Rediscovering America_ Exploring the Small Towns of Virginia & Maryland - Bill Burnham [127]
Pet-friendly: Days Inn Westminster allows pets in smoking rooms with a $15 per day extra charge. (25 Cranberry Road, tel. 410-857-0500 or 800-329-7466, $$)
Pet-friendly: The Boston Inn at Route 140 and Route 97, allows dogs (no cats), with a $50 deposit. There are 120 rooms, an outdoor pool, and Jacuzzi suites. (533 Baltimore Blvd., tel. 410-848-9095 or 800-634-0846, www.boston-inn.com, $)
Information
Carroll County Visitor Center, 210 E. Main Street, open Monday-Saturday, 9 am to 5 pm, and Sundays and holidays, 10 am to 2 pm. (tel. 410-848-1388 or 800-272-1933, www.carr.org/tourism)
Havre de Grace
This port city is fortunate the Marquis de Lafayette let out such a praising and beautiful exclamation upon first seeing the shore from the Susquehanna River. “Ah, le havre de grace,” he remarked in 1782 on his way to meet General George Washington in Philadelphia. Translated from the French, that meant, “Ah, the harbor of mercy.” You can almost hear the sigh of relief in his voice. It also reminded him of le Havre back home in France.
If not for his utterance, the town probably would have been named like so many in the colonies, as the namesake of an English burg or royal family member. Instead, Havre de Grace wound up with what is arguably the prettiest place name in all of Maryland. The city thanked him, it could be said, by naming a street after him.
If, however, the Marquis had tried sailing farther north up the river, he might have had something much less complimentary to say. Past Havre de Grace, the river was unnavigable and shallow with boulders, until the Susquehanna & Tidewater Canal was built in 1839.
Around Town
Today you can get a tour of the reconstructed lock at the southern terminus of the canal and the 1840 Locktender’s House, which now houses the Susquehanna Museum of Havre de Grace. The canal served a vital role as boats carried timber, coal and agricultural products from Havre de Grace to points along the river 45 miles to Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, thus creating a navigable trade route between Baltimore and Philadelphia.
When chartered as a city in 1783, there were only seven houses in Havre de Grace.The Old Post Road (now US 40) spurred larger growth, serving as the stagecoach link between Baltimore and Philadelphia. In the 1789 Congressional vote to decide the nation’s capital, Havre de Grace lost to Washington DC by one single vote (cast by the Speaker of the House). It suffered the same fate as the capital during the War of 1812, when British troops attacked from a flotilla of 15 barges and burned the town to the ground. A single local militiaman, John O’Neill, attempted to defend the town with a cannon perched on a hill.
Today, Havre de Grace is a quiet little getaway (population 11,500), convenient to both Baltimore and Washington DC, and just five minutes off I-95. Tourism has replaced the bustle once created by the canal trade of the 1800s and the horse racing of the early 1900s.
Rent a bicycle at the corner of N. Union Avenue and Warren Street, or walk the self-guided tour of 35 historic spots in the city. Or take off on your own – there are more than 800 historic structures to see. Look for summer kitchens – small outbuildings with chimneys – scattered through the city. These were a necessary addition to any colonial household, given that hot summer temperatures and a hot kitchen would have made living conditions unbearable for the rest of the house (kitchens often caught fire, as well, so the practice protected the rest of the house).
Stroll the Promenade, a half-mile boardwalk along the Chesapeake Bay from one of the oldest operating lighthouses on the East Coast to the seven-acre Tydings Memorial Park, the site of various festivals and holiday celebrations throughout the year. Several historical museums within walking distance of the Promenade can satisfy anyone’s yen for maritime history. Take a cruise on a restored skipjack or