Talbot County, Maryland

Oysters and Rockfish and Crabs – Oh My!

BY OLIVER WHITE

Over the years, my partner Amanda and I have visited the ports of Talbot County aboard sailboats and powerboats, paddled her marshes and peddled her country lanes from village to village. We have joined the throngs in Easton at the Waterfowl Festival, marveling at the avian art and delighting in the retriever demonstrations, and we’ve luxuriated at waterfront B&Bs on secluded country estates. But on this visit, we had a specific mission in mind: we were intent on discovering some of the best dishes at some of the best restaurants Talbot County has to offer. We were in hot pursuit of oysters and rockfish and crabs, what some describe as the Chesapeake Bay’s “holy trinity.”

We knew from the start that we’d never be able to cover as many of the places as we’d like on the few days we had to spare, but we were determined to do our best. As with any good mission, we planned our strategy carefully. My partner and I began with a review of the official Talbot County website. The list of restaurants and eateries is as extensive as it is alluring.

There are dozens of seafood places, ranging from tables covered with butcher paper to white linen tablecloths. However, seafood is not the only option among the plethora of eateries. There are those serving Italian, Asian, Mexican and South American and all-American burgers and BBQ. Others offer just

breakfast or just lunch, or concentrate on baked goods, sweets and ice cream, like the highly recommended Scottish Highland Creamery at the Oxford Mews.

But our quest was for seafood. Me, I’m a sucker for oysters. My better half favors crabs. And we both enjoy fish dishes. We booked a room at the Tidewater Inn smack the center of Easton’s historic district and headed straight for the Hunter’s Tavern for a late lunch. The highlight was the cream of crab soup, full of big chunks of lump crab meat and adorned with a dollop of sherry.

We walked off our meal with a stroll around town. We spent the afternoon browsing among the many art galleries

and antique shops -- and of course stopped by Vintage Books on Washington Street. We toured the Third Haven Meeting House, an inspirationally austere wooden building built in 1684 with timbers hewn with broadaxes. Notably, William Penn worshipped there. We hadn’t been since Quaker friends of ours were married there 40 years ago. William Penn sailed back to England on a ship, while the newlyweds departed the scene on a motorcycle.

Our appetites revived, we strolled down Harrison Street to have dinner at Legal Assets, a bistro featuring craft food and spirits. It was a little too cool for seating in the outdoor garden, so we took a booth inside. I was tempted to try the rockfish, but opted for one of the specials: blackened blue channel catfish on a bed of sauteed spinach. It was served with lemon beurre blanc sauce festooned with lump crab meat. It was so good, I forgot to take note of what my partner ordered.

Neither of us are big dessert eaters, but the flourless chocolate cake proved too enticing to resist. The texture was more like chocolate mousse. We fought over the last spoonful of the ricotta cream topping. We were grateful that our room was nearby.

The next morning, we enjoyed breakfast at the Hunter’s Tavern. I devoured the Delmarva Omelet with Virginia ham, Maryland crab, spinach and cheddar cheese, while Amanda, just this once, passed on the seafood and went for a parfait layered with yogurt, oatmeal and fresh fruit. 

Top: Cream of Crab Soup at Hunter’s Tavern

Middle: Blackened Blue Channel Catfish on a bed of sauteed spinach at Legal Assets

Bottom: Flourless Chocolate Cake at Legal Assets

For lunch, we drove to St. Michaels for the oyster stew at the Inn at Perry Cabin. The inn is named for Capt. Oliver Hazzard Perry, hero of the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812. There are portraits of him in the lobby, along with a wooden ship’s figurehead carved in his likeness. The expansive dining room looks out over the Miles River, which we

admired from our table by the bank of windows. The stew lived up to its reputation, with plump local oysters in a rich broth lightly flavored with ginger and lemongrass.

On our way out of town, we stopped by the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum to see the progress on their new visitor center. Construction is well

underway. When it opens in the fall of 2023, it will house the gift shop and two exhibit spaces as well as the visitor center. Incidentally, I’ve heard that the museum has purchased the property where the Crab Claw restaurant is located. Museum officials are still working out what they’ll use the site for, but meanwhile, this will be the Crab Claw’s last season, so plan to go soon if you’re into steamed crabs.

For Amanda and me, it was off to Oxford for dinner. We took the ferry from Bellevue, of course, and had a stroll along the town’s main street. Like the ferry service, the town dates to 1683. The Robert Morris Inn was built as River View House in 1710 and has served as an inn since 1800. George Washington indeed slept there, as did Revolutionary War financier Robert Morris and other Founding Fathers, not to mention James Michener, who is said to have outlined his novel “Chesapeake” here.

We had an early dinner at the inn. Amanda started with a special wild mushroom salad with cranberries, cherry tomatoes, smoked bacon and sprinkles of feta caressed with a truffle oil dressing, while I sampled the smoked bluefish pâté with crostini and a lightly dressed green salad.

For our main courses, we shared a special flounder with crab Imperial over zucchini and baby potatoes and the inn’s famous crab cake with zucchini and potatoes. The crab cake’s crisp panko breadcrumb crust tenderly bound big chunks of lump crab meat kissed with tarragon. Utterly stuffed, we were tempted to take a room for another night, but deadlines and dog sitters

Top: Delmarva Omelet at Hunter’s Tavern

Middle: Oyster Stew at the Inn at Perry Cabin.

made us recall that the drive home wasn’t all that long after all.

Earlier, on our way out of St. Michaels, we had stopped by Ava’s Pizzeria and Wine Bar and ordered a large pizza to take home for future reference. A friendly baker who referred to herself as a “pizza-rista” set my handcrafted pie to bake in the wood-fired oven. While I waited, I popped next door to the Eastern Shore Brewery. I wanted to consult with an expert to find the proper local beer to pair with pepperoni. The owner recommended a Vienna Lager and I bought a six pack to go.

Somehow the pizza made it home intact and the lager, indeed, made eating it an extra special treat when I re-heated a couple of slices the next day.

On the drive back to the Western Shore, we debriefed on our mission and decided that it was a marginal success. While every dish we tried surpassed our expectations, and every venue we visited was a truly delightful experience, we were disappointed not to have had the time to dine at other restaurants and explore other towns in Talbot County. For instance, I’ve heard that Chesapeake Landing in McDaniel is, without a doubt, the locals’ favorite. And then there are all the spots on Tilghman Island. Ah well, we’ll try those the next time we venture across the Bay.

Oliver White is a travel writer who lives aboard a yachtified buyboat on the Rhode River with his partner Amanda and their Newfoundland retriever, Max.

Top: Flounder with Crab Imperial at Robert Morris Inn

Middle: Wild Mushroom Salad at Robert Morris Inn

Bottom: Crab Cake at Robert Morris Inn

Pickering Creek AUDUBON CENTER Bird Walk

BY REN GILBERT

Ornithologist Dr. Wayne Bell began welcoming a group of avid birders who had gathered at the Pickering Creek Audubon Center in Easton on a splendid spring morning. Mid-sentence, he cocked his head to one side and cried, “Did you hear that? That...There it is again. A white-eyed vireo—first hearing and sighting of the spring!” We hadn’t even left the parking

lot and we were already surrounded by a multitude of bird calls and songs. “Witch-ity witch-ity witch-ity!” called a common yellowthroat from the nearby meadow.

“Sometimes we see them, sometimes we hear them,” explained Susie Pratt, a member of the Talbot Bird Club and a volunteer at Pickering Creek. “We’ve learned so much from Wayne,

ever since a birding class started through the Chesapeake Forum during COVID—it was a great chance to get outside.” Pratt coordinates these weekly monitoring walks. “We accrue volunteer hours counting birds as citizen scientists,” she explained enthusiastically.

The bird walks are one of many programs the nonprofit Pickering Creek

Audubon Center hosts throughout the year for school groups, families and the general public, including guided nature walks, paddles on the creek, gardening and environmental education classes.

I had joined this group of volunteers for a walk on the center’s 450-acre site on this tidal tributary of the Wye River. Bell retired from his position as the founding director of the Washington College Center for Environment and Society and currently teaches through the Maryland Ornithological Society.

Like Mr. Rogers preparing for his day in the neighborhood, Bell changed into his birding boots and secured his scope and binoculars. “It’s best to use a pair of 8x42s,” he advised. “Then you’ll have a

wide enough viewing field, with just the right amount of magnification. Too much and it will be difficult to view birds that are moving in the trees.”

Mark Scallion, the Pickering Creek Center’s executive director who accompanied the group, agreed. “You can get a decent pair of Vortex or Celestron binoculars for about $100,” he noted. “The more you spend, the better the quality of the lenses, the more fun you’ll have birding.”

Just over 20 years ago, Pickering Creek Center’s site consisted only of agricultural fields. Through the donation of land by the Olds family, the center now includes a diversity of habitats: meadows, fresh and brackish marsh, a mile of shoreline along the creek, tidal and non-tidal wetlands and a mature hardwood forest.

As we set out toward the meadow, Talbot Bird Club member Lisa Sargeant opened up the eBird app on her phone and began recording our finds. It was an active and exciting time to take a walk on the numerous trails. “Right now we are seeing the songbird migration,” Bell

explained. “Winter species such as the white-throated sparrow are heading out, and our spring birds are setting up their nests. The shorebird migration will peak in May.”

Though we spotted birds as they flew by every now and then, our group identified more of them by the plethora of sounds all around us. Bell explained that many bird calls are composed of triplets, and often sound like words.

“Clear! Clear! Clear! ” We heard the greater yellowlegs, a shorebird that breeds in the Arctic tundra, cry out as it flew off from the pond’s edge. Bell recognized a tufted titmouse by its “Peter, Peter, Peter,” not to be confused with the white-throated sparrow who calls, “O Sweet Canada, Canada, Canada! ” Two bald eagles raced overhead as Bell noted that it takes five years for them to get a fully white head and tail.

“Each habitat consists of four components: food, water, shelter and space,” Scallion explained. Mourning doves shelter from predators in the cedars in the winter. Tree swallows often

KAREN GILBERT

Previous Page: Dunlin is a shorebird, in this case migrating through this habitat in spring on its way to its Arctic breeding grounds.

Above: Pickering Creek volunteers Susie Pratt (left) and Peggy Ford stroll through the meadow, listening for songbirds.

Right: Cedar waxwing, a species that capitalizes on the berries and other fruits of the center's extensive scrub and edge habitats.

Below: “We have seen as many as a dozen eggs in one wood duck nesting box. When it’s time to incubate the eggs, the mother duck moves them all into a neat order on top of the downy feathers.” — Quote & photo by Mary Carpenter (Talbot Bird Club member)

take up residence in the numerous bluebird boxes along the meadow trail.

Since formal bird monitoring began 11 years ago, with the use of eBird as a recording tool, Pickering Creek volunteers have counted 233 species on the center’s collective “life list.”

And Pickering Creek is just one of the many places in Talbot County to take a bird walk. The Bill Burton Fishing Pier State Park on the Choptank River, Black Walnut Point on the southernmost tip of Tilghman Island,

Claiborne Landing on Eastern Bay, Marengo Woods Wildlife Preserve near Easton, Mill Creek Sanctuary near Wye Mills and Poplar Island are all excellent places to view Talbot County’s 331 sighted bird species.

Informative online options exist to help enhance your birding experience. Birdcast.info works with weather radar to report what’s seen flying over an area

in peak season. Merlin is a popular app that identifies birds by sight with a photo or sound by listening to the calls occurring in real time.

Ren Gilbert is profoundly grateful she gets to write, photo, sail, teach, and live on the Eastern Shore of the ever-changing canvas that is the Chesapeake Bay.

DR. WAYNE BELL

MARY CARPENTER

BIKE Talbot

BY MARGARET ENLOE-NORTH

When it comes to exploring on my bike, I am a “poker.” I like to poke around and down roads that I have not ridden to see what’s there. In Talbot County, these scenic detours will take you into beautiful woodlands, past marshes, through little hamlets and ultimately to the water or just a scenic dead end. The 7-mile ride from Oxford to St. Michaels offers many side road possibilities for a poker like me but this time I’m mostly sticking to the main route, which is a treat all by itself; one that starts with a historic ferry ride. Once you’re across the Tred Avon River, this route meanders past pastoral farmlands, forests and through the small Eastern Shore villages of Bellevue and Royal Oak before landing you in historic St. Michaels.

I love the first mile of this ride aboard the Oxford-Bellevue Ferry. This tenminute crossing from the Oxford ferry dock is a peaceful way to experience the Eastern Shore as well as views of the expansive Choptank River. My favorite part of this experience is smelling the breeze, all the while knowing that I am riding on the nation’s oldest privately owned ferry service, having been in operation since 1683. The ferry runs seven days a week, 9 a.m. to sunset, starting at the end of April and going through October. Be sure to check the schedule online.

Disembarking on the other side of the Tred Avon River, I can’t resist taking a detour in the village of Bellevue, an historically Black community that used to be home to several seafood and vegetable canneries and packing houses. A quick ride off the main road

has me looping through the residential village and just appreciating the community and its history.

A prominent Black family, the Turners, whose patriarch was a schooner captain named William A. Turner, owned and operated the W.A. Turner and Sons Packing Co. and the Bellevue Seafood Co. during the second half of the 20th century. Though the businesses had closed by 1998, the buildings still stand at the town dock on Tar Creek. In their time, they were the only two African American-owned seafood packing houses on the Eastern Shore. As late as the 1970s, as many as 70 employees picked crabs and shucked oysters and soft-shell clams there.

Back out on the main road, I’m off for the next village, Royal Oak. For the next

three miles, rounding each bend on the winding Bellevue Road is a treat. Every few hundred yards, the view changes from woodlands and canopied side roads to expansive estates, farms and fields. Some are full of last fall’s shorn corn harvest while others are ablaze with bright yellow buttercups or softly verdant with winter wheat that hasn’t yet turned brown. My nose gets a treat, too, enjoying the scents on the breeze from those fields, nearby creeks, budding trees, freshly cut grass, and blooming flowers and vines.

Three miles later, as I roll into the village of Royal Oak, I stop in the parking lot at the Royal Oak Methodist Church (on the left) where there is a water and refreshment stop for bikers on hot summer days. No water today, so I ride just a few hundred feet farther

Above: The historic Oxford-Bellevue Ferry is the nation's oldest privately-owned ferry service. It began operating in 1683.

It only takes about 10 minutes for the ferry to cross the Tred Avon River, but the ride provides a splendid view of iconic Eastern Shore scenery.

into Royal Oak’s “downtown.” There, I pop in for a quick tea at “t at the General Store,” a great tea-inspired restaurant that is a hidden gem with limited hours. Not one to pass up an opportunity, I stopped for a quick peek into Oak Creek Sales, known by the locals as "Fast Eddie's." You can get lost in the maze of vintage items in this eclectic place and never know what you might find, although no treasures for me today, at least none I can tote home on my bike.

Refreshed, I’m back on the bike for another mile on the Royal Oak Road, headed for St. Michaels.

A note of caution: If you ride this route, be sure you’re paying attention on the Bellevue and Royal Oak Roads. These are main thoroughfares for locals on weekdays and even busier on weekends when tourists are enjoying the area. Make sure you are visible to motorists and ride single file with the flow of traffic. There are no shoulders, only ditches. A more family-friendly day would be Bellevue to Oxford via the ferry, riding in town and to the Oxford Conservation Park and returning with a stop at the town park and Scottish Highland Creamery for ice cream.

For the last leg of my ride, the experience changes. Once I carefully turn left on Route 33, the final two miles is essentially a straightaway into St. Michaels with a mercifully wide shoulder on a heavily trafficked road. I breathe a little easier thanks to fewer cars and trucks zooming past. A short last push and I arrive at the sign for the Town of St. Michaels with its iconic Chesapeake Bay log canoe on it. Arrived!

A few tips for once you’re in St. Michaels. As you come into town, turn left into the parking lot opposite the pool and get on the paved, local rail trail. If you continue straight but would like to stay out of traffic, the side streets parallel the main street and go through the town’s residential neighborhoods. Finally, the ride on Route 33 beyond St. Michaels has a comfortably wide shoulder and less traffic. You can ride 14 miles past the villages of McDaniel and Sherwood to the waterman’s village on Tilghman Island.

You can download a bicycle trail map from TourTalbot.org. The map has six unique routes to explore. You’ll also find a list of bicycle rental companies and helpful safety tips.

Margaret Enloe-North is long-time county resident, leisure cyclist and a consultant for Talbot Thrive, a new non-profit dedicated to promoting outdoor mobility so that everyone who lives, works or visits can safely walk, run, ride or roll around Talbot County. Get involved at TalbotThrive.org.

In Search of Frederick Douglass

BY OLIVER WHITE

David Geller spends most of his days getting other people out on the water in a fleet of kayaks and stand-up paddleboards he rents from his Shore Peddle and Paddle shop in St. Michaels, Maryland. But he made an exception on one of his days off in April to take me on a guided tour of nearby Tuckahoe Creek. He wanted to show me a waterside view of where famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass was born in slavery and where he spent the first years of his youth in the care of his grandmother.

Douglass eventually escaped from slavery and then risked his freedom by becoming an outspoken anti-slavery

lecturer, writer and publisher. From his 1881 book, “The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, Written by Himself,” he wrote:

"My first experience of life, as I now remember it, and I remember it but hazily, began in the family of my grandmother and grandfather, Betsey and Isaac Bailey...My grandmother…was a good nurse, and a capital hand at making nets used for catching shad and herring, and was, withal, somewhat famous as a fisherwoman. I have known her to be in the water waist deep, for hours, seine-hauling…Her little cabin had to me the attractions of a palace. Its fence-railed floor…up stairs, and its

clay floor down stairs, its dirt and straw chimney, and windowless sides...The mill-pond, too, had its charms; and with my pin-hook and thread line I could get amusing nibbles if I could catch no fish.”

The Bailey’s cabin is no longer there. In fact, it had disappeared by the time Douglass returned to the site as a revered elder. But Douglass gives enough details in his autobiographies that the general location is easy to assess, and Geller offered to take me there by kayak. I met him at his shop on Talbot Street early one Tuesday.

Geller has been in the business of renting paddle-able boats and pedalable bikes to visitors for about 10 years

now. Most of his clients have seasonal waterfront vacation homes, while others want to explore one of the nearby creeks for the day.

A robust, jovial guy in his 50s, Geller has a background in outdoor education, though he spent most of his career building houses. He grew up in the area and decided he wanted to launch a business where he could get people actively involved in exploring the environment. He lives on the water and spends each morning on his paddleboard, greeting the sunrise from the middle of the Miles River.

But on this day, he was eager to show me the Tuckahoe. I followed his pick-up truck, with the two bright green kayaks propped in the back, as Geller cut through the town of Easton and past farm fields and pastures. The road came to an end at a place called Covey’s Landing near Cordova, where a Talbot County boat ramp provided access to Tuckahoe Creek. There’s an interpretive panel by the boat ramp that tells of Douglass’ local connection.

I was surprised to see how broad the creek was at this point. I’d only seen it further upstream, near Tuckahoe State Park, where it’s much narrower. It flows about 20 miles from above the park there to where it meets the Choptank River about six miles downstream from Covey’s Landing.

The water was smooth and the wind was calm as we launched our kayaks into the middle of the stream. The Tuckahoe is a tidal tributary at this point, and we paddled upstream with the gentle current.

We followed the stream’s languorous bends past marshy islands and wooded banks. We only saw a couple of houses on top of the bluffs in the trees, but we saw plenty of birds—ospreys crashdiving into the water after shad, eagles soaring way up high to avoid the ospreys, enormous great blue herons perching for perch, and for me, a rare

close-up glimpse of a long-legged marsh bird called a dunlin, poking its proboscis-like beak into the mud for clams. We passed a huge beaver lodge, but saw no sign of its eager denizens.

Since we were nearly at the height of the tide, we were able to cut corners on the bends in the creek, coasting in inches of water across beds of marsh plants with arrowhead-shaped leaves that were still in the process of sending spring shoots up from the mud. Later, I learned that these plants are called arrow arum by botanists. The native Americans who lived here called them “Tuckahoes.” Eventually, Dave guided us into a side creek off to the left. We followed its bends as it narrowed until we were blocked by a fallen tree. This is as close as anyone can get to the site of Douglass’ grandparents’ cabin.

I could envision the little boy tagging along with Betsey Bailey as she stretched her nets across the mouth of the creek, or pinning a worm on a string to try for “some amusing nibbles,” if not a fish. Douglass gives us a glimpse of an idyllic life as a young boy, one which changed abruptly when he was farmed out to work at the estate of Edward Lloyd V. That’s where he learned what it meant to be a slave. That’s where he first witnessed the unspeakable cruelty of the institution he later fought so valiantly to destroy.

We made our way back to Covey’s Landing, having paddled about five miles round trip. One nice thing about this section of the creek is that the current is so gentle, even with the tide, you can easily paddle upstream and down and return to where you put in.

Most of Geller’s clients launch their rented kayaks on Santo Domingo Creek along the southern edge of St. Michaels, where they can paddle through the marshes and explore the little islands of Broad Creek.

There are dozens of other put-in sites where you can launch your car-top boat,

Explore Frederick Douglass’ Life in Talbot County by Car

Start at the Talbot County Courthouse in historic downtown Easton, Maryland. There you’ll find a statue of Douglass sculpted by Jay Hall Carpenter to commemorate the abolitionist’s “Self-Made Men” speech he delivered in the main courtroom in 1878.

This is one of many sites on not just one, but four self-guided driving tours, each hour-long tour depicting a separate era of the great orator’s early life and his return to the area in his later years. You can find these at www. frederickdouglassbirthplace.org.

You’ll also find directions to Frederick Douglass Park on the bank of Tuckahoe Creek, established in 2018 in honor of the 100th anniversary of his birth. It’s located at 13213 Lewistown Road near the town of Queen Anne. You can see several interpretive panels as well as a view of the creek from atop a bluff not far from his supposed birthplace.

The Talbot County Courthouse features a statue of Douglass sculpted by Jay Hall Carpenter to commemorate the abolitionist’s "Self-Made Men" speech he delivered in there in 1878.

and Talbot County presents some of the best in their St. Michaels and Tilghman Island water trails maps. These trails provide well-mapped excursions ranging from quick loops in protected coves to longer cruises along the open Bay shoreline. Pick one that fits your time frame and go exploring, whether you’re an experienced paddler or still trying to figure out which pointy end goes first.

Printed on glossy, waterproof paper, the maps are available at the Talbot County Visitors Center in Easton, or online. Each trail includes driving directions to the launch site, the distance covered and the suggested time allocation, along with cautions about the tidal currents, wind, weather and boat traffic conditions you can expect to encounter, plus helpful tips on local landmarks and wildlife you’re likely to see.

A separate water trail guide published by the National Park Service’s Chesapeake Gateways and Waterways Program shows how to access Tuckahoe Creek along Talbot County’s eastern border. Section 5 of the Choptank and Tuckahoe Rivers Water Trails Map Guide

covers the Tuckahoe from Hillsboro Landing to Covey’s Landing. You can download a map at tinyurl.com/ yaauy9wu.

The water trail maps are an excellent source of other information you can use to plan your explorations of Talbot County’s 600 miles of shorefront along the Chesapeake Bay, the rivers and creeks, time and again.

You can find a number of kayak, boat and bike rentals in Talbot County at https://tourtalbot.org/tt_business_ services/kayaks.

Oliver White is a travel writer who lives aboard a yachtified buyboat on the Rhode River with his partner Amanda and their Newfoundland retriever, Max.

Talbot County's

INDEPENDENT BOOK NOOKS

BY NIAMBI DAVIS

Entering a bookstore is like going a treasure hunt—you never know what you’ll find.

A number of independent booksellers survive in Talbot County, each with a personality of its own. This makes them fun to explore, especially on a rainy day. Whether you’re a collector of historic volumes and antique maps or you’re simply searching for the latest bestseller, you’ll enjoy the hunt and, if lucky, engage in an informative conversation with a passionate bookseller.

Flying Cloud Booksellers

26 W. Dover Street Easton, MD 21610 www.flyingcloudbooks.com

Inspired by the idea that every town needs a great bookstore, The Bluepoint Hospitality Group opened Flying Cloud Booksellers in September 2020. The clipper ship for which it was named held the world’s sailing record for the fastest passage between New York and San Francisco for over 130 years, hence the tagline “the swiftest fulfillment of your literary needs.”

Flying Cloud’s bright red door and eye-catching window display invites readers to browse the shelves of fiction and non-fiction bestsellers, biographies, literary classics, books about design, food and wine, and the natural world. Among its specialty publications are The Paris Review, Monocle, Poetry, and Ploughshares published through Emerson College.

Although the children’s room was designed for young readers to explore the collections of classics and new releases, the colorful space is equally appealing to the adults in their lives. With approachable shelves, playful animals and chairs made for relaxing

with a good book, the room was created to foster the love of books. The one-of-akind artwork in the children’s section was commissioned by award-winning artist Penelope Gottlieb.

“You’ll find crabs, birds, and natural items specific to the Eastern Shore seamlessly interwoven with notable books of important historical figures, art, and the natural world—all intended to conjure the imagination of our young readers,” said Bluepoint Hospitality’s Emily Sullivan.

Flying Cloud has hosted book signings and children’s readings with additional programming planned for this summer and fall. From its opening, the bookstore has been an active participant in local community events, including the Chesapeake Children’s Book Reading Festival. A book club reading room is planned for this summer, open by reservation to the community.

“Being part of a community that is rich in intellectual curiosity makes bookselling enjoyable,” said Sullivan. “And we love watching young readers develop a love for reading. Last year we did a children’s Year of Free Books giveaway where the recipient can select a new book each month.”

Through their restoration efforts, Bluepoint Hospitality Group owners Paul and Joanne Prager have brought another Flying Cloud to life. An historic log canoe built on Tilghman Island in 1932, it was the largest and most competitive log canoe under sail. “Nearly 100 years later, Flying Cloud has returned to competitive sailing form, and we love being able to watch one of our namesakes in action.”

Each of Talbot County’s independent bookstores has an appeal of its own, which makes them fun to explore, especially on a rainy day. Collectors of historic volumes and antique maps as well as the reader searching for the latest best-seller will find these to be engaging places for a leisurely browse and an informative conversation with a passionate bookseller.

Vintage Books

4 N. Washington Street Easton, MD 21601 www.vintagebooksmd.com

Tim Boyle had always been an avid reader and book lover whose lifelong dream was to own a bookstore. When his children left for college, Boyle

ditched the corporate world and made his dream come true. Now his Vintage Books and Fine Art bookstore is a place to browse, to marvel, ask questions, and join in a lively conversation.

On the shelves are titles on Eastern Shore history, antique books and maps, art posters, and original work from Eastern Shore artists. Boyle purchases his stock from “anywhere and everywhere”—other book dealers, rare book auctions, online sales, donated books and house calls to view private libraries. He describes the collections as time machines to the past. Vintage Books also carries a few items unrelated to books; items described as “forever hip and cool” from the art deco through Mad Men eras.

Boyle finds there’s a lot to like about Easton. “It’s a spectacular town, one of the prettiest in the state with a great amount of historic appeal,” he says.

Mystery Loves Company

202 S. Morris St. Oxford MD 21654

www.mysterylovescompany.com

Kathy Harig was a librarian for 28 years and the owner of Baltimore’s Mystery Loves Company bookstore for 31 years. When she and her husband moved to the Eastern Shore, she searched Talbot County for the best place to open a second location. Nothing suited her needs until the day she stood with a friend outside of the Oxford Museum.

Previous Page: Flying Cloud Booksellers promises 'the swiftest fulfillment of your literary needs.'

Left: Happiness is being surrounded by great books.

COURTESY OF UNICORN BOOKS

“Just then the sun set over the Tred Avon River. I took it to be a sign,” she recalled. “We fell in love with the restored Bank Building on Morris Street.”

The white-columned building, listed on the National and Maryland Historical Registers, became the second location of Mystery Loves Company. When the commute between the shores became too much, Harig closed the Baltimore location.

Oxford's Mystery Loves Company is a beautiful, cozy space to browse for a new book or a fragrant candle. It's got a reading room with a view overlooking the river and carries a variety of fiction, new and used, for all ages. The selections include books on Eastern Shore history, nature, and nautical life. Since Harig is a prodigious reader (and is reading several books a day), she’s happy to offer suggestions.

“I love recommending books… giving the right book to the right person at the right time, by talking with them and finding out what they really want and need.”

Store events are also part of what connects Mystery Loves Company to the community. These take place in the bookstore, the museum or at a nearby restaurant. Readers get to meet their favorite authors, both local and national, attend readings, ask questions, and have their books signed.

“I love meeting new people and seeing and talking with my regular customers,” says Harig. “I love being around books in a beautiful, special place like Oxford.”

Unicorn Books

3935 Ocean Gateway Trappe, MD 21673

www.unicornbookshop.com

The brick store on Ocean Gateway in Trappe is a bibliophile’s wonderland. It specializes in Maryland and Eastern Shore history and among the nearly 30,000 volumes are titles on World War II, history, fishing, gardening, African American and Native American history, travel, and photography.

“I try to carry a little bit of everything,” said Unicorn's owner Jim Dawson, but he doesn’t let his personal feelings determine what books to carry. “My personal books are in my house, and store books are in the store for the public.”

Among Dawson’s personal favorites are the books of Henry David Thoreau and the works of Gilbert Byron. As luck would have it, Dawson and Byron became personal friends after the author visited the Unicorn.

Known by admirers as the Thoreau of the Chesapeake, Byron’s "The Lord’s Oysters" is considered the finest novel written about the Eastern Shore. Dawson published two of Bryon’s books when the author couldn’t find a commercial publisher.

“It was just like the bookstore venture,” Dawson recalled. “I didn’t know what I was doing, but I did it anyway.”

In 1946, Byron moved into a house he built in St. Michaels after he left teaching to pursue a writing career.

Jacques Baker, Byron’s friend and founder of the Gilbert Byron Society, spearheaded the effort to move the house to Pickering Creek after Byron’s death in 1991.

Until recently, the Gilbert Byron Society held an annual birthday party at the house. Coincidentally, Byron shares his July 12 birthday with Thoreau.

“He was a modest man,” Dawson recalls of his friend. “Although he was called the Thoreau of the Chesapeake, it was a title he never claimed for himself.”

Niambi Davis was raised on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and takes every opportunity to share her love of the Land of Pleasant Living through words and pictures.

Below: Unicorn Books owner Jim Dawson says he tries to carry 'a little bit of everything.'

COURTESY OF UNICORN BOOKS

How to Watch

Log Canoe Races

BY CRAIG LIGIBEL

From June to September, the Chesapeake Bay’s fleet of log canoes stages a weekly water ballet as the delicate flotilla of centuryold sailboats battle for bragging rights. The series of regattas takes place up and down the Eastern Shore on the Miles, Tred Avon, Chester and Choptank rivers.

These races are characterized by long runs up and down the river with hair-raising mark roundings that often result in several boats unceremoniously dumping their crews in the water, where they await rescue by one of several tenders that ply the racecourse, tow ropes at the ready.

“Once she goes over,” Island Blossom’s long-time skipper Corbin Penwell cautions, “it’s all over for the racing. Pretty tough to get these boats back up and sailing. We save the beer for the ride home and live to race another day.”

Today, there are fewer than 24 log canoes racing on the Bay. Originally, the boats were simple workboats, constructed of three or five logs fitted together to form the hull. The canoes range from 23- to 34-feet in length and carry 500- to over-1,200 square feet of sail.

Moveable ballast in the form of hefty crewmen who scramble up and down 12- to 15-foot-long hiking boards keep the boats upright…most of the time. When the skippers lose the wind or a puff comes up unexpectedly, the boats do a slow-motion roll that is almost impossible to stop when the boats reach a certain tipping point.

Viewing options are limited but worthwhile.

The Chesapeake Bay Museum’s restored buy boat, the Winnie Estelle, was a favorite viewing platform for racing on the Miles River for many years. This year, however, she is laid up waiting for a refit which will last through the summer. In its place, the museum is giving spectators the option to charter one of the museum’s classic

boats for $375 for a two-hour cruise holding six passengers. CBMM members will receive a 20 percent discount. Cruises are slated for June 24 and 25, July 29 and 30, and Sept. 9, 10, 16 and 17. Slots are filling up quickly, says Membership Services Coordinator Debbie Ruzicka. To reserve a boat, go to: bit.ly/LogCanoeCruises2023.

Patriot Cruises general manager Robin Marrah says guests on their 145-passenger tour boat may get a glimpse of the log canoes on race day, but their narrated cruises don’t specifically follow the racing on the river.

For better viewing, check out the Selina II. Captain Iris Robertson’s 41foot catboat offers a number of viewing options for log canoe racing on the Miles River. Guests can either book a regularly scheduled cruise for around $125 or charter the entire boat for $550 for a personalized experience you won’t soon forget. Captain Iris recommends guests check racing schedules carefully and contact her directly to secure a spot on this classic boat before it sells out. “You’ll get a real feel for the racing from our decks,” she says. “We follow the fleet just outside the boundary lines. It’s quite a thrill to be this close to the action.”

Additional opportunities for viewing may be available by contacting the sponsoring yacht clubs to see if members will be taking guests aboard for the races.

Some venues may offer on-shore viewing opportunities depending on the location of the racecourse. Another good resource is the Log Canoe Sailors Facebook page.

Craig Ligibel is an award-winning Annapolisbased photojournalist. He has written about and photographed sailing on the Bay for the past 10 years. He and his wife were the only American journalists who covered the 36th America’s Cup in Auckland, NZ. He sails a vintage 20-foot-long catboat, Mystic Wind.

2023 Log Canoe Schedule

• June 24–25: MRYC Centennial Series

• July 8–9: CRYCC/ CRYC Series

• July 15–16: RHYC Series

• July 29–30: MRYC Gov. Cup Series

• July 29: Boardman’s Challenge, MRYC

• Aug. 12–13: TAYC/CBYC Oxford Regatta

• Aug. 19–20: CYC Hicks Trophy Series

• Aug. 26–27: TAYC Heritage Regatta

• Sept. 9–10: MRYC Labor Day Series

• Sept. 16: MRYC Higgins/ Commodore Cups

• Sept. 17: CBMM Bartlett Cup

For More Information

Miles River Yacht Club (MRYC), St. Michaels, 410-745-9511

Tred Avon Yacht Club (TAYC), Oxford, 410-226-5269

Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, 410-745-2916, cbmm.org

Sail Selina II, sailselina.com, 410-726-9400

Log Canoe Facebook Page: facebook.com/groups/ logcanoesailors/

Step Back in Time at Tuckahoe Steam & Gas

BY OLIVER WHITE

I’ve driven past the place a thousand times, and I’ll bet you have, too.

On U.S. Rt. 50, about five miles north of Easton, Maryland, there’s a sign on the right at the entrance to what appears at a passing glance to be a perfectly splendid picnic grove, but with barns and bleachers off in the distance. The sign at the gate reads, “Tuckahoe Steam & Gas Association.”

When I took on the assignment of writing about Talbot County’s agricultural heritage, I thought I might find some inspiration there. But when I arranged for a tour, I was floored by what I found.

Patricia Harvey met me at the gate one Sunday afternoon this spring.

Harvey is one of the chief volunteers among a corps of 250 locals devoted to collecting, restoring, displaying and operating a wide variety of vintage industrial machinery and agricultural equipment. They have everything from antique steam-powered tractors to a fire-engine red 1912 Ames Iron Works Steam Engine from Oswego, New York, used to operate multiple machines in an old machine shop.

Steam engines played a huge role in the improvement of both industry and agriculture. Before the development of large internal-combustion engines and steam turbines, reciprocating steam engines powered electrical generators,

cable car systems, line shafts to run factories, ships, and just about everything else. Traction engines replaced horses as the power source for much of the labor required for farming.

Left: One of dozens of antique steampowered tractors that volunteers have lovingly restored to working order.

Above: Visitors watching demonstrations in the stationary steam engine shop at last year's open house.

The association’s volunteers collect and restore these historic engines, machinery and tools. It’s astonishing to think that all of the hundreds of intricate contraptions of iron and steel have all been brought back to their original condition, an achievement that must have taken countless hours of labor, gallons of elbow grease and vast stores of expertise.

“We’re trying to preserve our rural heritage,” Harvey explained. “And not just agricultural heritage, but our way of life. We focus on the machines that revolutionized the farming industry as well as all the supporting industries like canning and transportation.”

The nonprofit organization celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2023 and Harvey has been involved since day one. Her father was one of the 79 charter members, and early on, Harvey was put to work organizing volunteers and events. She was eager to show me around the grounds of the association’s sprawling 70-acre campus.

“Our Rural Life Museum is dedicated to preserving the ‘living’ side of the culture,” she said, unlocking the door to a large exhibit hall. Just inside, there’s a replica of an early 1900s general store, authentic down to the collection of tomato cans from local packing plants.

Most of the items have been donated by members and others who are interested in the preservation of their links to the past, she noted. The museum features a typical Eastern Shore farmhouse kitchen furnished with

items from the period 1900 to the 1930s. The museum also features displays of hand tools used by farmers and craftsmen, along with memorabilia from the time that steamships were a primary mode of transportation on the Eastern Shore.

Elsewhere on the campus, there’s a blacksmith shop, a steam-powered sawmill and extensive exhibit halls devoted to—and packed with—stationary steam engines and engines powered by oil and gas. A working machine shop with every imaginable mechanism for shaping, grinding, drilling and forging metal provides the necessary tools for volunteer craftsmen to keep the other pieces of equipment operational.

Harvey walked me past open sheds crammed with scores of antique steampowered tractors and other farm machinery, each of which has been

painstakingly restored to working order by volunteers. They haul them out for display to the public at their annual show the weekend after July 4. This year’s Steam Show will be held July 6–9. The museum buildings are open the first Saturday, July through November. The East Coast Modified Truck and Tractor Pull takes place on July 19. The Fall Harvest Festival is slated for October 28–29.

Tuckahoe Steam & Gas Association is located on U.S. Route 50 between mileposts 58 and 59 at 11472 Ocean Gateway. For more information, visit: tuckahoesteam.org.

Oliver White is a travel writer who lives aboard a yachtified buyboat on the Rhode River with his partner Amanda and their Newfoundland retriever, Max.

This 1912 Ames Iron Works Steam Engine from Oswego, New York, was used to operate multiple machines in a machine shop.