Several years ago, I abandoned the relative serenity of North Carolina’s Outer Banks for the proximity of Maryland’s ocean beaches.
Arrival time became a game: Two hours, 48 minutes from my suburban Virginia home, a new record! Crack open a beer, sit on the balcony, ready for another weekend at the beach.
The transformation from focus and speed to observation and contemplation came in fits and starts over a period of years. Now, a relationship born of familiarity has developed with the places and scenes along the way. I’ve come to value the hours spent driving the back roads to Ocean City and exploring small wonders.
Through the car window, one sees progress in the thousands of acres of farmland lining the road. Some parcels sport new signs extolling organic practices. Pollution-preventing cover crops have become commonplace when fields are fallow. The corn stubble and open land are attracting vultures, snow geese and deer. Once uncommon bald eagles are now everywhere. I marvel at the Kent Island ospreys that continue to raise their young each year atop a highway sign, oblivious to the thousands of cars streaming by beneath them. The inattention appears mutual.
Roads once taken only as shortcuts around traffic jams have surprised with hidden delights.
• Before I reach the Chesapeake Bridge, I wind up getting marvelously lost for more than an hour among the horse farms of Anne Arundel County, Md., the beauty of the land tempering my impatience.
• Stuck bumper-to-bumper on Kent Island, I get off to take a breather and am soon eating crab cake sandwiches and listening to music with the locals at the Jetty Restaurant & Dock Bar.
• Veering off Route 50 to the parallel Route 662, I notice a marker on the right: The Wye Oak, once recognized as the largest white oak in the nation, succumbed to a 2002 thunderstorm at about age 450. Now, a new cloned oak grows from its stump.
Interesting diversions
Detours are no longer just happenstance, and the usual three-hour trip often intentionally stretches much longer.
A meander through the historic district of Easton reveals scores of shops, restaurants, farmers markets and other distractions that easily fill half a day. A stop at the visitors center in Cambridge leads me to an exhibit honoring Harriet Tubman, followed by the nearby Harriet Tubman Museum and many local points along the Underground Railroad. A diversion to St. Michaels is rewarded with an afternoon at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, where I spend time in the lighthouse, easily imagining what it was like to be a lonely keeper more than a century ago.
But my favorite is Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, a wild place unchanged from days when escaped slaves traversed the mosquito-infested swamps in a quest for freedom.
Back on Route 50, I think of the still-unexplored roadside venues and experiences between Ocean City and the Virginia border. The ferry from Bellevue to Oxford, Rabbit Hill Music Store in Easton, Herb ‘n Craft, more than a few psychic readers, Unicorn Bookshop and the delicious-smelling Linkwood-Salem Volunteer Fire Company chicken BBQ stand all still beckon.
But on warm summer mornings, as I get ready for the ride, my Type-A tendencies are often reignited with anticipation of crime novels read beachside, a coconut chocolate chip ice cream cone from Dumser’s, an early-morning run on the boardwalk and a cold beer at Fager’s Island as the sun sets.
Put the pedal to the metal and flip on the radar detector. Ocean City, here I come.
Chesapeake Bay Insider’s Guide
Holly’s Motel & Restaurant (108 Jackson Creek Road, Grasonville, Md., 410-827-8711, Milepost 43, ). First stop, the 55-year-old landmark for a breakfast of chipped beef over a biscuit. You can also pick up fried chicken dinners prepared Eastern Shore-style.
Prime Outlets (441 Outlet Center Drive, Queenstown, Md., 410-827-8699, Milepost 47, ). Stock up on summer vacation essentials at the outlet mall’s 60 stores: Tommy Bahama shirts, L.L. Bean beach towels, trays of Pepperidge Farms cookies and more.
Amish Country Farmers Market (101 Marlboro Ave., Easton, Md., 410-822-8989, Milepost 65, ). In addition to homemade sweets and Amish meats and salads, the market features dozens of crafts stands selling such items as handmade children’s clothes.
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (213 N. Talbot St., St. Michaels, 410-745-2916, 10 miles west of Milepost 65, ). Drive through the inviting town of St. Michaels to reach this waterfront museum set on 18 acres. While there, pull up a crab pot, watch traditional boat builders at work and learn about how rising waters are threatening the bay’s islands. Cost: $13 adults; $6 kids ages 6-17.
Harriet Tubman Museum & Learning Center (424 Race St., Cambridge, Md., 410-228-0401, Milepost 80, ). The recently reopened museum honors one of the most famous agents of the Underground Railroad, who was born into slavery in Dorchester County. Pick up a free copy of the 125-mile driving tour, “Finding a way to freedom — Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad,” which details key exhibits, homes, churches, etc., around the region. Free.
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (2145 Key Wallace Drive, Cambridge, 410-228-2677, 12 miles south of Milepost 82, fws ). The visitors center for this 25,000-acre refuge sports an eagle’s nest, wildlife exhibits and live video feeds from the osprey and eagle cameras. The nearby four-mile Wildlife Drive threads through pristine marshes. $3 per vehicle.
Goose on the Roof Antiques (26510 Ocean Gateway, Hebron, Md., 410-742-0010, Milepost 104). “Come take a gander” reads the sign on the 10,000-square-foot building. And so you must. Antiques vendors offer everything from carved duck decoys to baseball cards to Elvis Presley lamps, and outside a treasure trove of old red wagons, garden furniture and landscaping art.
Chesapeake Bay Farm (8905 Logtown Road, Berlin, Md., 410-629-1997, Milepost 131, ). Worcester County’s last remaining dairy farm supplies the hormone- and antibiotic-free raw material for butter, cheeses and at least 16 flavors of ice cream. Our favorite flavors are Coconut Joy and Uncle Pete’s Chocolate Insanity.
Carol Sottili
