One day I treated the kids and myself to what appears to be our own beautiful beach. Imagine soft sand, calm waters, and no one there. And then blow your mind that this is only 40 minutes from home and I paid nothing for this experience. Say hello to the Merrill Center‘s public beach.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has a gorgeous building on the bay with its own beach. There is limited public access on weekdays to a maximum of ten people. I recommend calling ahead to see if you are able to use the beach that day in case there is an event. But on this one gorgeous day there was no one there.

There’s a lot of rules at the place, but it met our needs for me to chill out in a chair while the kids played in the sand. We did see jellyfish (it is August in the Bay after all) and there is no real swimming allowed here, but it was so cool to have our own piece of paradise and soft sand to swirl toes around in. There were a few picnic tables down the length of the beach, so you could picnic in the shade.

The building itself– the Philip Merrill Environmental Center — is quite beautiful too, and a reflection of its values. Read more on their site, but it’s incredible that in our home state is one of the most energy efficient buildings in the world. [Quickly googles most energy efficient building.] Also, you can rent the building for events. It has a tented patio in the back facing the bay.

On the way home we stopped for lunch at Market & Main. They had covered outdoor seating and we very much enjoyed all our food. Mussels, chopped salad, mac and cheese (not kraft) and pasta marinara for the kids. Delicious.

What we liked…

• Pretty perfect soft sand and a fair size. Bigger than many of the bay beaches in width. And clean.
• Private!
• Peaceful setting/water
• Free
• Close by

Not a fan of…

• Only open on weekdays
• Limited availability
• No swimming
• No bathrooms
• No trash

Concluding thoughts

I love this place. I will definitely be using it as a day off from work location to breakaway from the grind.