It happened last month, but word just arrived today that the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail has become a reality. Turns out President Bush signed the enacting legislation back on December 19th.

The trail is designed to commemorate the exploratory voyages of Captain Smith on the bay and its tributaries back in 1607-09. Coincidentally, this year marks the 400th anniversary of that first voyage and his establishment of Jamestown.

Of course, the trail will require you to get your feet wet. It starts in Jamestown, follows Smith's first voyage along the Eastern Shore of Maryland and then crosses Chesapeake Bay to present-day Baltimore, then runs south along the Western Shore and then up the Potomac River to Washington, D.C., before backtracking to Jamestown. The second leg of the trail goes up the bay to the mouth of the Susquehanna River. On its return to Jamestown the trail has stops along the Patuxent and Rappahannock rivers.