A Brief Visit to Dorchester County Maryland

…continuing with our exploration of parts of the Delmarva Peninsula last September.  Now the focus was on the western shore of Maryland along Chesapeake Bay.

From Easton we headed south on US Hwy 50.  At Cambridge we turned onto MD Hwy 341 continuing 12 miles down the highway to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.  This refuge was established in 1933 as a waterfowl sanctuary for migrating birds following the Atlantic Flyway.

The Blackwater Refuge is fed by the Blackwater River and the Little Blackwater River.  The name ‘blackwater’ comes from the tea colored waters of the rivers.  They are darkened by the tannin that is picked up as the water drains through the peat soil in the marshes.

The Blackwater Wildlife Refuge consists of about 28,000 acres of freshwater impoundments, brackish tidal wetlands, open fields and forests of both evergreen and deciduous trees.  The refuge plays host to more than 250 avian species, 35 different reptiles and amphibians and numerous mammals…one of which is the formerly endangered Delmarva fox squirrel.

During the winter migration the refuge is home for as many as 15,000 geese and 10,000 ducks.  Unfortunately, we visited the refuge before the migration season really started.  Still, it was a beautiful place.

Did you know that the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge is just one of more than 540 units in the National Wildlife Refuge System?

While we have roosting eagles where we live in East Tennessee, it’s always fun to spot them as we travel around the USA.

The center of the Blackwater Refuge can be accessed via the Wildlife Drive.  This 3.5 mile paved road…or 6.5 mile loop travels along the Blackwater River providing excellent views of the refuge and, if you’re lucky, the local wildlife as well.  There is a daily permit fee of $3.00 for private vehicles and $1.00 for pedestrians and bicyclists who want to access the drive.  Since I have a lifetime senior pass to National Parks, Monuments and Wildlife Refuges, all we had to do was show my card.

For more information regarding this National Wildlife Refuge, go to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (fws.gov).

The Refuge has a visitor’s center on Key Wallace Drive.  It features wildlife exhibits including an authentic eagle’s nest as well as both Eagle Cam and Osprey Cam monitors.  It also has a book and gift shop as well as a butterfly garden.  The second floor features bird exhibits and spotting telescopes for viewing the action along the Blackwater River.  Access to the refuge is from dawn to dusk. 

Note: Roughly half of the refuge has also been designated as the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument with a small portion of the monument now forming part of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park.  To learn more about the Historical Park, go to Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park.

Following our visit to the wildlife refuge, we headed back north to Cambridge Maryland, the county seat for Dorchester County.  The photo shows the Dorchester County Courthouse...much different from the 'usual' design.  It was built in 1853 and it is the only courthouse designed by Richard Upjohn.  The painted brick structure shows both Italianate and Georgian Revival decorative details…with the latter being added in the 1930s.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Richard Upjohn (1802 – 1878) was a British-born American architect who immigrated to the USA.  He’s most famous for his many (at least 51) Gothic Revival Churches.  Probably his best known and most recognizable church is the Trinity Episcopal Church on Broadway in New York City.  However, he designed churches from Maine to Texas and Minnesota to Utah.  Upjohn was the first president of the American Institute of Architects.

FYI, Dorchester County Maryland has a population of about 33,000.  The county was formed in 1669.  It’s named for the Earl of Dorset who was a family friend of the Calvert family.  In turn, the Calvert’s were the founding family of the Maryland colony.

Located in front of the Courthouse is this relatively new statue of Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross) entitled “Beacon of Hope”.  The statue was dedicated in September of 2022.  It is just a few miles from where Harriet Tubman, the famous Underground Railroad Conductor was born.  It is stop #3 on the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway.  The location of the Tubman statue is meaningful as the courthouse was once the site of slave auctions and it was the site of an escape that Tubman engineered for a niece.  Harriet Tubman was born in 1822 and died in 1913.

Of note is the fact that this statue was blocked for some time until it was agreed that it wouldn’t be taller than “The Talbot Boys” statue on the courthouse grounds.  The latter statue was the last statue on public grounds commemorating the ‘Confederate cause’.  That statue has since been moved to a cemetery in Virginia.

To learn more about Harriet Tubman, go to Harriet Tubman - Wikipedia.  To learn about the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway go to Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov).

Christ Church in Cambridge is the parish church of the Great Choptank Parish, which was founded in 1692 as one of the original 30 Anglican parishes in the Province of Maryland.  This impressive Gothic Revival style church was completed in 1884.  It was constructed in a cruciform form using green serpentinite or serpentine stone.  The adjoining cemetery is enclosed on 3 sides by a brick wall and burials here date back to 1674.  Church parishioners have included 5 Maryland governors and many other prominent personages.   

FYI, the name for this type of stone originated from its similarity of the texture of the rock to that of the skin of a snake.

The sign in front of this old home in Cambridge states that it was originally built by the Reverend Daniel Maynadier in 1739.  Maynadier was the rector of the Christ Choptank Parish.  This handsome home was rebuilt by a Maryland state senator in 1840.

Estimates of when this home was built vary a bit, from 1761 to the late 1760s.  Named “Sycamore Cottage”, it was remodeled a few times during the 1800s.  Hence it has Victorian windows, a Colonial Revival entrance porch and Greek revival decorative detailing inside.  It also contains a large meeting hall.  The home was moved to this site in 1840.  The Cambridge Woman’s Club has called the structure home since 1922.

Cambridge, population ca. 13,200, is located along the Choptank River which feeds into Chesapeake Bay.  Location is one of the reasons that the town was first settled by English colonists in 1684.  As anyone who follows me knows, I love trains/depots, planes and ships/boats.  So when I spotted the yachts “Renegade” and the “Joyful”, I had to take a photo.  Hey, I can dream can’t I!?

From what I could discover, “Renegade”, in the first photo, was built in the USA by Westport Yachts in Fort Lauderdale.  She is 125 feet long, can cruise for 2,500 miles, has a crew of 5 and can host 10 guests.  “Joyful” is quite a bit smaller, ‘only’ 81.5 feet long.  She is a Fleming designed trawler type yacht built in Taiwan that was delivered in 2020.  ‘Joyful’ has a maximum cruising range of 4,500 miles and a crew of 3.  She can host 6 guests.  Both of these yachts are sailing under the American flag.

That’s all for now.  Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Local ‘Stuff’ and Food

…taking a break from last September’s road trip exploring the Delmarva Peninsula.  This post is about happenings next door and in our yard, as well as a bit of dining out, and of course, leftovers.

Fellow blogger Larry recently had a meal at the Countryside Restaurant in Vonore Tennessee.  We had it on our list of places to check out, mainly because there had been a change in management or ownership.  The new operator had managed another restaurant locally that we had enjoyed.

In any case, our neighbors Sue and Steve joined us when we went for dinner just the other night.  Steve ordered the Brisket Hoagie…beef brisket on a hoagie roll with lettuce, tomato and pickles, and a side of Countryside’s Bistro sauce.  For his side, he chose the seasoned French Fries.  It was a lot of food…and plenty of beef for $13.00.  Personally, I prefer my brisket a little more moist but Steve seemed happy.

I looked over the menu and decided to take a chance.  I love pork and I love pork chops, but most restaurants overcook them and they tend to be dry.  But, I’m always hopeful… Countryside’s center cut Boneless Pork Chops are seasoned and grilled.  Normally, they are topped with cinnamon apples but I don’t like mixing savory and sweet so the apples were served in a dish.  This meal comes with 2 sides so I chose the pinto beans and the seasoned French Fries.  Price - $13.00.  Once again it was a lot of food for the money.

Best of all was the fact that the pork chops were flavorful, moist and tender too!  The seasoned French fries and the pinto beans were both very nice…with the only negative being the corn bread muffin.  It just didn’t measure up to local East Tennessee cornbread standards…

Both Sue and Laurie chose the Fried Catfish Dinner…two big filets accompanied by hushpuppies, the seasoned French fries and some very credible coleslaw.  Price - $13.00!  Both ladies raved over the catfish…and as noted with the other meals we ordered, the amount of good food for the money was impressive.

Even better, I couldn’t finish both pork chops and Laurie was only able to finish one of the catfish filets.  Great for me as Laurie generally doesn’t eat leftovers so I frequently have something in the refrigerator that I can use for breakfast, lunch or a snack.

We feel very positive about Countryside Restaurant.  The food was good, the price was right and our server was very nice as well as efficient.  To learn more, go to Vonore, TN Restaurant | Home | Countryside Restaurant.

I didn’t wait long to make my breakfast using Laurie’s leftover catfish filet!  I just heated it in a frying pan with a bit of butter, adding some pepper and a little garlic powder.  There was too much fish for my 2 over-easy eggs to cover so I put the rest of the fish on a toasted hamburger bun.  Yum! 

Laurie spotted these Lenten roses peering up from the leaf litter under our big oak tree. They are a definite harbinger of out upcoming spring season.  It was in the mid-20s here last night but it’s now in the mid-50s!  We are looking forward for nature’s rebirth as well as our ‘spring forward’ to daylight savings time.

We’ve lived in our neighborhood here in East Tennessee for more than 14 years at this point.  When we moved in, there weren’t very many homes or neighbors…but in the last couple of years, growth has expanded exponentially.  Even the tree covered lot behind us has now fallen victim to ‘progress’.  First the trees were taken down, then we had a truly muddy lot.  Note the small pond between our back yard/common area and the area that was built up for the new home.  After that, the footings for the new house were poured.

Then they poured the slab so they could start construction.  Note the first delivery of wood…in this case the trusses.  I wonder if ponding on the slab indicates that it isn’t level…  See the big rock or rocks at the lower left of the newly prepared lot.  It is in a sinkhole.  I wonder if that will be a problem at some point?

Back to food…  As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I do like a nice pork chop.  Not too long ago, my bride breaded a couple of chops and baked them…serving them with mashed potatoes and gravy.  A really nice meal!  ‘Sadly’ she couldn’t finish her chop so I ‘had to’ heat it up, place it on a piece of toast and then cover it with an egg.  Ensuring that leftovers are not wasted is a responsibility and I am definitely a ‘responsible’ person…

Thanks to the Pioneer Woman (Pawhuska OK), we now have a recipe for sausage gravy that is superior to almost any other we’ve tried.  It surpasses a locally famous version that our neighbors rave about.  We made this batch with ‘regular’, not spicy sausage…so I had to sprinkle a little Tabasco on my serving.

As a final note, we have lived in our home for over 14 years and the carpeting dates back to 1999 when the house was built.  Even I acknowledged that new carpet was required.  The challenge then is that everything that we can move has to come out of the rooms being carpeted.  The carpet installation crew will move the heavy furniture…

In any case, I’ve always been ‘into taking photos’ of family, trips, scenery, etc.  Nowadays, everything is in the ‘cloud’ but until the last few years, we printed a plethora of photos and put them in albums.  I did the math on this stack of 41 albums.  220 photos per album times 41 = 9,020 photos!  Looking around and adding in the other albums as well as stacks of photos not in albums, I am estimating that we easily have 20,000 to 22,000 photos that will have to be dealt with at some point!  We wish our son lots of luck with that project!

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

"Out of the Fire" – Easton Maryland

...continuing with our family road trip to the Delmarva Peninsula.  We finished exploring downtown Easton and we checked into the Holiday Inn Express, which would be our ‘home’ for three nights. 

Then it was time for dinner.  In my pre-trip research I’d listed several possible destinations as dinner possibilities.  They had included Doc’s Downtown Grille…where we had lunch; Hunters Tavern; The BBQ Joint; Legal Assets, and Out of the Fire.  Our group reviewed the on-line reviews and the menus.  Out of the Fire was the winner…

‘Out of the Fire’ occupies a remodeled former home at 111 South Washington Street in Easton.  This restaurant’s motto is “Eat Well. Be Well. Give Back.”  As per the restaurant’s website, they are “committed to community enhancement by providing interesting and creative cuisine while engaging in environmental and social sustainability”.

We did like the idea that they had repurposed a home rather than building a new structure.  Note the enclosed patio dining in the second photo.   . 

Inside Out of the Fire, the dining areas were generally broken up into an assortment of rooms of different sizes.  The only bar I remember seeing that was smaller than the one in the first photo was one we encountered in a bed and breakfast in Scotland several years ago.

Our little group was seated on the second floor in a room that we had all for ourselves for most of our meal.  As you can see from the photos, it was a bright and cheery dining environment.  Unfortunately for me, our helpful wait staff offered to take a group photo.  I’m not exactly a ‘fashionista’ and since I’m retired, most of my shirts come from Tractor Supply and carry the ‘Carhartt’ brand…and most of those shirts don’t involve a collar.

…on to the food!

We didn’t really order individual entrees… We’d had a big lunch and we decided to pick and choose items that we could share.  The first thing we ordered was the House-made Focaccia Bread served with olive oil. ($6.00) It was excellent.

We also ordered the Grilled Squid. ($15.00) It came with anchovy-caper aioli, guindilla peppers, lemon and parsley.  It was nice but it is hard to beat my memory of a similar offering from the Erie Café in Chicago. 

FYI, Guindilla peppers are a pepper from the Basque country of Spain and France.  They are normally eaten as a tapa or as a pizza topping and they are only mildly spicy.    

Another plate to grace our table was this pile of Prince Edward Island Mussels in a spicy tomato-caper broth. ($19.00) We also ordered more focaccia bread when we ordered these nice mussels…

Keep the food coming!  Next we shared the Meze Platter. ($20.00) It consisted of hummus, olive tapenade, beet-pistachio dip, tzatziki, goat cheese and grilled naan.  It was quite good and it kept all of us sampling the goodies for quite a while.

Meze or mezze?  Meze is Turkish and Mezze is used more often in Greek.  Both stem from Ottoman Turkish which in turn stems from the Persian ‘maze’ for “taste or snack”

Hey, Bill and I ‘had to’ have some serious protein with our evening repast… So we ordered the Grilled Butchers Steak...medium rare. ($34.00) It came with fingerling potatoes (not shown), pickled Fresno chili peppers, shallots, arugula, egg and herb oil.  It was a quality piece of meat that everyone tried and Bill and I especially enjoyed it!

Yes…I know!  We should have stopped eating already!  Nope!  The problem was that we viewed the dessert menu and noted some unusual house-made ice creams.  We all have a weakness for ice cream and we couldn’t pass up this opportunity… We ordered a scoop each of the Ricotta, Limoncello  FroYo, Brown Sugar and Sweet Corn ice cream. ($5.00 per scoop) I particularly enjoyed the Brown Sugar version.  I don’t know what we expected, but the sweet corn ice cream tasted like sweet corn.

We did enjoy our meal or ‘greatly extended snack’ made of shared types and styles of food.  Out of the Fire gets 4.5 stars from us.  FYI, they also offer a variety of pizzas.  This restaurant is also open for lunch.  To learn more and to view the menus, go to Restaurant | Out of the Fire | Easton, MD. 

FYI, Travel and Leisure Magazine has named Easton as Maryland’s Most Charming Town”, where “big city cool meets small town America”.  Interestingly, much of the town’s tourist development was driven by Bluepoint Hospitality Group…which invested tens of millions of dollars into the town.

That’s all for now.  Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Exploring Easton Maryland

After our lunch at Doc’s Downtown Grille, our little group wandered around the center of Easton, checking out the stores and the historic buildings.  The Easton Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  I consists of about 900 buildings and other structures spread over 232 acres.  Despite the fact that Easton was founded in the 1700s, fire changed the city’s ‘look’ on several occasions.  Major fires in the center of town took place in 1808, 1813, 1855 and 1878.  The result is that the center of Easton isn’t quite as old as some of the other structures in the area...

One exception is the Talbot County Courthouse.  Construction of this Georgian style structure began in 1794 and it is one of Easton’s oldest buildings.  The courthouse was expanded in 1890 and it was remodeled in 1958.  Today it houses the chambers and courtrooms for the Circuit Court Judge as well as clerk’s offices, the jurors’ assembly room and the offices of the Talbot County Council.

This historic structure has seen plenty of history.  Abolitionist Frederick Douglass was held in the jail at the rear of the courthouse after he was recaptured as he attempted to escape slavery in April of 1836.

In May of 1862, Union General John Adams Dix had a local judge arrested on suspicion of being a southern sympathizer.  The judge had requested juries to serve indictments against Federal officials who had arrested 4 men who had disrupted a Union rally.  Over 125 deputies and soldiers surrounded the courthouse and the judge was seized.  He was beaten and imprisoned in Fort McHenry for 6 months…then he was released and no charges were ever filed.

This statue of Frederick Douglass stands in front of the courthouse.  He’d been born into slavery ca 1818.  After finally gaining his freedom, he became a social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer and statesman.  He was the most important leader of the African-American civil rights movement in the 1800s.  He died in 1895.  This statue was erected ca. 2005.

There was significant controversy over the Douglass stature due to another statue that stood in front of the courthouse.  The other statue was the “Talbot Boys” monument.  That statue is of a young boy holding and wrapped in a Confederate States of America flag.  Before the Civil War Maryland was a slave holding state even though it did not succeed from the Union.  Approval for the Douglass statue was given in 2004, despite opposition from local veterans…by one vote.  Approval was given on the condition that the new statue’s height didn’t exceed that of the “Talbot Boys” monument. 

As of 2021, the “Talbot Boys” monument was the only Confederate statue remaining on public grounds in Maryland.  It was finally removed in March of 2022 and it’s now at the Cross Keys Battlefield in Virginia.

The Shore United Bank building was apparently built in 1908.  Originally the Talbot Bank, this banking company dates back to 1885.  They must be doing something right…as they’re still in business and they haven’t been swallowed by a mega bank group.  These old bank buildings were built to impress their customers as a solid and safe place to leave their money...

The Clark Building looked lonely and forlorn.  It was the only unoccupied building that I noted in downtown Easton.  Given its architectural ‘look’ it easily dates back to the late 1890s or early 1900s.  The good news was that as per the signs on the front of the building, it was about to be renovated as an office building.

The Tidewater Inn was completed in 1949 in the Colonial Revival style, with an addition added in 1953.  It was the premier hotel and gathering place on Maryland’s Eastern Shore at the time when new auto routes led to a significant increase in visitors.   The Inn occupies the space that was previously the home of the 1891 Avon Hotel.   That hotel was destroyed in a fire in 1944.  Construction of the Tidewater Inn took 2 years due to postwar shortages of steel and plumbing materials.  When it opened in September of 1949, 4,000 people celebrated the event.  Over the years the hotel has hosted many well-known people, among them has been Robert Mitchum, Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby, Elizabeth Taylor and the Kennedys.

To learn more about The Tidewater Inn, just go to Luxury Bed & Breakfast - The Tidewater Inn.

The plantings or the ‘greenery’ in front of this establishment were so lush that Laurie and I both took photos of them.  We didn’t even go inside but we did like the look of this restaurant.  FYI, its name, appropriately enough is “Sunflowers and Greens”.  Their basic menu is all about salads and soups with a variety of protein options or add-ons.  Website: Sunflowers and Greens | Easton, MD.

The Avalon Theatre in Easton was originally built as a cinema back in 1921.  At the time it was billed as the “Showplace of the Eastern Shore”.  In 1934 a new owner purchased the theatre and renovated it with an art deco theme.  It became even more famous, hosting 3 movie world premieres, including “The First Kiss” starring Gary Cooper.  The theater closed its doors in 1985, but in 1989 it was restored as a performing arts center.  In 1992, the town of Easton bought the building.  It now serves as a prime venue for the performing arts.  Website: Home | Avalon Foundation.

This slightly unusual structure was built by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in 1879 after an earlier lodge burned down.  This 4-story brick structure stands out with its irregular roof line, a façade with a small tower-like gable…which is topped by a finial that contains an interior staircase.  Decorative stained glass windows patterned with symbols of the Odd Fellows fraternal order complete the picture.

This is the James Price House.  It was built ca 1790.  This brick Federal style building with its Flemish bond brick façade in one of Easton’s best preserved early structures.  The adjacent white house was built ca 1803.  In 1946, the Talbot County Women’s Club bought the homes and in 1947 renovations joined the two homes.  The organization continues to preserve these structures.  To learn more about the women’s club and its missions, go to Home - Talbot County Womens Club.

I thought that the juxtaposition of the glass covered modern structure with the old stone jail was quite interesting.  This building is the home of the Talbot County State’s Attorney.  I am not sure what the old jail is being used for.  Frederick Douglass’s attempted escape in 1836 ended here.  The old county jail that held him was replaced by this stone building in 1878.  To learn more about Frederick Douglass, just go to Frederick Douglass - Wikipedia.

We really liked this antique store.  Trumpeter Swan Antiques at 35 East Dover Street is a bit unconventional.  For one thing, they don’t have an active website nor do they seem to be on Facebook.  Located near the center of popular Easton, they do have location going for them though.

You name it and Trumpeter Swan Antiques has a bit of everything.  Old kitchen ware, carved duck decoys, crystal, sterling silver, antique guns, stoneware, Depression glass and colorful bobbers from the 1910s.  Trophy fish mounts, old signs, advertising memorabilia, art, fishing lures…and the list goes on and on.  Of course that last photo is proof isn’t it?!  One doesn’t see very many extensive collections of lighter fluid, oil, lubricants and other related cans…but this store has a plethora of them!

I thought that I’d end this little tour of Easton Maryland with a photo of the sisters…Bonnie and my best friend and wife of many years, Laurie.  They both love these trips!

One final note: In 2018, Forbes Magazine named Easton Maryland as one of America’s top five ‘coolest places’ to buy a vacation home.  We definitely like this town too!

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave