Oyster house reopens at museum

Pub crawl, oyster scald set for opening day

Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009

The Lore Oyster House in Solomons, owned by Calvert Marine Museum, will open Saturday, Oct. 3, and be open for the first two weekends of that month for public tours. The installation aims to take visitors through oyster processing from the boat to the can, according to people involved with the exhibit. Renovations have erased some of the changes the museum made to the structure, restoring it to something approximating its appearance in 1978, its last year in operation.

"For the first time, you get a real flavor of what that place was like when it was in operation," said museum Deputy Director Sherrod Sturrock.

One wall explains the rise and fall of the Maryland seafood industry, while audiovisual displays include interviews and songs from people involved in the industry.

Longtime Solomons resident Alton Kersey was the last private owner of the house, which he acquired from his father-in-law Joseph C. Lore Jr. He said he was glad to see that the museum had removed from the house exhibits about crabbing, fishing and other things not directly related to oystering.

"I sold it to them in '78 and it was an operating oyster house for production, packing, shipping — the whole nine yards. They went and changed this, changed that, and then decided they wanted to put it back like it was. They made some improvements, but hard to get back to 100 percent when you've gone through all these years and lost some of the integrity. But it's a lot better," he said.

The island itself was built — or at least expanded — literally on the backs of one of its main commodities. Many years of dumping uncounted oyster shells into the water gradually caused land to form; the area from the Solomons boardwalk to the middle of Solomons Island Road was formed in part from oyster shells, he estimated.

Lore house itself stands on a bed of shells, causing some instability, according to Sturrock. It is also vulnerable to flooding at high tide.

The opening coincides with another oyster-related event, the inaugural Solomons Island Oyster Scald and Pub Crawl organized by the Solomons Business Association. Island restaurants and bars will feature oyster dishes and special drinks to celebrate the region's past on the Chesapeake Bay, according to a release.

Four dollar food tickets and $3 per drink tickets can be purchased at participating Solomons businesses, with each ticket good for one sample. Businesses include Boomerangs, Kim's Key Lime Pie & Coffee, CD Cafe, the Tiki Bar, Vincenzo's at Calvert Marina, The Captain's Table, The Dry Dock Restaurant, DiGiovanni's Dock of the Bay, The Naughty Gull, Solomons Pier, Isaac's Restaurant, Kingfishers and Calypso Bay Crab House.

Jeannie Stone, who owns Stoney's Seafood with her husband Phillip, had the idea for the celebration and did most of the organizing.

This year she had her first experience running the Taste of Solomons celebration and modeled the oyster scald after it.

She hopes to lure hundreds of visitors with good food and drink who can then discover everything else the island has to offer.

"Hopefully we'll have good weather. People can tootle around the island, go into the shops that are there and have a good time," she said.

Stoney's will be offering oysters Rockefeller at one location, and oysters imperial at the other, she said.

Carmen's Gallery is also getting into the act with a celebration of Turkish culture to promote newly-stocked handmade Turkish rugs.

"We sell antique, handmade Turkish rugs. The people who supply us said they would come in and bring a whole huge assortment and we said we'll have them stacked up around the pool in back," said gallery owner Carmen Nance Sanders. "They said, ‘We'll cook Turkish food,' and we said, ‘OK, we'll serve wine,' and it just kind of snowballed. It worked out great that's it at the same time as the oyster scald."

The gallery event will begin at 11 a.m. and last until at least 6 p.m., she said.

For more information, go to www.solomonsmaryland.com/solomons-lodging-and-dining.html.

There will be free trolley rides available on the Island throughout the day to help you move from place to place.

Parking will be available across from the Calvert Marine Museum.

emitrano@somdnews.com