Historic Sotterley

"We (St. Mary's County Amateur Radio Association) "rented" the barn for Amateur Radio ARRL Field Day which happens once a year . The club has been doing this for a few years now. The entire property is a great place to visit and the people running it are great. We hope to go back year after year. We encourage the public to visit us when we are there. Amateur radio will still be standing if all other communications are down. It cannot fail, not like the infrastructure of cell, internet, GPS, etc. There was plenty of parking, plenty of room and trees to put up antennas, plenty of room inside to setup multiple stations, and the building was air conditioned. Does it get much better?"

"This place was awesome. Very interesting buildings and history and the gardens are so beautiful."

"Was unable to view indoor exhibits as they were closed until next season. The outdoor views however were beautiful. Well maintained and easy to navigate plantation structures. Weather was beautiful and I really enjoyed the experience."

"I traveled to the area all because of Sotterley, which I heard of in a book I read called Sunflower Sisters. We did the grounds and house tour with Eve who was a wonderful guide. We chose this rather than the self tour so that we could hear all the stories etc that you don't otherwise get. Not only a beautiful setting but full of history and stories that go back hundreds of years. The slave cabin was the most interesting to me and the reason I had to see Sotterley. The tour touched on some of the enslaved history but I wish it did more, the exhibits did also but not in depth. I wish there was a seperate tour to focus solely on the lives of those enslaved on the plantation as they held slaves for over 160 years. The plantation thrived on the backs of their enslaved, if it wasn't for them it would not have prospered. I was thankful to have a place to pay honor to those who suffered through this atrocious period of America's history."

"The grounds are gorgeous and the guides are very informative. I did have some questions that couldn't be answered, but with the plantations long history, that is to be expected. I am usually not a fan of places that owned slaves for obvious reasons, but one of the guides is a descendant of a slave that worked on the property and she changed my view point by explaining their part in keeping the plantation up and running and how important they were to the history. This is great for school trips or any event such as a wedding."