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Tidewater Maryland: Sailing, Seafood and Serenity
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By Lora Meisner
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Maryland.com
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 | | Blackwater Wildlife Refuge |
The names, Oxford, Cambridge, Easton, may have you thinking about the English countryside. But located between the frenzy of the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. metro area and the equally frenetic Maryland and Delaware shores, are a group of charming towns and villages in the Eastern Tidewater area of Maryland. Driving east from Annapolis and crossing Chesapeake Bay on the spectacular Bay Bridge, you arrive in Talbot County.
The Tidewater region boasts the Chesapeake Bay, the largest inlet on the Atlantic seaboard that offers visitors thousands of miles of shoreline for exploration. The Bay, with challenging yet interesting sailing opportunities was first explored by Captain John Smith in 1608. The Lords Calvert and Baltimore followed to settle on these prime pieces of real estate-farmland with access to major waterways. Now the finest yachts and sailboats can easily traverse the 200+ miles from one end of the Bay to the other.
Talbot County
The "Colonial Capital of the Eastern Shore" and the Talbot County seat is the town of Easton, Maryland. With history, charm, and culture, Easton has gained the label of the "8th Best Small Town in America." Home of the gracious Tidewater Inn, Easton provides a central location for biking day trips to other charming towns along the Tred Avon and Miles Rivers.
For a small town, Easton has an interesting variety of things to see and do. You can attend a concert at Easton's performing arts center, The Avalon Theatre, and view a permanent collection of art by both local and national artists in the Academy Art Museum. For history buffs, there are many homes and buildings dating back to the 18th century that are open to visitors, including the James Neall House with its award-winning gardens. Antique shops, boutiques, restaurants, quaint inns and B&B's, await you.
Continuing along the Miles River, you will find one of the most charming towns on the Eastern Shore - St. Michaels. During the summer of 1608, Captain John Smith called this area, "delightsome land." That hasn't changed and many others who followed, like the Calverts, the Talbots, Frederick Douglass, and James Michener (who occasionally stayed here while writing his book "Chesapeake") described it in the same way.
As one of the major shipbuilding centers during the Colonial period, the British attacked St. Michaels during the War of 1812-the Battle of St. Michaels. It has continued to be a shipbuilding center and a frequented harbor on the Chesapeake, only now the "ships" have been replaced by pleasure craft. On any given weekend year around, but especially during the summer, a visitor will see sailboats with ports of call from Maine to Florida.
If you're a sailing enthusiast, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is an interesting place to visit. St. Michaels, home of the notable Inn at Perry Cabin and the Harbourtowne Golf Resort and Conference Center, has a charming waterfront with harbor, plenty of seafood restaurants to choose from and more charming shops, boutiques and galleries than your wallet can afford. There's plenty to see and do with weekends being the most popular.
From St. Michaels, you may want to head down the road to Tilghman Island, which is surrounded by the Chesapeake and is another terrific place to stop if your happen to be cruising by. Tilghman Island is a working waterman's village and is the home to the last commercial sailing fleet in North America, the skipjacks. It also has excellent seafood restaurants, a variety of places to dine, shop and lodge in a very unspoiled and relaxed environment.
South of Easton, along the Tred Avon River is Oxford, MD. Much like its English counterpart, Oxford is one of the oldest towns in Maryland. Economically Oxford has had its ups and downs since it was established in the early 1600's. Now it prides itself on its relaxed and noncommercial atmosphere. Oxford has its own museum and has the oldest privately operated ferry in the country. It's a colonial village with brick sidewalks, a waterfront park, white picket fences and an "Our Town" feeling. The Robert Morris Inn with its addition, the Sandaway Lodge, sits on several acres of waterfront property. The Inn boasts that it serves the "Best Crab Cakes" and cites James Michener as its authority.
Dorchester County
Called the heart of Chesapeake country, Dorchester County, is home to one of the largest wildlife refuges on the eastern shore, the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Thousands of tundra swans, snow geese and other wildlife seek refuge each year at Blackwater. Birdwatchers from all areas of the East Coast visit in the fall to view the arrival of flocks from as far away as the Arctic Circle
The county seat, Cambridge, showcases homes and buildings in the Federal and Queen Anne styles. Six miles west of Cambridge is the self-contained community of Spocott. For anyone with a quixotic sense, a visit to the Spocott Windmill is a must. It is the only remaining post windmill for grinding grain.
Cambridge offers the visitor a walking tour that includes Christ Church with its beautiful stained glass windows. Local art is displayed in the Dorchester Arts Center. Cambridge was home to several famous people, among them, Harriet Tubman, called the "Moses of her people" because of her work in the Underground Railroad freeing more than 300 slaves. Harriet, a slave herself, ran away only to return to Tidewater to free other slaves.
After sharp shooting their way throughout the West with Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show, Annie Oakley and Frank Butler retired to Cambridge. Their uniquely decorated bungalow is open to visitors. Cambridge also hosts a Maritime Museum and the Dorchester County Heritage Museum.
If museums aren't on your to-do list, Cambridge has shops, boutiques, a variety of restaurants and accommodations including inns and B&B's to satisfy the interests and tastes of any visitor.
These are just a few of the highlights of the Eastern Tidewater. For the person who likes the water, boating and sailing, history, shopping, eating and just about anything else, you will find something to enjoy while visiting this unique area of Maryland. If the crowds at the beach and the hustle and bustle of Baltimore or D.C. are not appealing to you, come and visit the more relaxed and tranquil Eastern Shore of Maryland.
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