By Kenneth C. Rossignol

    ST. MARY’S TODAY

 

COMPTON --- Fitzie’s Restaurant and Marina, one of the many family operated seafood houses in Southern Maryland is now into its third season since rising from the devastation of Hurricane Isabel.

Long known as Delahay’s Marina, which was once a simple shucking house, bar and workboat marina, Fitzie’s Restaurant and Marina is a well built and attractive waterfront dining spot located on Breton Bay.

With a  view clear to the Commonwealth of Virginia, Fitzie’s caters to families for great Southern Maryland cooking.

With Pam and Danny FitzGerald serving up their own recipe of homemade crabcakes, fresh pan-fried or broiled rockfish, large steamed shrimp and a great variety of other dishes, it’s a good bet that one of the FitzGerald clan will be bringing your meal to your table, serving up the great breakfast or back in the kitchen peeling potatoes or washing dishes.

With Dan and Pam it’s been a family affair since they first bought the marina in 1993. 

While Dan has long run a mortgage company and operated a construction crew for building custom homes, the front and center livelihood for his family quickly became the  restaurant.

With a flock of FitzGeralds to back him up, three kids of his own and a dozen or so nieces and nephews rotating in and out of his nearby home on St. Clements Bay and in the restaurant, help is always nearby when a boat or van arrives with a large group of customers.

When Isabel struck in 2003, the FitzGeralds had spent 10 years working to build, renovate, modernize and expand their business to meet the demands of their customers for a good neighborhood seafood house on the Potomac.

Tucked away in a side creek off of Breton Bay, Fitzie’s location would normally be considered a ‘hurricane hole’ as a protected cove. 

Isabel had other ideas.

The storm came up through Virginia and did odd things to the region, ripping up normally secure and safe harbors and leaving alone exposed stretches of shoreline.

About noon on Sept. 18, 2003, Isabel was a serious storm.  The weather radar and TV stations had tracked it’s progress of death and destruction as she hit the Atlantic Coast and now the first storm since the 1930’s to make a path of turmoil and tragedy into the area was making a direct run for Southern Maryland.

As the wind howled and the debris began to fly through the area, the next big event, storm surge, began to drive up the water level.  The wind pushed the water level up about a foot every half hour until the water was a full nine feet above it’s normal point.

For Fitzie’s this meant it was wiped out.

High water is one thing, high water being driven by 90 m.p.h. winds is quite another.

The wind blew the surf right through the building, making live crabs and fish swim where cooked ones were once served on a daily basis.

The entire point was under water and up and down both shores of Breton Bay the homes and boats were devastated.

For the FitzGerald family the task of building  their dream had started again.

Dan FitzGerald did over the next six months what he had done for ten years.  He and his family dug in and rebuilt.  What had been a shell of shattered dreams soon became a blueprint for building as Dan led the effort.

A complete overhaul of the place led to a new day for Fitzie’s, a restaurant which sprang from dreams to reality in record time.

With a large family room on the second floor, complete with large windows overlooking the water and fireplace, the FitzGerald family can be right at home after a long day’s business.

Never far from the business, with his home right around the corner, Dan can quickly meet with folks planning events even when the restaurant is closed.  With Monday and Tuesday down days, it’s still business as usual for Dan and Pam, who use the two days wisely, ordering food and doing advance food preparation.

With a long tradition of living in the St. Mary’s area of St. Clements Shores, the FitzGeralds never run out of family as Dan’s nieces and nephews often swell the ranks of his own brood to make quick legions of extra help when a half dozen extra arriving cars or boats overwhelm the staff.

Freckle-faced smiling faces greet the boaters even when the restaurant is closed as the gas docks are always open when someone is on premises.

Fitzie’s Marina is still in the process of recovering from the hurricane, but many of the piers and docks have already been replaced.  One of the great enjoyments of Fitzie’s is the family-friendly Tiki Bar, which really is a sandy beach set up with tables which fills first before the dining room for families flocking to the restaurant after church on Sundays for a great brunch.

Homemade chipped beef, french toast, two types of quiche, ham, bacon, country sausage, scrambled eggs, bowls of fresh fruits and homemade biscuits are served buffet style, making the prospect of cereal at home pretty dismal in comparison.

Sitting outside on the beach overlooking Breton Bay with the serenade of sea gulls, the lifting breeze and the salt air drifting in from the Potomac is a great way for those who don’t get near the water often to truly enjoy life in Southern Maryland.

One of the area’s best family run seafood restaurants, FitzGeralds continue to bring forth a long tradition of life in St. Mary’s County.  Dan’s grandmother is fondly remembered by many, her column ran in the Enterprise when it was owned by Charlie Molitor.  Dorothy Shannon (Dee) wrote feature articles and her weekly column Town & Country was the society column often reciting all the visitors to Jack and Penny Rue’s High Chimneys.  

Special events such as weddings, company picnics and evening get-togethers can enjoy either a private party room, the dining room, the bar or the outside beach Tiki Bar area.  Large tents are set up for special events and the Samuel M. Bailey is available for groups to charter for cruises, with or without meals, up to 35 in size.   The vessel is 55 years old and in great condition, one of the historic oyster buyboats which has been converted to a beautiful pleasure craft.  

There are ample guest slips for diners to tie up and plenty of parking.   While there is some great competition for the title of who makes the best crabcakes in Southern Maryland, the Fitzie’s crabcake platter is spectacular.   The two heaping crabcakes are delicious and remarkable.