Many years ago when I lived in Baltimore friends and I rented a rustic old waterman's house each summer on Fishing Creek off the Little Choptank River outside of Cambridge in Dorchester County. For short we called our rental Town Point for the road driven from Cambridge to get there. I rented it with the same friends who were able to join me on this vacation. At Town Point we'd pick our weeks to stay but would usually be joined by the other renters in addition to other invited friends. The house was one of those places where there were many sleeping nooks and crannies and nearly every other horizontal surface could also be used for a bed. I always slept on the screened-in porch. I could listen to the Chuck-will's Widows calling incessantly (music to my ears) and it was also on the porch where I heard my one and only Black Rail calling throughout the night (magic). On Friday evenings, after work, we would join the thousands of other Eastern Shore lovers for the made dash down the I-97 and over the Bay Bridge for the weekend. Then on Sunday mid or late afternoon we would join the traffic for the drive back to Baltimore. For the ten years my friends rented it, I think I was in on the rental for six or seven of those years. I have so many memories from that experience that will always make the Eastern shore of Maryland special to me.
This year I got a bee in my bonnet to return to the Eastern shore for my birthday. My b-day was always my chosen week for a Town Point stay. Sometime in late winter or early spring (late for these kind of searches) I got on-line and began looking for rentals. Most of the rentals cost a lot and slept tons of people. But then I found this little cottage on Tilghman Island and snapped it up. There were only four available nights to select from during my birthday week which was perfect, although when the time came to leave I wished for a couple more days. Perfectly situated, cute little place right on Harris's Creek. The Eastern shore is always hot, humid and sunny this time of year. It's also mosquito heaven (my body bears the evidence) and all sorts of other good things - see my three prior posts. I went swimming every day (got bit on the toe by a blue crab), ran every morning, searched for dragonflies and birds and found plenty. The rest of the time was just hanging out with friends.
Sweet little cottage.
The next door neighbors had an Osprey nest at the end of their pier.
We made a visit to one of our favorite antique stores, Foxwell's in Easton, and then went on to Blackwater NWR where we visited the new Harriet Tubman (born into slavery in this area) museum. I recommend a visit here for everyone. We didn't go by the Town Point cabin because it was quite a bit out of our way and cannot be seen from the road anyway.
After our visit to the Harriet Tubman museum, we drove around Blackwater NWR and ended up on Hooper's Island for a late lunch/early dinner. Hooper's Island is a place which maintains its strong regional identity and where one can see the workings of people who have spent all their lives on the water.
Our final day was Saturday, the 28th and we spent the day just lazing around - reading, swimming, eating leftovers and playing bridge. An old black lab from one of the other houses on the road came around with his chewed up tennis ball and to beg for food. I went to the very end of Tilghman Island for dragonflies and found some good ones. Sunday, the 29th, we had to be out by 10:00 am. Thus ended my Tilghman Island visit for 2018. I hope I can return next year.
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