brmsimmons

I live in Virginia Beach and usually head west or to DC for short trips. Can anyone recommend good areas on the Eastern Shore to visit? We are an active, fit couple in our mid 30's though if there are some appropriate areas we may bring my 59 yo Mom. While she is very active though she has developed early Alzheimer's so simple pleasures would be best for when we bring her.

tom_creans_daughter

In June, we took the drive from VA Beach to ST. MICHAELS, MD; (remember to include the cost of the Bay Bridge and Tunnel, in your calculations)

it took a little more than 3 1/2 hrs traveling with a 9 month old grand child (one stop to crawl in the grass at a rest stop/diaper change!) .. Left at 9:15am on a Friday.
We took Hwy 13 to Salisbury, and then Hwy 50, onto Easton; Hwy 33 to St Michaels.

We stayed at The Harbourtowne Hotel & Golf Resort; it was neat and clean and friendly (we are Hyatt/Hilton people).

We purchased drinks and snacks along S. Talbot Street; also on the street we walked with elder family & had ice cream, visited the craft fair & lovely shoppes; drove & had mimosas at The Inn at Perry Cabin, looking over the water.

Strolled thru Church Cove Park; had a meal at The Crab Claw; there is a local brewery too; saw the Maritime Museum.

Hope this helps -

AnnMarie_C

If you click on my name you'll find a post from a weekend spent in Easton recently. Granted, it wasn't an all leisure weekend but we fell in love with the area and found time for a little fun and some great food.

If you go over a weekend the farmer's market in Easton is fantastic. Great place to shop, yes, but also eat. The town of Easton is a lot of fun to explore, lots of great shops and restaurants. Hills Pharmacy still has a soda fountain in the back and although we didn't eat there heard the food is great.

There's a beautiful place to stay in town called Tidewater Inn--we only poked around the public areas and were impressed by what we saw.

http://www.tidewaterinn.com/

The ferry from Bellevue to Oxford is unique (to us) and a fun thing to do; Oxford is another great town to explore. Once you exit the ferry on the Oxford side there is an excellent ice cream shop called Scottish Highland Creamery.

http://www.oxfordbellevueferry.com/index.html

I'm sorry we didn't get to spend much time in St. Michael's. It is my understanding the museum there is excellent.

http://www.cbmm.org/

I am no expert on this area but I hope this helps. We are headed back to Easton on Thursday for the day--can't wait.

brmsimmons

St. Micheal looks lovely and Easton would be great, especially since I grew up in Easton PA! Any recs for Virginia?

SusieKay

We drove the entire eastern shore of Virginia a few weeks ago to visit some friends who have a house near the Maryland border. We honestly did not find much of anything that inspired us to stop for any length of time. It's all pretty much rural farmland-a few stoplights, post offices, Food Lions, and Hardee's, until you get to Chincoteague. I kept thinking we had missed something, but our friends advised us we had not. Though the traffic was much lighter than heading north on I-95!

bookhall

Chincoteague is worth a stop. From there, you can access the Assateague Island National Seashore. http://www.assateagueisland.com/

The beach is superb. And because it's off the beaten track, it's not subject to the populations pressures of Ocean City and its brethren to the north.

And Rays Shanty, just off 13 on the Chicoteague Road, is a great seafood stop.... http://raysshanty.com/

Kwoo

We love Chincoteague! Have been there about 4 times & always stayed at the Waterside Motor Inn. It is quiet unless you go during the pony round-up. We have seen the ponies several times, went swimming on Assateague Island, I agree the beach is superb. There are great seafood restaurants, the oysters are delicious, mini-golf, a small movie theater, a great ice cream place on the beach road to Assateague. You can take easy hikes/walks & bike ride, too.

santamonica

This is no doubt too little, too late, but we really liked visiting Cape Charles. Neat old town that stopped when the railroad stopped, but nice rental houses on the bay, some nice restaurants, nature refuge, golf course.

emd3

Anyone lking for a great getaway, try the Hyatt Chesapeake resort on the water in Cambridge, MD. We sepnt 3 mights there last weekend and were extremely imressed w/the entire resort. Samantha Brown from the Travel Channel got married there in 10/06. The setting is gorgeous, the spa is wonderful, the infinity pool at the waterfront is astonishing, the indoor pool is huge and opens on one side to the otdoors, the grounds are lovely, there is a marina for renting paddle boats and sunset pontoon cruises, bike rental, tennis, a golf course, and rooms are large and ver nice. Bar is great w/indoor and outdoor seating. Only thing that is not 5 star is the dining, which is just ok at the two restaurants we tried. But there are other places in Cambridge to eat close by (sme good crab places too)if you can tear ourself away from the resort. We stayed at the resort two days, then went to Ocean City to the beach (one hr further) on day 3 and came back to the resort to stay that night.

Big thumbs up from me and I am picky about $$ resorts.

november_moon

Another recommendation for Chincoteague. We spent a week there in August and loved it.

Rich

We stayed three nites at the Inn at Perry Cabin in June . . Great hotel with nice rooms and very good service. We ate all three evening meals and one lunch at the Crab Claw. Really good seafood ( take cash . . no CC's or Checks ) All but one of the meals was on the deck overlooking the Bay.

http://www.thecrabclaw.com/