By Laura Walter

“It’s summertime on Delmarva: Water you waiting for?” So begins the regional magazine that we are proud to publish each quarter. That pun has been one of my favorites since I first thought it up for my 9th grade Odyssey of the Mind team. And it embodies the Delmarva Peninsula so much that I couldn’t resist dusting it off for the upcoming Summer 2023 edition of Bay to the Beach.

I always tell people that the quarterly magazine is like a regional travel guide: “We’re trying to highlight cool places around the peninsula that are just an hour or two drive away.”

This region is marvelous year-round, but those sunny summer months are what brings so much attention. So, we let that be our guiding light for this edition. You’ll see some of the many ways to enjoy the waterfront.

There are the festivals, which involve a surprising amount of rubber duckies (looking at you, Milton and Milford!). There’s the wild Janes Island State Park, which is taking another swing at hosting their inaugural Paddlefest in Somerset County, Md. For those who find paddling a kayak or canoe to be too hifalutin, you can get down and dirty and hopefully not too wet at the Nanticoke River’s cardboard boat regatta in Blades, Del. While most towns design public parks around their waterfront, Cambridge, Md., has done at least three. For an account of camping near the ocean, see the Assateague Island feature (and yes, there were many horses).

And people who make their living on the water don’t just have fishing tournaments—they make waves with boat rodeos and docking competitions.

As for the mighty Atlantic herself, we let our readers share their visions of the sea in this year’s cover photo contest.

Of course, we follow some winding roads, including features on cool places worth checking out, whether you’re into music, airplanes, spa days, comic conventions or even cats.

The magazine will be inserted into your local paper over the course of one week: the Salisbury Independent on May 23; the Dorchester Banner on May 24; the (Crisfield-Somerset) County Times on May 23; and Delaware State News on May 28.

Summer’s here, friends. Go get some of the action.

Bay to the Beach: Byways is a regular column in which we explore interesting places and projects on the Delmarva Peninsula. Videos and more photos at baytobaynews.com/bay-to-the-beach-byways