Mid-Shore Life

by Mary McCarthy
 
I had a chance to visit Chestertown this week as part of the cool "Eat Drink Buy Art" passport program where I'm visiting nine towns around the Eastern Shore.
 
I love downtown Chestertown- the food at Feast of Reason, the shops like Twigs and Teacups, coffee at Play it Again Sam's, the cute kids' clothes at Pride & Joy, you name it. I even stopped by the Chestertown Natural Foods store to get some stuff for my vegan teen (egg substitute- I finally found it on the Eastern Shore!).
 
But you know what my favorite part was? Finding the Chestertown Old Book Company and chatting with Jerry. He is so amazingly knowledgeable about old and rare books and his shop is so cozy and cool. I am in love with books and now I am in love with his shop! Chestertown is so fortunate to be able to support not one, not two but THREE bookstores and I learned that:
 
THIS WEEKEND is the first ever Chestertown Book Festival!
 
The Chestertown Book Festival is the first and only book festival on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and is a celebration of the authors, books, and literary traditions of the Eastern Shore. The inaugural event will take place November 13-14, 2009 with author visits in shops, restaurants, and other gathering places throughout Chestertown. Click the above link for details.
 
Now if we could only get ONE book store in Centreville I'd be thrilled. And I'd run it too if I could pay the rent!
 
Anyway, I hope to see you guys in Chestertown this weekend for the book festival! What a cool annual tradition to start on the Shore!

by Mary McCarthy
I am a bit of a Halloween freak. Here's a picture of my Centreville 1881 Addams-family-looking Victorian at Halloween. The ghosts in the windows were drawn (on painters' dropcloths) by local artist Brian Draper, who I worship!
 
Some local folks have attended my Halloween parties- adult costume galas held in my neighborhood once a year, though I have to admit to this year's being a bit smaller (I hate the recession!). The competition for costume prizes is fierce, to say the least.
 
Many of the articles I write professionally are Halloween oriented. I am even Hallo-crazy enough to have my own Halloween website, Creative Halloween. This year, I am excited to announce I put together a Halloween book called Adult Halloween Parties in honor of the groan-up parties I've had at my house over the last decade. So if you are looking for food, decor, drinks, costume or other Halloween ideas, I hope you'll check out the book.
 
So what are some ways to celebrate this most spooktacular of seasons around the area? Well, I recommend visiting Adkins Arboretum for any of their fantastic fall events. The haunted trail is awesome! If you don't mind traveling just a bit (under an hour)- I wholeheartedly suggest taking a trip up to Middletown, Delaware to visit Frightland. I went this past weekend and came home hoarse from screaming in fear! It is a TON of fun- not for the faint of heart or young of child though! Also they have a carnival with carnival food including cheese fries. Cheese fries. Need I say more?!

by Mary McCarthy
 
I have a confession to make. I had never, ever left the Centreville harbor by boat until the past week. Yeah, yeah, I know, I've lived on the Eastern Shore for nearly a decade! How could I NOT have gone anywhere by boat?! Well, putting aside the facts that we don't actually HAVE a boat (we've been on the boat slip waiting list since we moved here) and that, um, everyone hates me so I don't get invited, I really was surprised that I hadn't left the Centreville harbor until this week.
 
Within a week, I took two boat trips from Centreville. One 'quick boat ride' to Kent Narrows and back, and one day-long, tons of families beach picnic trip. Both were amazing! On our friends' 'fast boat' (so called by my four year old son), I loved zipping around the bay- seeing the Russian Embassy from the water, and how pretty the landscape is from the boat. Favorite? Seeing the amazing waterfront homes. And nearly a week later, the beach picnic (I actually ended up taking a nap in the shade with my little boy- heaven!) was a ton of fun, too. Not just because of the amazing hoagies (I say hoagies, I'm from Philly. You can go ahead and call them 'subs' if you like.), but because hanging out with friends, the kids playing in the tidal pools, catching crabs, digging for clams and tubing behind boats (not me. others.) just made for an amazing day.

by Mary McCarthy

Yes. The Queen Anne's County Historical Society is spelling affaire with an 'e' because they're all old-fashioned cool like that.

Mark your calendars for the upcoming fun event on Saturday, September 19, 2009 from 11am to 4 pm.. QACHS (the Historical Society, not the High School -pay attention, people!) is holding a display of antique quilts and refreshments in the garden at Wright's Chance, 119 North Commerce Street and also at Tucker House, 124 Commerce St. right here in historic lovely downtown Centreville, MD. The tickets are only $5.00 per person and can be purchased the day of the event.

When I first moved to town, I was the first-ever Executive Director of the QAC Hist Soc, and I really enjoyed it. House tours, historic house museums and other old-y stuff is right up my alley. I even added Centreville as a district to the National Register of Historic Places so that we (in our 1881 Victorian) and others in town could take advantage of the historic tax credits for rehabilitation (20% helps when you're in The Money Pit!)

So please support your local Historical Society (and the two historic house museums they own and operate in town) by visiting Tucker House and Wrights Chance on September 19th to see their gorgeous quilt collections as well as the antique quilts of their members and friends.

Hope to see you there!