- 16.7 miles
- 2 hours 16 minutes
- 7.4 mph average speed
- 3-6 mph winds
The boat ran great on the beautiful cruise up the Chester River to Chestertown. We absolutely loved Chestertown and are so glad we decided to visit the town. Chestertown was established in 1706 and is situated on the most traveled highway between the North and the South during the Revolutionary period. George Washington made eight known visits here between 1756 and 1793. The historic downtown area is a short walk from the marina and is filled with historic buildings, shops and restaurants. Beautiful homes surround the downtown area including many from the 1700’s.
We had some wonderful meals at Play it Again Sam, Modern Stone Age Kitchen and The Retriever Bar and, of course, ice cream at Sugar Doodles Sweet Shop.
We enjoyed doing the self-guided walking tour of historic Chestertown and loved looking at the houses from the 1700’s and reading about their history. Of particular interest was the White Swan Tavern, built in 1733 as a residence, enlarged to become a tavern in the 1793 until it became a general store in the 1850’s. It was restored in 1978 during which time an archeological excavation yielded some 70,00 objects from around the site. The Tavern reopened as a Bed & Breakfast in 1981 after being restored to its 1795 appearance. We decided to walk in and see if we could have a look around and were greeted by the lovely proprietress who welcomed us and gave us a brief tour of some of the rooms which were absolutely stunning! We could definitely spend some time here, given the opportunity!
Later, we took the loaner tricycles out for a ride on the old railroad trail. As much as we have ridden bikes on our tip, Ellen had to practice riding the tricycle before we ventured our of the marina parking lot!
We also walked over to the Washington College campus, founded in 1782. This was the first college chartered after American independence and the 10th oldest college in the United States. George Washington granted use of his name to the college and served on the Board of Visitors and Governors and received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws in 1789 once he became President and retired from the board.
