of wetland flora. The
interlacing tide pools
and waterways look like
a web, especially in the
morning sun. Keep an
eye out for bald eagles,
osprey, white-tailed deer
and red foxes.
The Drive » Drive back on
Carmichael to US 50 and turn
right. Take US 50 eastbound
(though really, you’re going
south) for 14 miles and exit onto
MD-322 southbound. Follow
signs for central Easton.
4 Easton
Easton, founded in 1710,
is both a quintessential
Shore town and anything
but. The historic center,
seemingly lifted from
the pages of a children’s
book, is wedding cake
cute; locals are friendly;
the antique shops and
galleries are well stocked.
That’s because this isn’t
what Shore people would
call a ‘working water
town,’ which is to say, a
town that relies on Bay
seafood to live.
Rather, Easton
relies on the Bay for
tourism purposes. It has
retained the traditional
appearance of a working
water town by being a
weekend retreat for folks
from DC, Baltimore and
further afield.
The main thing to do
here is potter around andfeel at peace. The area
between Washington St,
Dover St, Goldsborough
St and East Ave is a
good place to start. First
Saturday gallery walks
(%410-820-8822; h5-9pm)
are also a lovely way
of engaging with old
Easton.
There’s a superlative
number of good
restaurants around for a
town of 16,000; be sure
to try at least one.54 p214
The Drive » Get on MD-33 in
Easton and take it westbound
for 10 miles to reach St
Michaels. Tilghman Island is
14 miles further west of St
Michaels via 33.TRIP HIGHLIGHT
THE EAST COAST COWBOYS
After you drive over the Bay Bridge, the first community you cross into on the
Eastern Shore is Kent Island. This is where, in 1631, English trader William Claiborne
set up a rival settlement to the Catholic colonists of St Mary’s City in Southern
Maryland (see p223). Where those Catholics sought religious freedom from the
Church of England, Claiborne sought the American dream: profit, in this case from
the beaver-fur trade.
In later days Kent became a major seafood-processing center. A dozen packing
houses processed the catches of hundreds of watermen. Also known as the
‘East Coast cowboys,’ watermen usually operate as individuals, piloting their own
boats and catching crabs, oysters and fish. Today the industry still exists, but it is
fading – independent commercial fisheries yield small profits and have expensive
overheads. The cost of a boat can equal a home loan, and the maintenance needed
to provide upkeep is prohibitive.
The state enforces environmental regulations on catch size, and the bounty
of the Bay is declining thanks largely to run-off pollution. In the meantime, many
watermen prefer to send their children to college, away from the uncertain income
and backbreaking manual labor of independent commercial fishing.
Still, the waterman is an iconic symbol of the Eastern Shore, an embodiment
of the area’s independent spirit and ties to the land (and water). On Kent Island,
drive under the Kent Narrows Bridge (the way is signed from US 50) to see the
Waterman’s Monument. The sculpture depicts two stylized watermen in a skiff
laden with their daily catch, and is a small slice of tradition in an area now given
over to outlet malls and tourism.WASHINGTON.DC,.MARYLAND.&.DELAWARE.TRIPS.17
.MARITIME MARYLAND