The Cliff House Bed & Breakfast Prince Frederick, Maryland A Haven of tranquil beauty away from the cares of the world! Contact Info | Email this page to a Friend | Click to see a map  | Additional Pages... Introduction Guest Rooms/Rates Unwind Outdoors A Home Away from Home How to Find Us   Availability Search: See which rooms are available during your stay. Check in: Check out: Powered by Webervations Clear search results Rooms Available from  to  Learn more about these rooms These are our base rates - certain discounts and/or charges may apply

BAYFRONT MARYLAND Cliff-Hugging On the Chesapeake Sunday, June 6, 2004; THE WASHINGTON POST By: John Deiner B&B: The Cliff House in Prince Frederick, Md. -- 35 miles from the Beltway on the Chesapeake Bay. BEST FOR: Water lovers who don't mind sharing their space with bald eagles and Mackie the shaggy resident mutt. DRIVE TIME FROM BELTWAY: 50 minutes. I left downtown D.C. on a stifling, surprisingly busy Monday afternoon, crawling along Pennsylvania Avenue for nearly 40 minutes before ducking under the Beltway at 4:15 p.m. From there, I was evidently a few steps ahead of the afternoon rush, as Route 4 south to Prince Frederick and the Cliff House front door was a breeze, with few traffic lights and no traffic jams. THE INN: Cliff House owner Christine Ferrandino grew up on Borkum, a resort island in Germany, and her parents were innkeepers, so the combo of water and hospitality comes naturally to her. She and her husband opened the B&B -- a tree-shaded, cliff-hugging clapboard home refreshingly free of country-innish froufrou -- in 1997, as much for the income as for the camaraderie. And you'd better be camaraderie-ready. Ferrandino is a charmer and -- more important -- she's a listener, so don't expect that innkeeper-only blabbering that drives so many to the Ramada. At breakfast, we sat for hours on the deck overlooking the bay, fishing boats plying the water, their occupants' conversation audible hundreds of feet away. Guests commandeer the home's second floor, and Cliff House only takes one couple at a time. I was spooked at first, as I don't even like to bunk at relatives' homes. But at Uncle Al's place, I don't sleep in an elegant queen bed covered in fine linens or lounge around in my own living room with plush couches, a TV and hundreds of back issues of National Geographic. Both rooms, separated by a bathroom stocked with enough towels for the Waltons, have panoramic views of the Chesapeake. There's also a deck-top hot tub for stargazing and birdwatching; it's right next to the warm-weather breakfast table (on cool or rainy days, guests eat in a pretty solarium off the kitchen). During my stay, I dove into an egg-and-sausage souffle, homemade scones and a fruit salad. Mackie sat next to me, waiting for something to drop, but there was no way that was going to happen. Everything was just too good. WE'D GO BACK FOR THE . . . view from the Cliff House decks. It's amazing how easily the Chesapeake could pass for the Pacific when all you see for miles are cliffs, water and squadrons of birds...

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