The Bay is filled with unsullied anchorages and protected gunkholes, making it perhaps the ideal place to cruise. But what if you have kids? Worse yet, what if you have a cantankerous tween? The simple pleasures of a relaxing all-day-long cruise from anchorage to anchorage may unfortunately be lost on your young ones. Limiting the cruises to fewer than five hours or so to accommodate shorter attention spans will help. But it will also help to choose locations with attractions and diversions aimed at your kids. Some of these spots are not the bucolic, peaceful settings that many cruisers crave, but they are fun, event-filled locales that will keep the family amused. Here are a handful of PropTalk’s favorite Bay locales that have attractions to keep kids busy this cruising season: Havre de Grace—A Decoy Diversion at the Top of the Bay Situated near the top of the Bay, Havre de Grace, MD, is a pretty little city sitting right on the banks of the Susquehanna River. Tydings Park and Promenade (Commerce Street and South Washington Street) wrap beyond the pier around the southern end of the city for about a half a mile, offering the public an unimpeded view across the river and down the Bay. The Promenade passes a maritime museum, the old Bayou Hotel (it once held a speakeasy), and the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum (215 Giles St.—more on this in a minute). Tydings Park has a playground, charcoal grills, tennis courts, and picnic tables. The park is hos t to several events such as the Decoy Festival in May, The Maritime Festival in June, July Fourth festivities, and an art show in August. Also consider the Havre de Grace Maritime Museum at 100 Lafayette St. nearby. The Havre de Grace Decoy Museum commemorates an enterprise that once flourished here. The Susquehanna Flats used to attract so many ducks that they were said to darken the sky, so hunters created a way to lure waterfowl within range of the their shotguns. Visitors can watch wood carving demonstrations and ogle one of the world’s largest collections of decoys. Once you’ve completed the tour and your kids are itching for action, head to Old Town Parasail. In addition to high-flying parasailing, it also rents kayaks, canoes, and pedal boats. If your wee ones still have energy afterward, nearby Susquehanna State Park is great for biking. Bikes can be rented from Biller's Bikes (213 N Juniata St.), close to City Yacht Basin, or they can deliver to your boat. Besides local marinas, there are also some good anchorages in the area. Just be watchful as you near Garrett Island that cuts the Susquehanna in half and stay clear of the Flats. Which get their name for a reason—the whole area is a large, shallow grass flat.     Baltimore—Something For Everyone Baltimore, MD, is known for its rollicking Inner Harbor, which offers a medley of kid-friendly diversions. As you motor into the urban Patapsco River, inching toward the Inner Harbor, gritty industry from Sparrows Point and Seagirt Marine Terminal gives way to recreation in the form of marinas, restaurants, museums, and other touristy bits. The harbor is easy to navigate, just keep an eye on all the traffic – tugs, ships, barges, pilot boats, and lots of recreational boats. Places to visit include the National Aquarium (501 E. Pratt St.), the U.S.S Constellation (301 E. Pratt St.), the Port Discovery Children’s Museum (35 Market Place), and the Maryland Science Center and IMAX Theater (601 Light St.). The local tourism board sells Harbor Passes, which discounts entries into the aforementioned attractions, and then some. All of these are close to or smack in the Inner Harbor. One block from the waterfront is Port Discovery, a kid-powered museum. Aimed at ages two to 10, kids can climb Mount Kidmore, a three-story jungle gym comprised of slides, tubes, rope ladders, net walkways, and metal spiral staircases—all connecting the three floors at various points, or navigate an obstacle course where they must decipher hieroglyphics leading to a pharaoh’s lost tomb. The Maryland Science Center holds three floors of demonstrations that will exercise your kids’ imaginations, like combustible reactions and eye-boggling optical illusions, and a hands-on voyage through the human body. Escape the hit and burning mid-day sun with an IMAX movie. This summer, immerse yourself into the Ring of Fire and witness the birth of new volcanoes in Chile, or follow the great migration at eye level in Africa across the Serengeti plains in two new IMAX films. There are plenty of water taxis to transport you to and from your marina, and many kid-friendly restaurants in the Harbor.     Chesapeake Beach—The Chesapeake’s Coney Island Most boaters will tell you they come to Chesapeake Beach, MD, for the fishing. With 50—give or take a few—charter fishing boats headquartered here, angling is the main draw for many boaters and anglers. But there is an even stronger magnet for cruisers with kids to this Western Shore town: a water park. Over 100 years ago, a wealthy financier and railroad man envisioned this town as a lavish destination on t he Chesapeake that would rival New York’s Coney Island—replete with waterfront hotels, casinos, and a boardwalk. Chesapeake Beach grew to be a resort town in the 1900s, but the Great Depression, the outlawing of gambling in Maryland, and the completion of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge diverted most vacationers to other places. But what remain intact in Chesapeake Beach are a nice beach, full-service marinas, a boardwalk, and the Chesapeake Beach Water Park (4079 Gordon Stinnett Ave. If you’re not equipped for fishing on your own vessel, head to the Rod ‘n’ Reel Dock at the Chesapeake Resort & Spa or Abner’s Crab House). The water park has eight waterslides, a swimming lagoon, fountains, and a kiddie pool—a perfect place to take the family units in stifling weather. The park is next door to the Northeast Community Center, which has a game room with billiards and air hockey, as well as basketball courts. The two venues allow kids to burn up their seemingly bottomless tank of energy and cool off on the steamy summer days. Aptly named, the town of Chesapeake Beach (and the surrounding areas) has many small, crescent-shaped beaches that are great for finding shark’s teeth and other fossils. This part of the world was once covered by a warm, shallow sea that was home to sharks and other sea creatures. A walk on beaches in the area like Bay Front Park will yield a fair amount of small fossilized cow, mako, and grey shark teeth. If you want a larger beach, take the beach trolley to North Beach, MD.and Marina and charter a boat from the pros for a day of fishing on the Bay. St. Michaels—A Bay Classic   The town of St. Michaels, MD, is a hugely popular cruising stop, and with good reason—the anchorages are close to the town’s convivial main street with lots of restaurants and cute-as-a-button shops, a worthwhile maritime museum, and ice cream parlors. Cruisers can anchor right off the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, Right next door is the popular Crab Claw restaurant (304 Burns St.) that serves Bay classics like lump crab cakes, cream of crab soup, and hot steamed hard shell crabs. It all tastes pretty good when you’re looking out over the pretty Miles River while listening to the pounding, hammering, and slurping sounds of fellow diners eating steamed blue crabs. or pay a yearly membership and tie to their dock. The Crab Claw has a dinghy dock for customers.Harbor The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (213 North Talbot St.) is one of the best maritime museums on the Bay. The indoor/outdoor facility, on 18 acres of waterfront at Navy Point, has interactive exhibits on crabbing, oystering, and boat building. In fact, it holds the largest collection of Bay boats anywhere. The Hooper Straight Lighthouse, a screwpile design, now overlooks the museum’s property. Kids can climb lighthouse and keep a vigilant eye out for ships. Justine’s Ice Cream Parlor (106 Main St.) offers homemade ice cream and 50 flavors of shakes such as Key Lime, brown cow, mudslide, and chocolate-covered pretzel. We think a trip ashore for cold, creamy, brain-freeze-inducing ice cream is as good reason as any to leave the boat. Norfolk—Get Nautical For a cruising family, Norfolk, VA, just about has it all. Just minutes from your boat you’ll find good restaurants, shopping, the buzz and bustle of a busy waterfront, and Nauticus, a maritime-themed science center and museum located on the downtown waterfront. That description sounds a bit dull and trite, but Nauticus (1 Waterside Drive) certainly is neither. Climb aboard the Battleship Wisconsin, one of the largest and last battleships built by the U.S. Navy, and kids' imaginations will run rampant as they peek in the nooks and crannies of the upper deck (there’s an extra fee to look inside), look in on the sleeping quarters, or "steer" the mammoth ship. This is all before entering the actual exhibit. Once inside Nauticus, your kids can pet bamboo sharks in their “petting lagoon”, design a battle ship, and be a part of an attack on a destroyer. Step inside a submersible called The Clelia and take on the role of a Bay pilot or a scientist. Your kids can control an actual nine-foot long robotic arm to collect samples and artifacts from the seabed, or operate a remote-controlled camera to explore the wreck site. Norfolk’s waterfront boasts at least 60 restaurants within walking distance of Waterside Marina (333 Waterside Drive). Attend Triple A league Norfolk Tides baseball game, stroll though the lovely Town Point Park, and maybe go mermaid spotting. There are 130 bronze life-sized mermaids scattered throughout Norfolk, each one uniquely painted by various artists. If Waterside Marina is full, there are more slips at marinas and boatyards in Portsmouth across the river, on the Western Branch of the Elizabeth River, and at Scott Creek, Lafayette River, or Willoughby Bay.