Attraction magazine has partnered with the National Park Service Chesapeake Bay Office and Chesapeake Conservancy to help readers find their next adventure. Each month, we’ll feature a new place from their helpful website, FindYourChesapeake.com. There, you can also sign up for an e-newsletter, Trips and Tips, that delivers fresh ideas to your inbox each week.
Ready to try something new? At FindYourChesapeake.com, also find expert advice on experiences like birdwatching, fishing, camping, and hiking. Their team also developed content to help people explore the Chesapeake virtually so folks can stay safe at home during the pandemic.
This month, the spotlight is on a nice cool, air-conditioned indoor escape. Last year at this time, most of Maryland’s museums were shuttered, but thankfully most are fully reopened and welcoming visitors again, including the Delmarva Discovery Museum in Pocomoke City, nestled along the banks of the Pocomoke River.
As the name implies, the emphasis at the Delmarva Discovery Museum is discovery. Visitors are encouraged to explore this “living” museum on their own, but guided tours can also be arranged. Immersive and engaging exhibits focus on river and cypress swamp ecology, local flora and fauna, and the human history of the Pocomoke River and Delmarva.
Speaking of fauna, one of the most popular attractions at the museum are superstars Mac and Tuck, two irresistible river otters who can be observed during their “enrichment feeding” at noon on Thursdays and Fridays, along with learning some fascinating facts about river otters. On Saturdays at noon, it’s “Otterly Silly Saturdays,” another opportunity for spending time with this playful pair, who always seem to have some new and unexpected antics up their sleeves.
Photograph courtesy of Julie Dieguez.
On “Touch Pool Tuesdays,” you can “discover” how to feed and handle the museum’s horseshoe crabs and learn their importance to the medical field. Other fascinating critters that call the museum home include grey and green tree frogs, toads, and several snake species. You can also literally duck into a giant beaver lodge, a life-size replica of an actual beaver lodge and crawl through the two entrances that are normally underwater to view the lodge from the inside.
Photograph courtesy of Julie Dieguez.
The Delmarva Discovery Museum is a great place to learn about the history of the Native American people who lived throughout the Delmarva region and on the Eastern Shore. Indigenous history and culture on the Delmarva Peninsula dates back over 12,000 years. The museum’s watercolor drawings by English artist John White depict the daily life of Algonquin-speaking men, women and children. Family members of all ages will enjoy exploring a wigwam shelter and a dugout canoe.
The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Museum admission for a self-guided tour is $10 for adults and $5 for children; guided tours are an additional $15 per group. The museum is located at 2 Market Street, Pocomoke City. For more information, call 410-957-9933 or visit delmarvadiscoverycenter.org.
