Three County Seats

Himself and I had a little bitty getaway of fewer than 36 hours. But we packed a lot into that time! We left home on Friday morning and drove down to Chestertown, Maryland, the county seat of Kent County. We are very familiar with this sweet little town because for several years friends had a getaway home there and we'd go down to visit. Chestertown is right on the river. We had a real good lunch at Play It Again Sam, a coffee-and-stuff eatery that another friend had owned for a time. We shopped at Twigs and Teacups, picking up some goodies for Easter baskets. And then we were on our way again!

Our main destination was Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, not far from Cambridge, Maryland. It was cold at Blackwater, but not problematically cold. After a spell in the visitors' center, we drove along one loop, pausing to watch snow geese who were coming and going in enormous numbers. They were gorgeous. We took a hike down a trail in search of other birds, but that was fruitless. 

At the suggestion of Blackwater's desk clerk, we drove to Cambridge, county seat of Dorchester County, to see an enormous assembly of several kinds of ducks. Another couple, serious duck people it seems, had arrived shortly before we did, and they had brought duck food! We stayed as long as we could (golly, it was cold there!), watching the antics of these waterfowl nudging and diving to get the treats.

It was just about dark when we arrived at the Tidewater Inn in Easton (county seat of Talbot County), where we were to spend the night. It is a truly lovely hotel with a wonderful dining room. We were sorry to leave on Saturday morning, but we had other places to go!

Joe needed to visit the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michael's, so we drove there next. As we pulled in to the parking area, we were surprised at the number of dogs on leashes. It seems there was some sort of a trained dog sniffing competition going on! It turned out that the museum was closed for the season (a return trip appears to be in order) but Joe sniffed around and found things to marvel at nonetheless.

A long drive next to Rock Hall, a place we'd heard about when we'd visited Chestertown in the past. We had a nice lunch there, but there wasn't anything going on. Another place to visit during the season.

Another longish drive towards home, stopping at the foods section of Ikea to pick up some of their yummy herring and salmon, and then we retrieved Blackberry from Ruth's. He was, as always, so glad to see us, and to hear about the wonderful things we'd done.