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Suggest a Feature →Southern Maryland & the Chesapeake
Test pilots and Chesapeake crab. An unusual and exceptional combination.
NAS Patuxent River is the Navy's primary aircraft testing and evaluation center — home to the Naval Air Warfare Center and the United States Naval Test Pilot School. It sits on a peninsula where the Patuxent River meets the Chesapeake Bay in southern Maryland, about 65 miles south of Washington, DC.
Southern Maryland is a deeply Chesapeake culture — crabbing, oystering, fishing, and the particular way of life that comes from living on a peninsula between two bodies of water. Lexington Park (the base town) has limited options but the Chesapeake Bay waterfront access, DC to the north, and Annapolis to the northeast make the geographic position genuinely valuable.
Must Eat
The spots worth eating at before you PCS out.
CD Cafe (Lexington Park)
"Southern Maryland seafood done right. The local anchor."
CD Cafe is the community restaurant for the Pax River military community — fresh Chesapeake seafood, Maryland classics, and the kind of neighborhood atmosphere that an isolated base needs.
Stoney's Seafood (Prince Frederick)
"Maryland crabs in the Maryland style. Old Bay, newspaper, mallets."
Stoney's in Calvert County (north of the base) does the full Maryland crab experience — steamed blue crabs by the dozen, Old Bay, mallets and wooden tables, and a crowd that knows how to crack them. This is what the Chesapeake is for.
Outdoor
Get outside. The land around military installations is usually the best reason to be there.
Point Lookout State Park
"Where the Potomac meets the Chesapeake. The tip of the Southern Maryland peninsula."
Point Lookout State Park at the southernmost tip of Maryland's St. Mary's County peninsula is a Civil War prison camp site (where over 3,000 Confederate prisoners died) and the best fishing point in southern Maryland. Croaker, rockfish, and bluefish congregate where the Potomac River meets the Bay.
Culture & History
Places with stories. Most military towns sit on deep history — dig in.
Naval Air Station Patuxent River Museum
"The history of naval aviation research and test. On post."
The Patuxent River Naval Air Museum covers the history of aircraft development and testing at Pax River — from early Navy jets through the X-plane era, including aircraft types developed here that later entered fleet service.
Family
Stuff to do with the kids. Rated by people who have brought actual children.
Solomons Island
"A Chesapeake sailing village at the Patuxent River mouth."
Solomons Island (just north of the base where the Patuxent enters the Bay) has the Calvert Marine Museum (covering Chesapeake Bay natural and cultural history), a working waterfront, sailing club, good seafood restaurants, and the Drum Point Lighthouse (a restored screwpile lighthouse).
Day Trips
When you need to remember there's a world outside the gate.
"The sailing capital. Naval Academy. Chesapeake oysters."
Annapolis is 45 miles north — the USNA grounds (open to visitors), the colonial historic district, the Main Street waterfront, and some of the best raw oyster bars on the East Coast. Cantler's Riverside Inn for steamed crabs.
Calvert Cliffs is the best local secret. After any significant storm, the beach is covered in freshly eroded Miocene fossils.
Solomons Island has the best off-post evening options in the Pax River area.
The Chesapeake crab season (May–November) structures local life here. Plan around it.
The St. Mary's County Amish community sells excellent produce and baked goods at roadside stands.
Southern Maryland is tobacco country historically — old tobacco barns and farmland create a landscape unlike the DC suburbs.
Southern Maryland is genuinely remote. The peninsula geography means that going anywhere requires driving up the same narrow highways. DC is 65 miles north and frequently 90+ minutes in traffic. Build this into your lifestyle expectations.
This guide is built by people who've been stationed here. If there's a spot we got wrong or a gem we missed, tell us.