PAX River Online

Need an Expedited US Passport or Visa for Upcoming International Holiday Travel?

2008-11-20T04:02:00.000-08:00

Getting away overseas this holiday season? If you don't already have your US Passport or Visa in hand, it's going to be very difficult. Fortunately, there's an entire industry waiting to serve your US Passport and Visa expediting needs.

The leading US Passport and Visa Expeditor is A Briggs, headquartered in Washington DC. A Briggs US Passport and Visa Expeditors secures expedited passports and travel visas for international travelers every day, and working with the U.S. Passport Agency and foreign embassies and consulates to secure passports and travel visas in as quickly as 24 hours.

The local passport and visa expediting company recently opened a new Chicago passport and visa expediting office, and is the only designated passport and visa provider of the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), that clears over $80 billion in airline ticket sales annually.

See more of their recent Washington DC business news...

Maryland 375 Celebration 2009 Coming!

2008-11-09T06:31:00.000-08:00

2009 will be an exciting year for Maryland, and in particular, Southern Maryland Businesses in Calvert and St. Mary's County taking part in the Celebrate 375 Maryland events.

As noted by the St. Mary's County Chamber of Commerce, "Over this past year, the tourism and hospitality industry, working with the St. Mary’s County Division of Tourism and with assistance from the Chamber, developed the Celebrate 375 marketing campaign. The increasingly challenging economic outlook for 2009 makes this marketing effort critical for area businesses."

We're looking forward to helping "spread the word" about the fantastic businesses and business opportunities in Southern Maryland, including the PAX River Naval Air Station areas, regional business powerhouses such as Cherry Cove Hospitality, and other great members of the St. Mary's Chamber of Commerce.

For help with Southern Maryland Internet Marketing campaigns celebrating 375 years of Maryland's history, contact KME Internet Marketing - with Washington DC metropolitan regional offices in Loudoun County, VA and St. Mary's County, MD.

Northern Virginia Modern Moms Shopping/Fashion Night Out!

2008-10-28T18:32:00.000-07:00

Looking for a great way to spend an afternoon up in Northern Virginia, doing some holiday shopping and getting totally pampered?

The most fabulous Northern Virginia Moms Night Out (MNO) “party for a cure” is coming up, this November 9th (Sunday), 3-8PM, at the Reston Hyatt (20 minutes west of DC on Rt. 267). All profits benefit the National Breast Cancer Research Institute!

I Am Modern Media (Media and Magazine for Modern Moms) - is throwing an extravagant party for Northern Virginia and Washington DC modern moms, complete with 2 Yummy “Moderntinis” (Pomegranate Martinis), “Swag Bags” worth over $250 (the swag bag alone is worth coming!), Delicious Appetizers, Dessert Bar, Shopping from Fabulous NOVA and DC local Vendors, Massages, Manicures/Pedicures, Hairstyling, Spa Treatments, Chocolate Sampling, Tasty Cakes, Treats and more!!!

Turn off the Redskins, get out the party togs, call up the girlfriends, and hustle on out to Reston for the modern women and moms party of the year, and an afternoon of great holiday shopping, fun and pampering!

Get advance Modern Mom’s Night Out tickets here….

PAX River Church Touring in St. Mary's County

2008-10-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

St. Mary's County is a wealth of very beautiful churches, as we toured this past Columbus Day weekend - for example this magnificent St. Mary's Holy Face Catholic Church (circa 1940) on Rt. 5 near Great Mills

More information about Holy Face St. Mary's Catholic Church

St. Mary's Lighthouses - Pt. Lookout and Piney Point Light Houses

2008-10-02T14:56:00.000-07:00

Here's some great pics showcasing two St. Mary's County Light Houses - the Pt. Lookout Lighthouse and Piney Point Lighthouse. The Piney Point Lighthouse is one of the oldest original lighthouses built along the Potomac. It's off of Rt. 5 just North of Great Mills.

New Bethesda MD Homes - Custom, Big, Amazing Value...

2008-09-29T14:31:00.000-07:00

From time to time, we some some really wonderful value in new, custom family homes - in this case, the highly sought-after neighborhood of Bethesda, MD in Montgomery County. These homes are extremely competitively priced for this neighborhood, and great location - near schools, businesses and convenient to all of Metro DC.

From Ingrid Myers, Realtor - Northern Virginia, Metro DC Maryland and Southern Maryland Real Estate...

"Here are a couple of my newest, most interesting Bethesda MD (Montgomery County) New Homes. Browse these great webpages and find out more about the Bethesda MD community altogether!

5909 Melvern, Bethesda MD, Montgomery County New Home

5912 Somoma, Bethesda MD, Montgomery County New Home

5909 Melvern Dr., Bethesda, MD

Lexington Park, Southern Maryland Hotels get Hi-Def TV

2008-09-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

It's finally arrived commercially in St. Mary's county, for travelers and visitors - the PAX River NAS hotels in Lexington Park, MD are getting Hi-Definition (Hi-Def) TV installed - per this announcement through Southern Maryland's Home Building and Hospitality business Cherry Cove.

Sotterley Riverside Wine Fest

2008-09-25T16:04:00.001-07:00

The Sotterley Riverside Wine Fest is coming up next weekend, October 4-5, Noon to 6PM.

Fabulous foods for purchase featuring such southern Maryland specialties as crab cakes, fried oysters, stuffed ham, pit roasted meats, freshly made ice cream and more.

Tours of Sotterley’s Mansion circa 1703 (fee).

Tours of Sotterley’s Colonial Revival Gardens given at no cost.

Wonderful live music both days!

Saturday, Oct. 4th:
Noon - 2 PM: The O'Neill Project
2 PM - 4 PM: Gary Rue and the Blue Crabs
4 PM - 6 PM: Diane Daly Trio

Sunday, Oct. 5th: Noon - 2 PM: Upstroke
2 PM - 4 PM: David Norris
4 PM - 6 PM: Gretchen Richie Jazz Cabaret

Wine Making and Wine Tasting demonstrations.

Artisan Vendors with fabulous hand-crafted items for purchase.

Children's games, crafts and activities.

Southern Maryland So Good will feature exhibits and great demos using
items freshly grown and harvested from our local farms and waters.

Sponsored by all the great Southern Maryland, St. Mary's County and PAX River area businesses, including the amazing Solomons Island, Southern Maryland hotel Hilton Garden Inn.

Southern Maryland Internet Marketing

2008-09-20T11:58:00.000-07:00

Southern Maryland Internet Marketing - Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Social Media Marketing (SMM).

What do you do when you need to find something on the Internet?

In most cases, you go to one of the major search engines and type in the term or key words that you’re looking for and then click through the results. Sometimes you might go to a "bookmarking" site or local directory/discussion forum to search. But what if the first and second pages of results don’t give you the results you were looking for?

On the other end, what do you do to attract more visitors to your southern maryland business or organization's web site? What if you have the most attractive web site and yet no one can find you? Isn't it like decorating the front window of your shop, but locating it in an alley where nobody can see it?

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is a marketing strategy that helps your web site be recognized and get on the first page of leading search engine sites, such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, and AOL. It is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” or “algorithmic” search results for targeted key words. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search engine results pages or the higher it "ranks", the more searchers will visit that site.

In today’s fast-paced internet world where a web site can be the face of a brand’s identity, having your web site be optimized for search engine compatibility is not only important, but a necessity. Without good SEO, your website is lost among thousands of other web sites on the net.

We at KME Internet Marketing can help you achieve that goal and increase your web site’s “rank” by using SEO, SEM and SMM as a cost-effective and accessible tool to increase not only your online traffic, but target your audience and give your brand a high local, regional, national or international profile.

For the DC metro area and southern maryland in particular, we offer the most comprehensive, fast-developing and professional online marketing services available - out of our local office in Ridge, MD. Read more about DC metro and Southern Maryland SEO/SEM at our blog.

St. Mary's County Fair - Southern Maryland

2008-09-16T16:15:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to get over to the St. Mary's County Fair this weekend!

Since 1947, the St. Mary's County Fair features fun for the entire family including children's activities, livestock competitions and exhibits, home arts, garden exhibits, arts and crafts, farm museum, carnival, horse shows, music, parade, entertainment, commercial vendors selling their wares, a wide variety of food and attractions.

Thu Sept 18 - Sun Sept 21, 2008, at the Saint Mary's County Fairgrounds.

Route 5 across from the Leonardtown High School
Just south of Leonardtown, Md.

42455 Fairgrounds Road
Leonardtown, MD 20650

Are Southern Maryland Moms for Palin/McCain - or Obama/Biden?

2008-09-13T06:18:00.000-07:00

Noticed this succinct post in about Palin in Virginia and here regarding Moms for Palin - are Southern Maryland Moms, Dads, Families leaning Palin or Biden?

New Local Marketing Director for Cherry Cove Hospitality

2008-09-13T05:52:00.000-07:00

A new Marketing Director was recently announced for Southern Maryland and St. Mary's County's most comprehensive and uniquely local business and hospitality services provider for Maryland Land Development, Custom and Modular Homes, Hotels, Apartments, Conference Space, Office Rentals and Storage Units - Cherry Cove Hospitality.

Per this Washington DC Business Services article, Kelly Tygrett recently joined the Lexington Park (PAX River NAS area) Cherry Cove Hospitality team.

Tygrett has over 16 years of communications and marketing , with specific expertise in managing events, conferences and trade shows. Previously, she worked for the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, St. Mary’s County.

Looking for a St. Mary's County Hotel Room - PAX River Naval Air Station area?

2008-09-04T18:18:00.000-07:00

We and family members have stayed for various reasons in Southern Maryland hotels, in St. Mary's and Calvert counties - while the house was being built, when the house overflowed, etc. Our absolute favorite, in terms of convenience, price and great service, is the Lexington Park Hampton Inn - right across from the PAX River Naval Air Station main gate on Rt. 235 smack in the middle of Lexington Park.

Other recommended area PAX River hotels to book a room in St. Mary's county or Calvert county include:

Hampton Inn, Waldorf Maryland
3750 Crain Highway
Waldorf, MD 20603
Phone: 301-632-9600

Hilton Garden Inn, Solomons Island, Maryland
13100 Dowell Road
Dowell, MD 20629
Phone: 301-866-2060

Fairfield Inn by Marriott, Lexington Park
22119 Three Notch Road
Lexington Park, MD 20653
Phone: 301-863-0203

St. Mary's College - Historical St. Mary's City Maryland

2008-09-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful Labor Day in Southern Maryland - took a look around the Historic St. Mary's City area near St. Mary's College (on the western side of the southern maryland penninsula off Rt. 5, across from the PAX River Naval Air Station, which is on the eastern side, off Rt. 235/Rt. 4) - nice cool weather made for lots of poking around and not too much complaining from the kids...

Celebrate 375 years of Maryland (MD) History

2008-08-20T11:56:00.000-07:00

Our friends over in Loudoun County, VA have hopped on board the Celebrate 375 bandwagon, encouraging interest and visits over to St. Mary's County for the MD 375 celebration - celebration of Maryland's founding, centered in St. Mary's county.

"Did you know – Maryland will be celebrating its 375th birthday next year, 2009. “MD375” or “Celebrate 375” activities and events, as they’re known, will take place all over the state – though the focal point will be St. Mary’s county – a.k.a. “Maryland’s Birthplace”. “Celebrate 375” is in fact the official name of the Celebrate Maryland 2009 program underway by the St. Mary’s County Division of Tourism, headquartered in Leonardtown, MD – in the “PAX River” area of Southern Maryland."

Read more about Celebrate Maryland's 375th....

Beautiful August in St. Mary's County

2008-08-19T04:21:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend in St. Mary's - more like October weather than August...

PAX River Naval Air Station Job Fair!

2008-08-10T07:22:00.000-07:00

Look for the upcoming PAX River Naval Air Station Job Fair -

August 26, 3PM-7PM, at the J.T. Daugherty PAX River Naval Air Station area Conference Center in Lexington Park, MD (St. Mary's County, PAX River area).

Arrival Time for Employers: 2:00 - 2:45
Arrival Time for Job Seekers: 3:00 - 7:00

2111 Three Notch Road, Lexington Park, MD

Typically 45-65 companies; 600-800 plus job candidates.

Short List of Confirmed Companies:

HIGHLIGHTS OF CONFIRMED COMPANIES

- AMELEX
- BAE SYSTEMS
- BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON
- CALVERT SYSTEMS ENGINEERING
- CAMBER CORPORATION
- DCS CORPORATION
- DEVRY UNIVERSITY
- EG&G TECHNICAL SERVICES
- ITT CORPORATION, Advanced Engineering & Sciences (AES)
- JOHNSON CONTROLS
- NAVAIR HUMAN RESOURCES
- NAVY ENGINEERING LOGISTICS OFFICE (NELO)
- NORTHROP GRUMMAN
- PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY POLICE
- QINETIQ NORTH AMERICA, MISSION SOLUTIONS GROUP
- STRAYER UNIVERSITY
- UGL UNICCO

**Volunteer sought for PAX River-area blog contributions; we help promote you, and likely longer-term SEO/SEM freelancing opportunities as well! Use form at http://www.kmeinternetmarketing.com.

Summer in St. Mary's County - PAX River children's activities

2008-08-10T06:16:00.000-07:00

Another fabulous summer in the Southern Maryland, St. Mary's county PAX River area near the Naval Air Station - we highly, highly recommend activities as pictured below; the Summer Sailing Day Camp for kids 8-18, at Solomons Island Southern Maryland Sailing Association (Pax River area). Great instructors, protected area, a long list of boating safety, sailing and teamwork activities and instruction, plus swimming and ice cream! For more relaxation, St. Mary's County Lexington Park library offers a great selection of summer reading old (Nancy Drew!) and new, plus an extensive DVD collection. Pt. Lookout National park at the tip of St. Mary's county where the Potomac and Patuxent Rivers meet the Chesapeake Bay has great beaches, fishing pier, picnic site - perfect for a day with the kids, and preparation for some serious crab-catching later as the Jimmies run!

PAX River Government Contractor Services

2008-07-06T18:57:00.000-07:00

Ever notice the densely-packed, sleek office buildings on Rt. 235 near Lexington Park and the PAX River Naval Air Station (NAS)? Most of these are occupied by government contractors, supporting the NAS in everything from human resources to critical aviation engineering and computer systems maintenance. Companies like Lockheed Martin, NAVAIR, BAE Systems, SAIC, Veridian Engineering, DynCorp, ManTech, Booz Allen Hamilton, Sabre Systems, Eagan McAllister, and many others.

We'll point out that the Naval Air Station is the largest employer in our area (hosting over 17,000 personnel, with many more times as much related businesses in the surrounding area), and so many defense contractors coming in and out of the area on long or short-term contracts obviously need quick turnaround when finding Lexington Park apartments, houses, housing contractors, temporary or permanent office space, and storage units.

We can recommend a few long-time, local businesses that cater to PAX River contractor staff, like those from the companies listed above. For example:

PAX River Hotels
Southern Maryland Conference Center Services
Naval Air Station Apartments
PAX River NAS Self Storage

PAX River Fourth of July

2008-07-06T14:34:00.000-07:00

A bit wet for a PAX River Fourth of July - the St. Mary's College River Concert Series "A Jazzy 4th" was a fantastic performance, with Jeff Silberschlag and the Chesapeake Orchestra safely ensconsed under the performance tent, while some drenching thunderstorms had most scurrying for cover, umbrellas or tents...the storms let up just in time for the 1812 overture, and great fireworks over St. Mary's River by 9:15 or so...here's a nice shot from the weekend near the St. Jerome's creek inlet...

Recent St. Mary's County Chamber of Commerce Awards

2008-06-12T17:56:00.000-07:00

As reported by SoMDNews.com (Southern Maryland Newspapers Online), the St. Mary's County Chamber of Commerce recently (May 21st) recognized several local success stories.

These local successes are indicative of the growing commercial base and opportunities for businesses in the area, bolstered by continuing growth and prominence of the PAX River Naval Air Station and region.

"Businesses were nominated by other chamber members for four major awards – the Lighthouse Award, the Beacon Award, the Emerging Business Award and the Community Service Award, based on slightly varying criteria for each."

For example, Cherry Cove Southern Maryland Hospitality was recognized with the Chamber's "Lighthouse Award", which recognizes a company that's been "in business at least four years and has 16 or more employees, has demonstrated revenue growth and job creation, has been recognized for excellence in their industry, has innovative products, customer services, management and marketing practices and has good involvement in the community."

"Headed now in Lexington Park, Cherry Cove was founded in 1977 by Tom Waring with the development of several residential projects near Leonardtown. In 1979, the company recognized the need for affordable housing for military families and opened the Lord Calvert community in Great Mills. In 1983, St. Mary’s tourism was increasing and as a result, Cherry Cove built the Patuxent Inn, a 120-room hotel with a restaurant and lounge on Route 235, which the company owned until 1995. In 1985, the company built and managed Indian Bridge PAX River Apartments, a 112-unit apartment complex in Great Mills. Base realignment and closure decisions of the late 1990s significantly enhanced the economy, and Cherry Cove Hospitality embarked on a series of hotel development and management projects that would add nearly 400 hotel rooms in the Pax River region, like the Hampton Inns in Lexington Park and Waldorf, the J.T. Daugherty Conference Center and the Fairfield Inn in Lexington Park, and recently, the Hilton Garden Inn in Solomons, which was awarded the Hilton brand’s Ramp-Up Award for 2007"

The other winners included Printing Press Inc. in Leonardtown, Anita’s Wedding Cake Company in Lexington Park, and Outback Steakhouse in California.

PAX Naval Air Station Museum Photos

2008-06-05T17:41:00.000-07:00

Took some photos Memorial Day weekend - of the popular "upside-down" plane and helicopter, along with the Patuxent River Naval Air Station Museum (which is under some significant renovation and construction, currently).

Patuxent River Online Blogging

2008-05-18T11:19:00.000-07:00

Here we'll blog about interesting events, businesses, news and entertainment in the Patuxent River (PAX River) area of Southern Maryland (SOMD), near the PAX River Naval Air Station - in particular from our location down in Ridge, MD, on St. Jerome's Creek. Much more to come!