as a Covid-safe solo “staycation” adventure turned out to be so much more. We're lucky to live where we are surrounded by beauty in nature, amazing wildlife and the opportunity to learn the history of the Chesapeake and its people past and present.

P.S. There are so many more to see! Same time next year!

**Since night had fallen by the time I made it to North Beach, the last photo in the series is courtesy of Juha Uitto via Flickr Creative Commons. Thank you for sharing!