Eastport

Amid growing ridership of the free Circulator and calls for more routes, Annapolis officials plan to expand the trolley service beyond the city's downtown. Weekend and special event service could be added as early as August to link Eastport and West Annapolis to the downtown area. No start dates have been set, but officials said plans are in the works. It would be a boost for businesses in the two sections and residents near the downtown area and the tourist-filled Historic District, said Mayor Joshua Cohen.

Spring is a time for new beginnings, and that includes new hobbies. As the air gets warmer and the days last longer, it's the perfect time to try out a new outdoor sport. The Baltimore region offers plenty of opportunities for outdoor fun, from biking to paddleboarding. Thanks to local retailers that rent sporting equipment, budding outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen can try out new hobbies without investing too much money. Gary Weeden, of Annapolis boat and bike rental shop Paddle or Pedal, likens renting to test-driving a car. "Before you spend your money, this is a great way to try things out. Like with cars: Before you buy, rent and say, 'This is what I like and don't like.' " "If someone hasn't been on a bicycle for a while, and they're not sure of the type of bike they'll want to purchase, we offer several types they can try out at low cost," adds Jim White of Monkton Bikes.

Eastport, the Annapolis neighborhood that is home to crabbers, car mechanics and corporate executives, was named one of Maryland's best neighborhoods last week, in part because of that diversity.The Maryland Commission on Neighborhoods named Eastport one of 15 outstanding neighborhoods in the state, citing good working relationships among the 225 businesses and 4,500 residents on the marshy peninsula between Back Creek and Spa Creek."It's a wonderful place to live," said Mike Miron, who runs the Shell service station at Severn Avenue and Sixth Street.

On the job a little more than a week, Alicia Estrada hasn't settled into her new digs at the Annapolis Maritime Museum. But she has begun evaluating its programs as she looks to the future of the former oyster plant. "I'm just trying to get my head around everything," said Estrada, the museum's new executive director. She'll get the official schoolchildren's tour of the waterfront museum in coming days, she said. The museum tells the story of the Chesapeake Bay through exhibits, lectures and entertainment — and, in the process, teaches about the maritime heritage of the Annapolis area.

Eastport, the one-time watermen's community that is literally a stone's throw from historic Annapolis, has been celebrating its 125th birthday. But as far as we can determine, no mention has yet been made about one of the Spa Creek spot's rare brushes with national history -- the night it played host (kind of) to George Washington.The father of our country had been inaugurated in New York City and was traveling South in 1788. After first riding by coach to Rock Hall, the whole expedition was loaded onto a schooner for a trip to Annapolis.

A LONG OVERDUE spotlight is about to be cast on a largely ignored aspect of Annapolis life -- the African-American community in Eastport, which is the subject and title of an exhibit opening Sundayat Mount Zion United Methodist Church at 612 Second St. The exhibit is the result of two years of work by a committee of about 20 members under the direction of Peg Wallace, chairwoman of the Eastport Historical Committee, who likes to make sure everyone gets...

Annapolis police were seeking a city man after the shooting yesterday of an Eastport man during an argument. Travon Toronto Williams, 21, of the 400 block of Second St. was arguing with a man in the first block of Bens Drive in Annapolis about 5 p.m. when he was shot once in the upper body. Williams was flown to Maryland Shock Trauma Center. His condition was not available. Police said they were seeking a 22-year-old resident of the Annapolis Woods Apartments - the scene of the shooting.

Annapolis police have arrested four men in connection with yesterday's early-morning shooting of an Eastport man. Michael Lee Davis, 22, was found in the 1300 block of Tyler Ave. yesterday with a gunshot wound to his abdomen. He was in critical condition at Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Charged are James Leroy Downs, 24, of Annapolis; Wilmer Anderson Rendon, 19, of Mount Rainier; Earl Mangus Victor, 17, of Hyattsville, who was charged as an adult; and Sesame Demon Sorrells, 21, of Hyattsville.

The Barge House Museum in Eastport sets a wonderful example of a community appreciating its origins, with the current "Watermen of Eastport" exhibit, the annual winter Doll House exhibit and next spring's planned "Churches of Eastport" project.The museum is soliciting memorabilia, photographs, stories and artifacts of the development of Eastport's churches.If you can contribute bits of your family's past to the project, call Peg Wallace at 268-1802.*A shorter history will be celebrated Saturday at Quiet Waters Park: the park's fifth anniversary.

MIKE MIRON was honored Thursday at the Chart House Restaurant for his stellar community service since he moved here in 1980.Miron is an Eastport historian, former president of the Eastport Business Association and former owner of the Eastport Shell Station, in addition to his role as vice premier of the Maritime Republic of Eastport.More than 100 of Miron's friends and neighbors gathered to offer him a toast. Annapolis Mayor Dean L. Johnson read from an official proclamation: "Your interest in Eastport's history continues to pay dividends for all of us. Now, therefore, we are pleased to bestow upon you this certificate of distinguished citizenship."

It came down to the final round of the world's longest tug-of-war over water, but the city of Annapolis delivered Saturday on its vow to save face against rival Eastport and win the annual match billed as the "Slaughter Across the Water. " As supporters screamed, "Tug! Tug! Tug!" 33 men and women strained to pull a thick rope and hold their ground as if their lives - not just bragging rights - depended on it. From the Annapolis side of Spa Creek, they faced off against the Eastport team, barely visible more than 1,600 feet away on the opposite shore.

For 15 years, the Slaughter Across the Water cast shame on Annapolis. The city regularly lost the annual tug-of-war match over the harbor to its Eastport rivals. The Annapolis team has had to recruit last-minute tuggers from bar stools and bathrooms. Worse, apathy has forced the team to rely on volunteers from the opposing Maritime Republic of Eastport, the same rascals who have stolen the flag from City Hall and "kidnapped" its mayor. "From what I heard, they had to bribe people with beer to come to the Annapolis side last year," said Marie Dall'Acqua, an organizer with the city's Take-Back-The-Tug campaign.

What does the sailing community in Eastport love? It loves the Boatyard Bar and Grill. Dick Frayno opened the Boatyard Bar and Grill in the Eastport district of Annapolis in 2001. Cozy and charming, with plenty of dining and shopping options, Eastport has grown in popularity since then, and the Boatyard has established itself as a community hub for residents and tourists, and an unofficial headquarters for the city's sailing community. I think it must be outsiders who come to Annapolis looking for Chesapeake-focused cuisine.

Amid growing ridership of the free Circulator and calls for more routes, Annapolis officials plan to expand the trolley service beyond the city's downtown. Weekend and special event service could be added as early as August to link Eastport and West Annapolis to the downtown area. No start dates have been set, but officials said plans are in the works. It would be a boost for businesses in the two sections and residents near the downtown area and the tourist-filled Historic District, said Mayor Joshua Cohen.

How old-fashioned is Lewnes' Steakhouse? The best appetizers are shrimp scampi and clams casino, the most desirable side dish is potatoes Lyonnaise, and the bar still makes a Manhattan with two parts whiskey to one part vermouth, and no one does that anymore. Without any drama, Lewnes' serves its regulars a plain and proper dinner of exquisite steak. Imagine the Prime Rib mixed with the old Burke's, and you'll have a rough picture of Lewnes', a corner landmark in the cozy Eastport neighborhood of Annapolis.

A 14-year-old Annapolis sailing student who died during lessons in the Severn River was remembered Friday as a much-loved teenager who enjoyed sailing with her family and playing soccer on a high school team. Investigators said Olivia Constants was trapped underwater for several minutes after her boat capsized around 3:15 p.m. Thursday. Based on a preliminary investigation, they believe a harness she was wearing "got entangled in the rigging of the sailboat," said state Department of Natural Resources Police spokesman Sgt. Art Windemuth.

Shortly after its establishment in the late 1880s, George W. Brock was appointed postmaster of the new Eastport post office, The Sun reported July 30, 1887. Located in the business heart of the community on what was then Main Street, the area surrounding the post office was the hub of social activity until after World War II, encircled by two barbershops, a shoe repair store, three bars, two grocery stores and a police station. Although the name of the waterfront town had changed from Horne Point, Horne Point Village and Severn City since colonists first arrived there in 1665, the name Eastport stuck when it was used on the application for the post office in the late 1880s.

WHEN THE throaty-voiced lady calls and asks, "Sweetie, can you do something for me?" what's a Neighborly Correspondent to do? The voice was that of Peg Wallace, Queen Mum of the Barge House Museum, and she wants the word out that because today is May Day, it's time for the Eastport May Basket Competition. There will be two categories, residential and commercial, subdivided into Most Beautiful and Most Eastport. Residential will include a category for age 12 and younger. There will be 20 judges who will start their work at 11 a.m. "Judges will be required to wear some kind of a wonderful flowered hat," she said.

A rapist located by police through the victim's stolen cell phone hung his head and wept in court Wednesday as he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. "If I was not drunk, this never would have happened," Angel Antonio-Chavarria told Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Paul A. Hackner through an interpreter. The 32-year-old man had pleaded guilty in October to first-degree rape of a woman who was grabbed from behind as she walked down a residential Annapolis street about 1 a.m. June 21. The Guatemalan native may be deported after finishing his prison term because federal immigration officials believe he is in the country illegally.

I never made it to the Wild Orchid's original home, a free-standing white bungalow in the cozy Eastport neighborhood of Annapolis, but by most accounts, the setup there was charming and intimate. The homey atmosphere was apparently one of the reasons folks recommended Jim and Karen Wilder's upscale American bistro, and in 16 years, the Wild Orchid developed a quiet but sizable following. Jump to this past summer, when the Wilders moved their operations to the Severn Bank Building on Westgate Circle into a space where a Greystone Grill had come and gone.