Assawoman Bay (), once called Assawoman Sound, is a lagoon that is located between
Ocean City, Maryland
Ocean City, officially the Town of Ocean City, is an Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic resort town in Worcester County, Maryland, Worcester County, Maryland along the East Coast of the United States. The population was 6,844 at the 2020 United States cens ...
and mainland
Delmarva
The Delmarva Peninsula, or simply Delmarva, is a large peninsula and proposed state on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by the vast majority of the state of Delaware and parts of the Eastern Shore regions of Maryland and Virginia ...
. The bay is located on the northern end of the city, the bay on the southern end is called the
Isle of Wight Bay
Isle of Wight Bay is a lagoon that separates part of mainland Worcester County, Maryland from the midtown part of Ocean City, also in Worcester County. To the north, it connects to the Assawoman Bay just south of the Assawoman Bay Bridge, and to t ...
. Another bay called
Little Assawoman Bay
Little Assawoman Bay is a body of water in Sussex County, Delaware. It is connected from Assawoman Bay to the south by a narrow canal known locally as "The Ditch," and is connected to Indian River Bay
Indian River Bay is a body of water in Sus ...
extends into
southern Delaware, and is geologically separated from the main estuaries, by a narrow strait locally referred to as "The Ditch" which crosses the
Transpeninsular Line
The Transpeninsular Line (at approximately 38°27′ N) is a surveyed line, the eastern half of which forms the north–south border between Delaware and Maryland. The border turns roughly north from the midpoint of the line towards the Twelve-M ...
. The larger bay is sometimes called "Big Assawoman Bay", to distinguish it from the smaller bay, though this is often meant to be a
tongue-in-cheek
The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner.
History
The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scott ...
rendering of the name.
External links
Assawoman Bay watershed profile delawarewatersheds.org
Bays of Delaware
Bays of Maryland
Bodies of water in Sussex County, Delaware
Bodies of water of Worcester County, Maryland
Lagoons of the United States
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