Maryland is a funny state in my chronology. Living in Pennsylvania and Maine I passed through Maryland many times prior to 2014 on my way to other destinations, but I never really made a trip to Maryland until 2014. Well, that isn’t quite true. As a young child I remember traveling with my mother and her friends to Deep Creek to a lovely state park for day trips from the Pittsburgh area. https://dnr.maryland.gov/publiclands/Pages/western/deepcreek.aspx As you will learn if you read the link, Deep Creek is located west of the Eastern Continental Divide and thus the waters flow into the Gulf of Mexico rather than the Atlantic Ocean, just like the Ohio and Mississippi RIvers do. However that trip was so long ago and my memory of it is so sparse that I really can’t count it as a trip to Maryland.
In later years I frequently passed through Maryland, either on road trips to Florida or South Carolina or by air when I flew into the Baltimore Airport because the flights from Bangor to the DC area sometimes were cheaper or more convenient than flying directly into Reagan National airport. There was pretty good bus and Amtrak service available to the places I wanted to go in DC. But it wasn’t until December of 2014, after I retired and after our serious spring road trip to Nebraska, that Harold and I took a real trip to Maryland to visit Ocean City and also the Assateague National seashore. We were headed to Edisto, SC, but took the long route down the coast to allow for a visit to see the wild ponies that roam on the seashore.
We wound up visiting Assateague because of Wally, our dog. My “bucket list” visit would have been a trip to Chincoteague in Virginia because of the book I read as a child, “Misty of Chincoteague.” If you have never read it, I highly recommend it for anyone, child or adult, who loves horses and wants to read a delightful story about Misty. I have attached everything you need to know via this link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misty_of_Chincoteague The author was Marguerite Henry who also wrote a great book about horses and Vermont called “Justin Morgan Had a Horse.” The Misty book tells about the annual pony penning when the herd is captured and culled and some of the animals sold as pets. The experience involves the ponies swimming across the channel that separates Maryland and Virginia. For some reason the regulations do not allow dogs to visit Chincoteague, not even if they remain in the car, but Assateague does allow dogs to ride in vehicles into the National Seashore area. We never made it to Chincoteague but had a lovely time in Maryland. Harold described the beach as the “most perfect beach” he ever visited. The wild ponies grazing on the roadside grass only added to the allure of the place.
There is one other spot in Maryland I have to mention. It involves an “adventure” with my friend Sheri in early May, 2022, as we drove back to Maine from Charleston. We went up the Eastern Shore of Maryland and I estimated, based upon our departure time from New Bern, North Carolina, that we would be arriving in a little town called Princess Anne in time for a late lunch/early dinner (a/k/a linner). Sheri found us a restaurant that was open until 4:00 p.m. called Squeaky’s Cafe. https://squeakyscafe.business.site/?utm_source=gmb&utm_medium=referral It developed that Squeaky and her husband were the purveyors of the best crab cakes on earth. The restaurant was deserted at that time of the day and Squeaky took a little break and sat down and joined us as we devoured the crab cakes. After lunch her husband, the chef, came out and joined us for a visit. It was a great meal and a great experience, fine dining in Princess Anne. The crab cakes were giant lump crabmeat with absolutely no filler. Squeaky would not let us leave without a complimentary piece of Smith Island cake, the Maryland state cake. I would travel all the way back to Princess Anne for another taste of those crab cakes.
If I had to explain to someone why I love to travel, I would show them these pictures of Squeaky and tell them about our “adventure.” I love the serendipity of going to an unknown place and trying something new while making new friends. I got a message from Squeaky on my Facebook page that simply says “I loved you guys.” It made the long drive worthwhile.
Memories - A Second Chance at Happiness 