CAMBRIDGE — The Maryland Lighthouse Challenge took place this past weekend (9/18-19) and lighthouse aficionados, by the hundreds, visited The Choptank River Lighthouse at Long Wharf. The number of visitors in one day and one weekend set records. Maryland’s historic lighthouses are on the challenge list and visitors who are crazy about lighthouses try to visit the whole list of more than a dozen in one weekend. The proof of having met the challenge is in collecting the stamps on a Lighthouse Passport that identifies the ones visited.

Chesapeake Bay has five styles of lighthouses, from the tall, conical style to the screwpile lighthouse, and one more on the list, a “replica” lighthouse in Cambridge. A visiting group of girl scouts from Howard County wasn’t bothered at all by the “replica” label. They enjoyed the setting and the equipment, like the real light and fogbell, and considered it a “real replica” for a real fun experience. Visitors Dan and Samantha Hodges from Baltimore didn’t mind the “replica” label either. Said Dan, “Cambridge building a replica is a true tribute to the lonely and hard work of the lighthouse worker. It’s beautiful.”

The guest book at the Choptank Lighthouse shows weekend visitors came from almost a dozen states, including Arizona. How many lighthouses do you suppose there are in Arizona?