The southernmost town in Maryland, the only inhabited island in Maryland (not connected by a bridge, that is) is celebrated for many things, but in particular, for its specialty Smith Island cakes. For many cruisers, those are reason enough to visit the island. These 10-layer cakes only four inches high are the official state desert of Maryland. Ten thin layers of cake hardly as thick as a pancake, are baked individually and layered with chocolate icing to produce a mouthwatering desert. It is worth a visit to Smith Island to enjoy this home grown traditional food. For many, a visit to Smith Island means seafood lunch topped off with a slice of this heavenly dessert.
Smith Island is also known for a different kind of cake, the crab cake. The best crab cakes on the Bay are to be had there. Now I can hear you exclaiming that you know where the best crab cakes on the Bay are to be found. But bear with me, and I will tell you where the best ones really are. You see, it is not as easy as pulling up to the dock in Ewell and ordering a crab cake, so let’s go there.
Smith Island is about 30 miles, a good day’s run, from Solomons or Deltaville. Approaching from the north, you will come upon the wrecked target ship American Mariner who sits there just as pretty as you please, almost as if anchored long before the houses and steeple of the island break the horizon.
The western entrance, rumored to be shallow, was dredged in 2010. As of July 2013, there seemed to be plenty of water. We registered a six-foot spot right at R “2A” but had seven feet most of the way up to Ewell. The channel is narrow, but deep enough and wide enough for two. Do keep an eye out over your shoulder as you enter, as there is a big yellow Ferry “Screamer” who barrels in at about noon each day. You’d probably not want to be in the channel with him. The channel narrows at R"12” as you turn to the south, but we saw six-plus feet of water all the way to town. As you approach G “15,” keep to the green side. There is a red painted PVC pipe marking the west side of the channel at G “15.”
Smith Island Marina in Ewell has six slips. Worry not; they are very rarely filled. Pauli Eades, an artist from Iowa, visited the island. She fell in love and married an islander and now manages the marina. The slips each have power and water. The docks look a bit tired but are sturdy. Due to shoaling, you will have to pull into the slip bow first. This sets you up for an enjoyable evening spent on the aft deck watching the goats climbing on fallen trees on Goat Island, which also is a blue heron rookery. If you are there in early summer you will be able watch these somewhat ungainly looking birds land in the very tops of the pine trees of the island behind your boat. Nature puts on quite a show for you out there if you have the time to watch. The Smith Island Yacht Club building houses the showers, and that is about it for marina amenities.
Smith Island is comprised of three towns. Ewell, the largest, shares the main island with Rhodes Point. There are two restaurants. Bayside Inn and the iconic Ruke’s Store. Looking properly rustic in its coat of barn red paint, Rukes is the classic small town general store. Both serve crab cakes and Smith Island cakes. From Ewell, there is a road through the marshes, and it is a long walk to Rhodes Point. While certainly worth a visit when you have time, we recommend that you rent a golf cart to go out there. It is nearly two miles away.
Tylerton, the third town, is where you will find the best crab cakes on the Chesapeake. You cannot get there on a loaner bicycle. As they say, “You’d have a stretch of might wet wheeling” if you tried, as Tylerton is on a separate island. There is a small ferry that runs between Crisfield, Ewell, and Tylerton. If you draw three and a half or four feet, you could make the two-mile run to Tylerton in your boat. The channel is narrow and winding but generally well-marked. We find that taking the dinghy is the best way to get there. We have a chance to see more and explore more places as we go, and we generally visit Rhodes Point and the Bay-side beaches on our way back to Ewell after lunch. When you get to Tylerton, you tie up at the town dock, there is always plenty of room. Although there is no electrical service, you are welcome to stay at the dock overnight if you wish. 
At the foot of the town dock, you will see the wall of a shed painted with a welcome sign and a map of Tylerton. There being but 10 or 12 roads on the island, the welcome sign and the map do not even cover the side of this shed, so the enterprising artist painted pictures of six or seven of the town’s most historic buildings. If Smith Island is Crab City on the Bay, then Tylerton, with its 80 or so inhabitants, is Smith Island crabbing on steroids. The crab meat business is centered there. In the mid-1990s, 15 island women worked to open a crab co-op with a huge pressure cooker which can steam hundreds of crabs in a matter of minutes. With screens on all windows and doors, the room is immaculately clean. The crabs are spread out on the stainless steel tables, and the ladies get to work.
The closest restaurant to the crab co-op, the only restaurant on the island, is Drum Point Market. It’s a pristine deli and market with a variety of products. Its meat counter is well-stocked. The fresh vegetables look great, and there is a selection of the canned goods, paper goods, and cleaning products. This little market serves the needs of the 80 year-round residents on the island. But the reason to go to the market is to have a crab cake.
Drum Point Market has the friendliest staff. Duke Marshall is the manager. His mom created the crab cake recipe; her secret is to concoct a binder to hold the crab meat together without it over-powering the subtle flavors of the crab. Too many crab cakes we get are more like crab-flavored bread stuffing. A crab cake has to be all crab. This crab cake is large enough for you to know there is no doubt that you are getting good value! The meat is backfin lump crab meat, and the flavor of the fresh crab comes through. Perhaps it is because the crab processing co-op is only 500 feet from the market that you will never find a fresher, more delicious crab cake. Mrs. Marshall, as fate would have it, is allergic to shell fish and has never tasted her own epicurean masterpiece. She makes a limited number each day; you do not want to miss out. This is a pretty bold statement, to crown this little out-of-the-way market with the designation of the best crab cake on the Bay. To back up my opinion, I rely on the opinion of the Tangier Island community. Three generations of the Eskridge family have also bestowed this designation on the Drum Point Market. The people of Tangier know a thing or two about crabs. Their daily catch dwarfs that of Smith Island. If Tangier folks are willing to travel to Tylerton for a crab cake, I think that comes as a pretty solid recommendation. We go back to Tylerton about once a year to check on the quality. So far we’ve never been disappointed.
By Tom Hale