Great Escape: North Beach

The best made plans...

We glanced anxiously at the gathering clouds on our Saturday drive to North Beach, Maryland, a resort town on the Chesapeake Bay’s Western Shore. Our trunk was crammed with beach chairs, sunscreen and a cooler full of cold sodas.

We’d planned to take in a wine tasting festival and farmers market and then spend the day lounging on the sandy beach. Halfway to our destination, the threatened downpour materialized. Would rain spoil our day?

We needn’t have worried. Our beach outing didn’t come to pass, but there were plenty of attractions to occupy our afternoon. The Eat Drink Go LOCAL North Beach wine tasting offered the wine tasting for $15, and for an additional $10 included local food pairings — and there was a bustling farmers’ market, featuring local southern Maryland produce and food.

My friends sampled wine from several Maryland producers, including Boordy Vineyards, Cygnus Wine Cellars and Knob Hall Winery, among others. They enthusiastically praised Cassinelli Winery and Vineyards' chocolate merlot and acquired a few bottles.

The farmers market featured local meats; produce; baked goods, including gluten-free and vegan; jams and jellies; cheese; and flowers. I purchased enough fresh, ripe peaches from Back 40 Farm for a deep-dish peach pie, and the friendly seller threw in an extra one for eating. It was fragrant, sweet and juicy. I have high hopes for that pie!

Rain always makes poking into intriguing shops a welcome diversion. Bay Avenue and 7th Street had plenty of options. A bejeweled mosaic fairy sculpture outside ArtWorks @ 7th, a North Beach artists’ cooperative featuring the work of 20 to 30 artists, beckoned us.

Inside, the watercolors and oil paintings, pottery, 3D collage assemblages, photographs, cards and jewelry were appealing, as were the chocolate chip cookies and lemonade on a side table. I was tempted by some beautiful and boldly colored cat paintings and cast silver earrings.

At the end of the street, I browsed Nice and Fleazy Antique Center, an antique lover’s paradise of art pottery, glassware, vintage jewelry and clothing, bric-a-brac, quilts, kitchen items and furniture. I coveted an oaken, blue-upholstered Morris chair, but knew we didn’t have room in the trunk!

Chesapeake Antiques next door featured Victorian china, mesh flapper handbags, armoires, vanity items, silver teapots and children’s books.

My friends and I reconvened for a leisurely walk down the half-mile long boardwalk. A local musician, Austin Ellis — a hometown boy now living in Annapolis — bantered with the passing crowd, played the guitar and sang covers and original songs. We watched an exuberant, curly-haired toddler throw her arms up and dance joyfully to the music.

Further along, we observed a convention of seagulls on a branch and a heron diving. Benches along the boardwalk invited us to sit and admire the Chesapeake. Despite the light drizzle, we laughed and talked about everything under the sun.

Some children fed a flock of ducks and we noted with amusement how the ducks swarmed around the bread with greedy quacks — and quickly scattered when the food was gone.

To complete our day, we enjoyed a sumptuous dinner at Mangos Bar & Grill, in Rose Haven, Maryland, a short drive from North Beach. After a delightful meal, tired and happy, with a trunk full of wine, market peaches, and cheese, as well as those unused beach chairs — we headed home.