Travel: Quick Weekend Getaways: Chesapeake City, MD
Overall vibe: At the head of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, seafaring container ships pass through the middle of a quaint Victorian canal town.
What to do/see: The town’s lifeline is a canal (the world’s third busiest) linking the Chesapeake and Delaware bays, and the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Museum (410-885-5621) offers visitors a proper introduction to the waterway and its history. (It initially cut travel time from Philadelphia to Baltimore by three days.) On the city’s south side, a bevy of antiques stores is packed into a tiny downtown.
Where to eat: Bayard House (11 Bohemia Avenue; 410-885-5040), which sits on the canal, is known—as most places round these parts seem to be—for its crab soup and crabcakes, both of which can be packed for takeout.
Where to stay: Of the city’s bed-and-breakfasts, the Inn at the Canal boasts its own first-floor antiques shop and a waterfront porch perfect for barge-spotting (104 Bohemia Avenue, 410-885-5995; rooms from $95).
Travel Time: 1:15