wanderer1

My husband and I are taking a trip to Easton in March to explore for possible retirement.

We plan to visit St. Michaels and Oxford as well.

Is Tilghman Island worth a visit? Are we close enough to Annapolis and Chincoteague to do day trips to both on separate days?

We went last year to the NC coast for the first time and found it stunning (Bald Head Island).

Is there comparable coast on the shores of MD?

Katie2

I wouldn't recommend going to Tilghman Island. I've been there once and once was enough.

Annapolis is about an hour west from Easton. You cross over the Chesapeake Bay bridge. Definitely worth seeing. The historic area is lovely, located on the water and filled with shops.

Chincoteague is a pretty little island and is about 2 hrs. from Easton.

I've never been to Bald Head Island so can't compare it to the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The Eastern Shore is beautiful. The beaches are about 1 1/2 hrs. from Easton.

Hope you enjoy your trip.

Katie2

PS You might want to Google the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia.

lolfn

easton, st. michaels and oxford are all quaint colonial towns with easton being much larger than the other two (10k pop vs 1k). tilghman island still has that local watermen feel to it. since you won't be here during boating season, i wouldn't recommend making the trek out there.

as katie said, downtown annapolis is about an hour from easton and the delaware beaches and ocean city are about 1 1/2 hours. i haven't been to bald head island, but i have been to the outer banks years ago. these beaches are much more built up than those.

assateague and chincoteague are further south than ocean city and they are beautiful. whether it is worth the day trip depends on how long you will be in the area, what you enjoy to do and how much you are enjoying easton.

the easton area is very quiet in january and february. many stores and restaurants close for those months. if you are coming in early march, you might run into some closures. they tend to start to reopen toward the end of the month with everything open again by april 1.

i usually recommend people get out on the water when they visit, but that could be difficult depending on when you're coming. i think the patriot, a boat out of st. michaels, starts running again mid-march. the ferry between oxford and bellevue might not be running then either.

but you can sit and view the water in both st. michaels and oxford. st. michaels has a pretty harbor and oxford has a pretty town park along the choptank river and the strand "beach" along the tred avon river.

i'll be happy to try to help with more specific questions.

jeffergray

If you can handle the cost, you might consider staying in St. Michael's at the Inn at Perry Cabin, rather than in Easton. It's a beautiful riverfront property in St. Michael's, which is a lovely small town. It was originally owned by the husband of Laura Ashley (and may still be), and everything inside is done up in Laura Ashley fabrics. The restuarant was fantastic. I had one of the best meals of my life there. The quality of service is impeccable, and you can rent bikes for exploring the backroads. There used to be another good restaurant in town called 208 Talbot, on the main street. There are lots of fun shops in St. Michael's.

The St. Michael's Maritime Museum is a short walk from the Inn. It's well worth a visit, and really is one of a fairly limited handful of major "sights" to see in that area of the Eastern Shore. Mostly, it's just a matter of walking around the small towns, exploring the backroads, and soaking up the ambience.

Tilghman Island is readily reachable from the Easton/St. Michael's area -- it's maybe 15 miles from the latter. It does give you a feeling for the older life of the bay, but it takes very little time to see, because there really isn't anything that much there to see. There's this curious bridge you cross to get there, and you might be able to find someplace near the bridge for lunch, but that's about it. The island is only about 3-4 miles end-to-end.

You could certainly do Annapolis as a day trip from the Easton area. Chincoteague is a significantly longer drive farther south. Assateague is to the north of Chincoteague, also still pretty unspoiled, and also has some wild horses. Chestertown in Queen Anne's County, north of the Bay bridge, is also very quaint and picturesque and worthy of a visit.

The Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge south of Cambridge would be another place you could visit. It's bald eagle habitat (although I'm not sure if the eagles are there this time of year!).

There are good small B&Bs all over that area of the Eastern Shore. I've also stayed in the Robert Morris Inn in Oxford, which is nice but a little dated --not nearly as luxe as the newer Inn at Perry Cabin.

wanderer1

Thank you.

Although the Inn at Perry Cabin is stunning, it is unfortunately out of our price range.

We also are going for just a long weekend, and wanted to be able to walk around the town we stayed in. If we like it, we will go back for longer.

How far is Chestertown from Easton in driving time?

So far, our list of possible restaurants includes Legal Spirits, Out of the Fire, Mason, Columbia and Alice's Restaurant.

We like casual with good food, nothing dressy or expensive.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I saw Annapolis once years ago and really liked it, but I see the crime rate is very, very high there. Are there areas to stay away from?

lolfn

chestertown is about 45 min from easton.

unfortunately, columbia and alice's are both no longer. which is a shame, columbia wasn't cheap but so good. alice's was a great little cafe type place.

i'd add general tanukis to your list with mason's and out of the fire.

the chef/owner at inn at easton is opening a thai restaurant very soon at the corner of dover and aurora. i have no idea how expensive it will be but the inn at easton is/was the best restaurant in town (the couple is divorcing and the inn is up for sale). so i fully expect the thai restaurant to be excellent (and hopefully reasonable).

in royal oak (between st. michaels and easton), there is a little italian market/restaurant called bella luna which is good. www.bellalunarestaurant.net if you do take the ferry between oxford and bellevue, you'd go through royal oak to get to rt 33.

unfortunately, perry cabin isn't what it used to be. it is owned by a japanese company now who did a huge expansion. i've overheard some people saying they were dissapointed in their stay. and the restaurant isn't what it used to be either. you can get better food for the money elsewhere.

and 208 talbot has probably gone through an ownership change since jeffergray has been here. it is still a good restaurant but not on par where it was previously. it was my favorite.

and, lastly, i remember reading that the robert morris inn is also up for sale and won't be reopening until they find a buyer.

wanderer1

Thanks.

Is Legal Spirits any good?

bfrac

Hi wanderer, I live here in the area you are visiting. For your restaurant selections: Columbia is closed, Out of the Fire and Mason's are good, Legal Spirits is just okay, you could also try General Tanuki's across the street from Out of the Fire, but my favorite and highly recommended restaurant in Easton is Scossa (a little pricier than the others but worth it). It is directly across from the courthouse and has wonderful food and ambiance.

Yes, Annapolis is an easy day trip for you and the historic downtown is quite safe. Chincoteague is too far since you will only be here for a long weekend.

Chestertown, in Kent County, (my hometown)is about a 45 minute drive from Easton. It is the home of Washington College, founded in 1782, and has a small, quaint downtown area with lovely shops. It is like Easton used to be when I was a child growing up there. Chestertown is also a favorite retirement destination.

I will be happy to help with any more questions you have.

lolfn

i haven't eaten at legal spirits in years so i can't say. and i really haven't heard any informal reviews from friends either. hopefully others on here have eaten there.

carol222

While Tilghman Island is certainly not big on the tourist list because of not much being there, it really is worth a drive to, to at least get a feel for what the Eastern Shore was like before it became so popular a place. Tilghman Island shows what all we "come heres" came here for originally. There is a wonderful restaurant right at the end of the bridge on the Tilghman Island side..I can't remember the name of it but it sits right on the water with spectacular views and has wonderful food and ambience for the area. You might want to consider it for lunch if you're in St. Michael's.

denice7

I would recommend staying at the Hyatt Resort in Cambridge...about 10 miles east of Easton. It is a beautiful, new resort and try using the promotion code of SALE99. The rooms are $99 to 149 through the end of March with this code.

Restaurants....Easton has the best restaurants. One is an Italian named Scossa and the other is Mason's.

Cambridge is a great location to visit, St. Michaels, Easton, Oxford.

Katie2

If you can get a good rate at the Hyatt in Cambridge, I recommend staying there. We've stayed there several times. It's a lovely resort. Cambridge is only 15 mins. from Easton.

We've never eaten at Scossa's but understand from friends it's great.

I've eaten at Mason's and Out of the Fire many times. Both are good.

bfrac

I have to agree that a drive to Tilghman would be interesting and if you are in St. Michaels you are already halfway there.

I know the Hyatt is popular but in my honest opinion it is like any other hotel and doesn't really give you a feel for the Eastern Shore like staying in a smaller place in Easton/Oxford/St. Michaels. There are so many lovely B&Bs in all of these towns. And while Cambridge is trying to bring life back to their downtown it hasn't quite the same charm as the other towns. You would spend more time on the road driving to the places you said you want to visit.

The restaurants mentioned here in Easton are much better than at the Hyatt as well.

wanderer1

We've already booked at the Bishops House in Easton.

bfrac

Very good choice. You will be in walking distance of downtown. I hope you enjoy your stay.

wanderer1

Does anyone know of any planned communities in this area?

I found one called Cook's Hope, but it appears to be very high end.

We don't want a gated golf community - that is not us, but if done well, a planned community may appeal to us.

We found one in NC that we like, outside of Chapel Hill - used to be an old farm, and they kept alot of the land, added a pond, have a little "village" there with a bookstore, bank, hair salon, deli, 3 restaurants, etc.

It's very nicely done and lots of walking trails and woods. That's what we are looking for, not houses stacked one on top of another with no trees.

Really looking forward to our visit!

LN

Hi Wandereer

There are a couple of 55+ comunities on eastern shore in Easton and in Cambridge.
ost are in the 300 to 500 $$$ range with one being a Del Webb community and can be seen online.

Annapolis?? It's a delightful community with an very low crime rate for the 25 years that I've lived there. I think maybe someone gave you some bad stats. The city is about 70 thousand people and is upscale with the housing on the higher end. Great medical care, great schools and colleges as well as convenience to DC (which does have a higher crime rate). As to 55+ communities there's only a couple in Annapolis and (if memory serves me in a price range greater than 450 thousand).

Eastern Shore is great - many people consider it a bedroom community to the western shore. Communities like Stevensville, easton, and Cambridge are truly growing. You may need to come across the bridge again for some good medical care if your above 55.

Good luck in your hunting.

lolfn

cookes hope is very nice but very expensive. they have a second phase going in which i think is even pricier.

easton village is another. eastonvillage.com it is at the corner of easton bypass and rt 33. it is a traditional neighborhood concept with historic looking homes, front porches, sidewalks, community greens and garages in the back with alley access. they will have a community center too. some of the homes are quite large and pricey but ryan homes now has a model that is selling in the mid $300s right now.

easton club is an older planned community surrounding a golf course and some waterfront. this is at the corner of the easton bypass and oxford rd. it isn't to be confused with easton club east which is a newish del webb community (55+) that is on the east side of rt 50 and dutchman's lane. it looks like rows of homes with little landscaping.

depending on when you are planning to retire, the miles point development in st. michaels might be under way. the developer has been trying to get the development through for about a decade now. lots of protest from the conservation people and townsfolk but i think it will eventually happen in the next few years. the plan is to up around 250 homes, small hotel, retail strip and waterfront park between perry cabin and yacht club road. it will be similar to easton village as a traditional neighborhood and i think a density of 3 to 4 homes per acre.

there are couple other smaller townhome developments going in. one that looks interesting is a ryan home development in easton. i think called dixon square. it is near the old train station in a part of town that is being revitalized.

centreville has some adult communities. and i think there is a four seasons one on/near kent island.

wanderer1

Thanks everyone. Where I got the crime stats was city_data.com.

Crime rate for Annapolis is listed as 679 vs 323 for the national average. Pretty scary...

http://www.city-data.com/city/Annapolis-Maryland.html