Lighthouse Overnight Adventures

Travel back in time to explore the adventurous, exciting, and sometimes dangerous life of a lighthouse keeper with hands-on, interactive activities. In CBMM’s Lighthouse Overnight Program, youth groups, students, Scouts, children’s groups, and their chaperones experience the rustic life of a lighthouse keeper while spending the night in the historic 1879 Hooper Strait Lighthouse, located on CBMM’s 18-acre campus along St. Michaels Harbor.

Under the guidance of a CBMM educator, participants will tour the lighthouse, try on the clothes and duties of a traditional lighthouse keeper, hear stories about lighthouses from the past, play lighthouse-themed games and puzzles, and swear the oath of an official Hooper Strait Light Keeper.

The cottage-style screwpile Hooper Straight Lighthouse once lit the way past Hooper Strait, nearly 40 miles south of St. Michaels. It was slated for demolition in 1966 when CBMM purchased it and moved it to its current location. The lighthouse is one of just three of its kind still in existence on the Chesapeake.

The program is designed for students ages 7 and up and their adults, with a 12-person minimum/18-person maximum. The program fee of $50 per person includes one overnight stay in the lighthouse (7pm-9am), a dedicated educator, CBMM admission on both program days, program activities, and a souvenir patch. Groups may choose to add a drop-in scenic river cruise aboard the 1920 buyboat Winnie Estelle at the member rate, weather permitting and subject to seasonal availability. Space is limited, and reservations are on a first-come, first-served basis.

Lighthouse Overnight Programs are offered on select Fridays and Saturdays in April, May, June, September, and October. Advance reservation is required.