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ST. MICHAEL'S & Oxford
St. Michael’s is a charming quaint town and a delight for
any boater as a vacation destination. It has a wonderful maritime museum and
great little shops and restaurants. We were fortunate to get a spectacular
location to dock the boat. We had a great view of the maritime museum and the
Crab Claw restaurant across the harbor. We watched the watermen go out early
every morning and sometimes do some crabbing right in the harbor in the very
early morning hours before anyone was stirring. Every afternoon when the winds
picked up, we’d see the town skipjack and another classic antique sloop going
out for an afternoon sail. We watched the local swans each day as they made
their regular route around the harbor which always ended each afternoon over at
the Crab Claw for any leftovers that the diners felt inclined to throw to them.
Each morning, our friend, Bill Wilson, would make his early morning rounds walking Brittany and Denver, the Wilson’s huge, but lovable Leonberger dogs. Everyone knows Bill and Bonnie in St. Michaels or recognizes them because of the dogs and knows Bonnie for her local theatrical work. Bill has been active helping out designing and building stage sets. During our visit Bonnie was working on her new role in the town’s new play, A little Light Music with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. It opened to a great success at the Avalon Theatre in nearby Eaton in late October.
The day we arrived Bill was in Oxford busy log canoe racing, which if you don’t know is a 150 year old tradition in St. Michaels and the Chesapeake. They are sail boats built by shaping 3-5 pine logs and then lacing them together with iron rods. The crew hangs off the sides on 12-15 foot spring boats to keep the canoes from flipping over. I’m sure I’m not giving the sport the most accurate description but sure sounds fun and exciting. We didn’t expect to see Bill or Bonnie that day and spent the afternoon cleaning the boat. We were hot and sweaty and ready for a nice cool Margarita. We could hear the great band at Foxy’s all afternoon and decided to join the crowd. Foxy’s is an outdoor bar on the docks and it was bustling with standing room only. Everyone was enjoying themselves, having a cool beer, and devouring “peel and eat spiced shrimp”. Pretty soon we were surprised by the arrival of Bill and Bonnie who came to say hello. It was great to see them. It had been about two years since they joined us for a week and a half on our other boat in Alaska. We had a typical Eastern shore dinner on the outside deck of the restaurant next door which mostly was crab cakes and had a great time catching up.
We pretty much just relaxed in St. Michaels just enjoying its charm. We checked out all the shops and found a great wooden swan for a friend in California that the store shipped to them. We of course had to get St. Michael t-shirts as mementos to wear when we got home.
Bill took us through the grounds of the St. Michaels
Maritime Museum. It’s a thrilling experience to see all the old boats and the
fine job they do restoring them and explaining the history of the waterman on
the Chesapeake. They are really doing a great job there and of course the old
lighthouse that has been moved there is more a trademark of St. Michael’s than
the “fooling the British”.
We marveled at the preservation of the little town. They all seem to take pride in restoring and preserving their history. Some of the houses are so small it’s a wonder that families lived in them. They almost look like doll houses. We our bikes rode around the little inlets where some beautiful homes grace the shore with their large green lawns lined with cat tails at the waters edge. All seemed to have their own family of ducks and swans nearby. It’s a heavenly place.
One afternoon Bill invited Larry to go racing with him and
his buddies out in the bay. This would be a new experience for Larry to join
a bunch of hard core sailors. Bonnie and her friend Kristy would come for
drinks on the boat where we would be able to watch them on the bay. Of course,
as luck would have it, the wind dropped to nothing that afternoon, and it was
comical to see them out there in the bay at a stand still or barely moving. We
would look up several minutes later to see how they were doing and they’d still
be in the same spot.
After sailing we all went to a nearby restaurant for dinner. We had a great time that evening laughing and getting to know their fun friends. I did get eaten alive that night by mosquitoes that night but I think I was the only one.
On our last night Bill brought us to their house for drinks on their fabulous huge wrap around porch as we over looked Broad Creek. They have a fabulous house, nestled in 12 acres of mostly wooded waterfront. It’s everything you would ever want. At the end of their long private dock is their beautiful blue hulled sailboat named Adagio and a lift for their fun runabout which the dogs take over when they’re not on their sail boat. They’ve done a wonderful job over the last couple years making their place a real “estate” with arbors, and brick walls capped with the welcoming pineapple symbols, and flowers everywhere. Their swimming pool is lovingly and whimsically decorated with comical frogs in all kinds of funny situations which Bonnie insists are Bill’s contribution. We had a fun time watching Ziggy chasing and herding Denver around his own yard. I think Ziggy would have liked to stay.
OXFORD, MD – Eastern Shore, ChesapeakeAs the busy Labor Day
Weekend had arrived we had to move on because St. Michael’s is a popular boating
destination and the docks were totally booked before we even got there. We
could’ve have stayed there the summer as it was such a pleasant place. Bill
decided to join us for the trip from St. Michael’s to Oxford which is a short 4
and a half hour trip by boat. Of course, it would be much less on the fast
power boats. Bill rode his bike to the boat and we put it on the back cockpit.
He would ride his bike back home when we reached Oxford. Even though it was an
almost 5 hour boat ride, about 50 miles, it would be 15 miles by land from
Oxford to St. Michaels. Bill would have to take the oldest privately run ferry
service in America to cross back over the Tred Avon River to Bellevue Road which
is supposed to be one of the most scenic bicycle rides in the county so
hopefully the ride home was enjoyable even though a long day.
We could only stay one night at Oxford. Again, it was pre-reserved because of the holiday. It was a small old marina, jam packed with sailboats and our boat looked like the Queen Mary in there. Mears Marina right at the entrance to Oxford had a raised swimming pool that many spent the afternoon at and a busy fuel dock that everyone in the area used from recreational boaters to the local watermen.
We put the bikes down almost immediately because we only had the afternoon to see Oxford as we had to leave in the morning. This was a quiet place, not much happening here as far as tourism goes. The most famous landmark, I guess, is the old Robert Morris Inn which dates back to 1710. Morris ran a shipping business that was so profitable he was able to lend huge sums of money to the colonies and practically funded the war against Britain. He also was a signer to Declaration of Independence. It’s said that author James Michener spent a lot of time here when he was doing research on his book, Chesapeake, and has given their crab cakes a thumb up. It’s a funny old tavern/inn, painted bright yellow with busy white fretwork on the railing. Inside it’s warm and cozy with low dark ceilings and wood paneling and old crickety floors that creak and sway when you walk.
The main thoroughfare through town is lined with quaint old homes, many dating from the 1700s and most have a trademark picket fence identifying their front yard with each picket having a rounded top and a typical hole cut through.
They have a fabulous high quality antiques store in town. I was amazed at the items. Some really great pieces and expensive, really museum quality. We poked our noses in a little gift shop that was no bigger than a doll house and bought a few things that were on sale, like some nautical bowls that would replace the ones that have broken on the trip in bad seas in Central America.
We happened into Pier St. Marina and Restaurant on the Choptank side of Oxford just as we were riding down a road. They let us eat on the deck with Ziggy and the food was great. I think I had had my best and most delicious crab cake yet there. Larry had crab and corn fritters and a delicious fresh salad that looked great. We spent the quiet evening in and enjoyed the peacefulness of the area.
Now on to Cambridge or
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St. Michael’s was our first town to visit on Maryland’s
Eastern Shore. It’s the town famous for fooling the British by hanging lanterns
in trees and boats away from town. It was trickery at its best as it drew off
British fire and prevented the British from damaging the town during a night
attack. The settlers darkened the lights of their houses and stores and fooled
the British by making them think the town was in a different location. I love
historical stories like that. There was one brick house in town that did take a
couple cannon balls and it is said that they are still wedged in the structure
from the War of 1812.
Each morning Bill would stop by with the dogs and some
mornings we’d walk with him and bring Ziggy. We’d go to a neighborhood café
which was an old house converted into a small café. We’d all sit on the front
porch and have breakfast. Brittany and Denver, the leonbergers, practically
took up the whole porch once they sprawled out. The owner always brought out
two large bowls of water for the big dogs and a separate mini one for Ziggy.
Now that’s hospitality!
We ended our evening with a delightful meal at The Bistro.
Bill and I split some of the most delicious steamed mussels and we dipped their
fresh warm homemade bread in the tasty broth. We had a great time and enjoyed
visiting and will miss Bill and Bonnie. Hope that they will join us for a
portion of the next summer adventure in New England or Nova Scotia.
We stopped in the
neighborhood store/market. This was the local gossip center and everyone seemed
to drop by and get a coffee, roll, pick up a paper, milk and see what the latest
gossip was. That day, they were talking about some fight that had gone the
previous day at a local antique show and the next morning they were talking
about a suicide in Eaton the day before. Whatever produce that was fresh and
local at the moment was piled in old wooden fruit baskets on the big front
wooden counter. I picked up some fresh plums that afternoon and the next
morning it was freshly baked cinnamon rolls. I’d leave Larry out front with
Ziggy and I could tell Larry could get into this as he sat on their antique
wooden bench where he’d sit and enjoy a cup of coffee and what everyone come and
go. It’s always nice to have Ziggy as an ice breaker to meet people. They
always seem to come up and ask questions about him and it leads into another
conversation.
Oxford has a Grand Banks
and a Hinkley dealer here and they lend a bit of tradition to the area. There
are some great boat yards that do wonderful old classic boat restoration and had
a fabulous display of some of their work. The inlet was composed of several
inlets with modest homes with docks and traditional boatyards. It was a
photographer’s paradise. It was quiet and unassuming, that is, until the fire
siren went off. It sounds like an old air raid siren. It just overwhelms the
whole town. We happened to be riding our bikes when one went off and couldn’t
but help stop and watch as within a minute several volunteers drove to the
station in old pick up trucks and SUVs and hopped into the fire truck and
ambulance and were off. It was impressive. We found the same system in St.
Michaels too. They are all volunteer fire departments and it’s an amazing site
and we were impressed how well the system works.