When the Going Gets Tough, Get Off Route 50

Next time you're sweating it out in Chesapeake Bay Bridge traffic between the beach and the Beltway, ease off an exit ramp onto Kent Island, Md., to wait out the crowd. Find relief on a historic main street with antiques shops, cafe, bakery and day spa; kid-friendly activities including a scenic trail and nature center; and waterfront dining on some of Maryland's freshest crabs. Or just ditch the whole going-home thing and spend the night.

GETTING AROUND: It's easy to navigate Kent Island (15-by-four miles) once you jump off Highway 50 -- either at Route 8 (the first exit on the east end of the Bay Bridge) or Route 18 (next exit), both of which take you to Main Street in Stevensville, a town that prospered around the steamboat trade and still feels like the 1920s.

WHAT TO DO: At many Stevensville businesses, you can pick up a self-guided walking tour brochure to find architecture on the National Register of Historic Places, including the pretty 1880 Christ Church (117 E. Main St.), with a steep slate roof and stained-glass windows. End the tour at Happy Trails Bicycle Shop (111 Cockey Lane, 410-643-0670), where you can rent bikes for the entire family, and make your way to the nearby Cross Island Trail ; rentals from $10 an hour ($15 for tandem), including helmet, lock and trail map.

This paved walkway ( http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/crossisland.html ) runs for more than five miles through canopied forest and over wooden bridges with splendid views of the Chesapeake. Cardinals, red-winged blackbirds and red-tailed hawks chart courses in meadows; herons, egrets, geese and ducks ply the marsh grasses. Watch for white-tailed deer in Terrapin Nature Park, at the trail's west end.

WHERE TO SHOP: At Ye Olde Church House (426 Love Point Rd., 410-643-6227), kids can watch the grazing sheep outside as you size up the shop's restored trunks, decoy ducks and quilts. Go to the Glass Bug (325 Main St., 410-643-5021) for artsy stained-glass items, from sun catchers and kaleidoscopes to windows and lamps. Island Furniture Studio (321 Love Point Rd., 410-643-3303) sports tropical flavored furnishings that run from linens, china and carpets to tables and chairs in rattan, wicker or teak.

WHERE TO EAT: Weekends may involve a wait at the island's dozen or so seafood restaurants, most family-friendly. Many are on Kent Narrows (Grasonville), technically separated from the island by a narrow bay channel.

The Cross Island Trail.

At Fisherman's Inn (3116 Main St., Grasonville, 410-827-8807), try the mussels marinara ($9) in garlic, white wine and plum tomatoes, buttermilk-dipped calamari ($8) or mouthwatering Maryland crab cakes ($22). Be sure to check out the G-scale train that chugs over 280 feet of track in the dining rooms. At Annie's Paramount Steak & Seafood House (500 Kent Narrows Way N., Grasonville, 410-827-7103), you can dine on a deck over the narrows. Check out the winning cream of crab soup ($7) or oyster stew ($7); seafood, meat and pasta entrees run about $19 to $35. For broad views of the Chesapeake and Bay Bridge, savor cracked crab on an outdoor picnic table at Hemingway's (357 Pier 1 Rd., Stevensville, 410-643-2722). The menu (with entrees starting at about $22) has a Caribbean flair -- blackened spices, jerk-style dishes and fruit-embellished sauces.

A less expensive seafood option is Love Point Cafe (401 Love Point Rd., Stevensville, 410-604-0910), where you dine alfresco on light fare: drunken clams ($10.95), blackened ahi ($12.95) or a shellfish sampler ($14.95). Nearby, at the Peace of Cake bakery (314 Love Point Rd., 410-604-0355), find a place to sit and snack on gooey, freshly baked cinnamon rolls, muffins, fruit tarts and other rich desserts.

WHERE TO STAY: If the traffic is just that bad, consider one of several chain hotels, all in the Kent Narrows area and within walking distance of many restaurants. Most include continental breakfast, pools, fitness facilities and other amenities. These include the new Hilton Garden Inn (3206 Main St., Grasonville, 877-782-9444, http://hiltongardeninn.hilton.com/ ), where every room has a water view and private balcony and there are slips for guests who arrive by boat. Fridays and Saturdays through summer are usually booked, says the hotel's general manager, Judy Basil-Burns, "but Sundays through Thursdays are often wide open, and the rates drop to $149 to $189 as opposed to $199 to $249 on weekends." Availability is similar for the other area lodgings, barring late cancellations.

Pleasure boaters also drop in at the Best Western (3101 Main St., Grasonville, 800-828-3361, http://www.bestwestern.com/ ; from $115 weekdays, $190 weekends), as do duffers who love its golf course. Two other chains are within view of the abundant waterfowl and peaceful sunsets: the Holiday Inn Express (1020 Kent Narrows Rd., Grasonville, 800-465-4329, http://www.holiday-inn.com/ ; from $120 weekdays, $185 weekends) and the Sleep Inn (101 VFW Ave., Grasonville, 877-424-6423, http://www.sleepinn.com/ ; from $132 Fridays-Saturdays and $99 Sundays-Thursdays).

The Chesapeake Exploration Center

DON'T MISS . . . the Chesapeake Exploration Center (Kent Narrows, 425 Piney Narrows Rd., Chester, 410-604-2100, http://www.qac.org/ ; free), at the east end of the Cross Island Trail. Adults can enjoy the exhibits on the bay and the video of the building of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, while the kids are encouraged to rifle through drawers filled with fossils or climb up a lookout tower with views to the bay.

AVOID . . . Red Eye's Dock Bar (Kent Narrows, 410-827-3937) on Sundays from 5 to 8 p.m. if little ones are in tow. That's when it holds its bikini contest -- and the poses are not PG-13.

-- Camille Cusumano

For more information on Kent Island: Queen Anne's County Office of Tourism, 888-400- 7787, http://www.discoverqueenannes.com.