Solomons Island

If you need to visit Pax River, the place to stay is at Solomons Island. This is located about 5 miles north of highway 235 which is the main road in front of the base. Traffic exists on the bridge crossing the Patuxent River, but if you are from California like I am, this traffic is light weight..

I have stayed in both the Comfort Inn and the Holiday Inn Select. Of the two motels the Holiday Inn is a little nicer, but the Comfort Inn provides a frig and a microwave in the room which is nice. This trip the Holiday Inn was providing free wireless internet.

The holiday inn rate was low and the restaurant was nice, they also have a nice pool and an outside bar. Prior to this trip I had never used the restaurant, and instead when we visited the base we used the I-Hop for breakfast and various restaurants on the Island for dinner. This time we used the restaurant because the I-Hop was in the opposite direction of the conference I was attending. We also ate dinner in the restaurant once which is open late.

Many restaurant options exist on the island. Pick up the local map showing the sites. Stoney's and the Lighthouse are good choices. The Tiki Bar is also cool. If your looking for fast food a Roy Rogers, McDonald's, and Burger King also exist on the Island. Woodburns of the Solomons is a grocery story located next to the hotel also provides a salad bar, sandwiches, and a nice bakery.

A Bicycle and Kayak rental shop is located within walking distance of the Holiday Inn if you are in to that. Biking around the Island can be done in a couple of hours. Kayaking is pretty easy, the river was calm when we visited. Pretty much the whole Island is within walking distance of the hotel. The Calvart Marine museum is on the island, but I have never visited this yet.

The addition of the free internet at the Holiday Inn was great! It was a little slow but better then nothing.