What? Another trip across Maryland’s Bay Bridge, you say, without Ocean City in the get-away picture? That’s right; and this time the destination is Chestertown, founded in 1706.
As authentic colonial towns go (and grow), Chestertown, in Maryland’s Eastern Shore county of Kent, is as vibrantly alive today as it was 302 years ago, when it thrived as a mid-Atlantic port of entry along the banks of the Chester River. Here, the early colonists set up a thriving shipbuilding and trading center while the town became a hub of local government and court, with records dating back to the early 1640s.
Town biography aside for a moment, here is what local Innkeeper Mary Meisel of the White Swan Tavern Inn (circa 1730) has to say for the Chestertown of 2008:
“Not only is Chestertown a beautiful, 18th-century waterfront town, but it is a quiet, livable, functional village … with a viable
community. Everyone knows everybody. It’s not just fluff and candle shops.”
Locals and visitors alike patronize the town’s antique shops, galleries and furniture design stores. The “Downtown Chestertown Holiday Open House” on Nov. 22-23 rings in the season with the best of shopping as well as refreshments provided by the business owners.
Beyond shops, eateries and the riverfront promenade, Chestertown is home to Washington College, the 10th-oldest liberal arts college in the country, founded in 1782.
“It’s a wonderful, cultural shot in the arm to have a college within your community because there are always lecture series, concerts and film series open to the public,” said Meisel. “Also the students keep [the town] interesting.”
Like many of the buildings and homes along the town’s wide, paved brick streets, The White Swan Tavern Inn is on the National Register of Historic Buildings. In fact, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the town to its 2007 list of America’s “Dozen Distinctive Destinations,” an annual compilation of unique and lovingly preserved communities in the United States.
Sydney Brookes is a Baltimore transplant since 2005, when she bought a lovely old farmhouse just outside the town’s business district. A member of Chestertown’s Color Guard, she notes with pride that “this is a parade town.”
There is much to celebrate, she concluded, when not enjoying the peace and tranquility that is part and parcel to small-town life.
“I wish I had [moved] 20 years ago,” Brooks said. “I love living here.”
If you go:
• Where: Chestertown, Md.
• Distance: 69 miles from Baltimore; 75 miles from D.C.
• Info: Visitors Center at 118 N. Cross St. in Chestertown (410-778-0500); www.chestertown.com
• Upcoming events: Winterfest Weekend, Nov. 28-30; Antiques Show and Sale, Nov. 28-30
