Two Towns with British Roots: Cambridge and Oxford

cmw2559
Oct 1
2 min read

Across the Bay and a bit north lies the Choptank River and La Trappe Creek and the Tred Avon River. This area is part of the very special Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake. None other than James Michener immortalized this area in his famous book, Chesapeake. Whereas the areas to the south, including Crisfield, Onancock and Cape Charles highlight the economic challenges of insufficient critical capital investment and vitality, the towns of Cambridge and Oxford show much greater wealth as displayed by the housing stock and fewer boarded store fronts. Is this vitality linked with less land subsidence, less flooding and greater distance from the meteor's impact crater? Or is it due to better access to rail transportation after the collapse of the tobacco industry in the early 1800s? Hard to say, but today's observed vitality stems from stable or growing population, especially among younger cohorts as well as retirees. It's enough to create optimism amongst the natural beauty.

For Brio's interests, this area north of the Potomac and Patuxent Rivers represent a boater's paradise of towns and villages accessed by intricate waterways, creeks, rivers and bays. The anchorages and the marinas are as prevalent as are the crabs that populate the bottom of the Bay.

The Upper Chesapeake Bay from Solomons on the Western Shore to Havre de Grace, including the Eastern Shore Hamlets

The smudge in the center is Oxford. Our first night in this area, September 30th, was spent at the Cambridge Yacht Club (CYC). We were kindly sponsored by a friend of Jeff's. We enjoyed a lovely dinner in Cambridge and the next day we explored La Trappe Creek across from Cambridge in the morning before leaving Jeff's friend back at CYC.

Then we motored back down the Choptank and briefly up Tred Avon River to Oxford, a delightful village with a town park where we enjoyed our sandwiches made at the Oxford Market.