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Chestertown By Nancy and Richard Woodworth The impression one gets upon entering Chestertown over the U.S. Route 213 bridge is unforgettable. Across the wide Chester River are grand brick mansions along the shore. In the center of town are great churches, squares and parks with monuments, the county courthouse, a couple of inns and suave stores. The streets in the nicely symmetrical downtown grid are lined with historic homes and townhouses, many dating to the 18th century. Here's the perfect small town, you think – close to the water, with ties to the past, obviously prosperous, a manageable size, good quality of life. The first impression is not erroneous. Subsequent forays in and around the Eastern Shore town of 4,000 and conversations with its residents confirm that this is one great place to live, as well as to visit. Local boosters are proud that Chestertown was rated in a national survey as the tenth favorite historic place in America. The lure is more than the fact that this small town claims the second largest district of restored 18th-century homes in Maryland, however. Life is slower here, Chestertown lying well off the beaten path. As the county seat of Kent County, Maryland's smallest, it exudes an air of self-sufficiency and a sense of place that evades towns twice its size. The park fountain works, the clock tower is illuminated at night, tiny white lights twinkle in a downtown alleyway. Galleries, boutiques and shops, all owner-operated, purvey wares normally associated with metropolitan areas. Creative chefs have settled here to instill their culinary marks. The good life is enhanced by the cultural offerings of Washington College, the nation's tenth oldest and the only one that George Washington allowed to use his name (he served as a trustee and received an honorary degree). Not far away are attractions as diverse as the oldest Episcopal church in Maryland, the best bathing beach on the Chesapeake Bay at Betterton, a hokey but bustling auction house and Rock Hall, a once-sleepy fishing community that's become a happening place lately. Who would challenge the claim that here is a small town that has it all? Material excerpted from Inn Spots & Special Places / Mid-Atlantic, by Nancy and Richard Woodworth. Copyright 2003. Wood Pond Press E-mail feedback to: Home
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