|
St Michaels
|
|
|
A contender for prettiest harbor on the Chesapeake Bay, tiny
ST MICHAELS
, twelve miles west of US-50 on Hwy-33, is also one of its oldest ports. Founded during the mid-1600s, it grew into one of colonial America's prime shipbuilding centers, and its fast sloops and shallow-draft "bugeyes" evaded British blockades during the Revolutionary War. St Michaels languished while Baltimore blossomed, but since the early 1960s it has been rediscovered, its old buildings now gentrified into art galleries, boutiques and cozy B&Bs.
Some corners of the town survive intact, however; among them the old town green,
St Mary's Square
, a block off the main Talbot Street on Mulberry Street. To get a clear sense of the history of Chesapeake Bay, head north along the docks to the extensive and modern
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
(daily March-May & Oct-Nov 9am-5pm; June-Sept 9am-6pm; Dec-Feb 9am-4pm; $7.50). This focuses on the restored
Hooper Strait Lighthouse
, at the foot of which float several Chesapeake Bay sailboats - designed to make the most of the bay's shallow waters. Nearby, some two hundred other boats include a Native American dugout canoe, while in the museum workshop skilled artisans and legions of volunteers restore and maintain historic boats using painstaking traditional techniques. If you left your boat at home and want to get out on the bay, Patriot Cruises (tel 410/745-3100) run one-hour
excursions
for $10 while other companies operate shorter (and cheaper) trips. Among St Michaels' revered seafood
restaurants
, the
Crab Claw
(tel 410/745-2900; March to mid-Dec) occupies a prime chunk of the waterfront alongside the Maritime Museum and boasts an extensive menu. Though many of its customers turn up for the beer and the views rather than anything else, the prime reason to come is to enjoy their all-you-can-eat
steamed crabs
. At weekends especially, the rest of the town's wharves and docks are filled with boaters who flock to restaurant-cum-bars such as the
Town Dock
(tel 410/745-5577) and
St Michaels Crab House
(tel 410/745-3737), both at the end of Mulberry Street. As a result,
B&Bs
such as the period-furnished
Hambleton Inn
, 202 Cherry St (tel 410/745-3350 or 1-866/745-3350,
; $100-130), and the
Kemp House Inn
, 412 S Talbot St (tel 410/745-2243,
; $75-100), charge much higher rates at weekends and tend to be fully booked; for slightly cheaper rooms your choice is restricted to the
St Michaels Motor Inn
(tel 410/745-3333 or 1-800/528-1234,
; $75-100), a branch of
Best Western
at 1228 S Talbot St on the rather featureless main road into town. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
|
United States,
|