Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Chesapeake City itself consists of a restored tavern, general store, and pastel saltbox
houses where canal builders once lived. At the edge of town, near an inlet dotted with sail-
boats, the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Museum houses a fine collection of canal mem-
orabilia.Themuseumisperchedrightonthebankofthecanal,andvisitorscanwatchgiant
barges led by tugboats and ocean freighters ply the placid waters.
Did you know…
CruisesontheChesapeakeandDelawareCanalareofferedbyadirectdescend-
ant of a 19th-century steamboat captain.
2.
Chestertown
Continuing south, Rte. 213 swings through cool woods and rolling hills, past farmhouses
and fields of wheat and corn. As far back as the 17th century, English planters tended to-
bacco plantations here, using profits to build mansions and spending their leisure hours
caring for racehorses and hunting foxes.
Even today racehorses are an ongoing “industry” in this part of Maryland. The
10,000-acreMarylandLandsTrust,oneofthelargestlandpreservationareasontheEastern
Shore, is home to a number of horse farms (as well as agricultural farms) and more than
1,000ofthenation'smostprizedThoroughbreds.Theyhaveincludedsuchequineluminar-
ies as Kelso, Northern Dancer, Bet Twice, and other world-class equestrian champions.
The drive glides along Rte. 213 through Colonial villages such as Georgetown, Locust
Grove, and Kennedyville, passing over tidal streams that feed the Chesapeake Bay to the
west. Farther along, the entrance to Chestertown is signaled by a compound of brick edi-
ficesknownasWashingtonCollege(namedforthefirstpresident,whovisitedherein1784
and donated 50 guineas toward its establishment). The handsome 18th-century village,
known for its vibrant art scene, features sycamore-shaded streets, gardens trimmed with
boxwood, and an inn more than two centuries old. Pre-Revolutionary houses built by well-
to-do merchants face the Chester River, best viewed by walking across the Chester River
Bridge. Down by the waterfront near the customs house, a historic moment took place in
1774 when townsfolk, disgusted with the British tax on tea, dumped a large shipment into
the water. This patriotic act (reminiscent of the Boston Tea Party of 1773) is commemor-
ated by residents each May with a Colonial-style parade.
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