Chesapeake City

Yesterday, my family went to Chesapeake city! It was quite the adventure, and it’s only a half hour away from where I live! Chesapeake City is a small little town located in Maryland, right across from the C&D Canal. Recall in Delaware City that the town was built for workers who managed the canal? Well, Chesapeake City is half-way down, managing the other side.

Today, the city is still a small, functioning little village, containing gift shops, a post office, some bed and breakfasts, and many homes.

After crossing the massive Chesapeake City Bridge, we stopped at a small diver and had something for lunch. Next to the diner is a small, empty post office.

We drove into town and parked under the bridge to walk around.

After getting out of the car, we noticed there were some stairs going up in an area about 1/4th of the way up the bridge. My father and I decided to check it out and hiked up the stairway. At the top of the stairs was some not-so-nice graffiti with “WELCOME TO THE BRIDGE” written in marker.

A view from the top-most platform.

Accompanied with a terrifying face were metal grate steps (look a few pictures up) leading to the final section of the bridge. My father made it about half way up, but he’s about as afraid of heights as I am. After he came down, I tried my luck.

The hardest part was seeing straight down.

Fighting that “you’re about to fall” feeling in my stomach, I made my way to the top, and took a shot of the small town from the platform.

…and then quickly made my way back down.

Nobody is quite sure on the history of this town pre-canal but it was officially named Chesapeake City in 1839.

The town has a population of about 600, everyone seems to know each other.

The Ship Watch Inn, a bed and breakfast sitting on the bank of the Chesapeake.

The bridge, in all of her bridginess! This is a view of the 40ft deep canal.

The bridge used to be a draw-bridge until a tanker got stuck under it. That building across the river is another restaurant, Schaefer’s Canal House. We didn’t eat there, too expensive.

Along the canal there are little panels with information.

An invisible bench donated by The Marin’s at Dragonfly Gift Shop.

Informational plaque for Shipwatch Inn. If you guys think it’s worth doing, I can take a picture of all of the plaques around the city (there are many) and transcribe them here like I did with the diving bell. Bring them into the digital age!

Various gift shops stand in the small, empty, town.

Another restaurant along the canal, with a bar attached.

The Hole in the Wall bar.

There was a nice walk-through garden by the bed and breakfast, leading out to a pavilion.

On the next street over was a General Store, established in 1864!

Inside were various crafts and knick knacks.

Once again, foxes and ponies: world goes around.

The store sold some pretty interesting pop-out cards.

As well as delicious and affordable fudge! I had the peanut butter, and can attest to it tasting delicious.

All of these are fans.

The cash register itself was an antique, dating from the 1860s and still functional.

Mary’s Palette, a very tiny building, sadly it was closed.

In at the Canal, another bed and breakfast.

In addition to gift shops, there were various antique stores.

This isn’t city hall, it used to be. Apparently now it’s a jewelry store.

The actual town hall is much less impressive but still quite cute.

Chesapeake City Clock, built in 1839.

I think this is the resident dentist.

Plaque for the dentist’s house.

Another interesting house.

Second general store we came across.

It was a house with several hallways, each room with a new theme.

Ponies and foxes!

These must have been antique kitchen supplies.

Black Swan Antiques. Sadly, they were closed.

About half-way through the city, my brother Daniel got too excited, decided to climb The Blue Max Inn, another bed and breakfast.

We counted a few galleries in this town.

Near the back of the town, there are docks with several boats. My father and brother went out on them, jumping around and laughing about how their jumps would cause the entire structure to shake.

After we were finished, I decided to check out the Canal Creamery Sweet Shoppe, a dessert store along the canal. They had various flavors of ice cream, and even had free samples!

I got a single, but they allowed half and half. The bottom scoop is peanut butter vanilla and the top is “cookie monster cookie dough”. After we finished the ice cream, we returned back to the car, but before we left, my dad and I wanted to conquer our fear of that bridge, so we decided to walk it!

We climbed the stairs and stood on the sidewalk of the almost-200-foot-high structure, and began hiking towards the arch.

Luckily there was a fence, otherwise I would have been even more scared. Here’s a view of the town.

Apparently your voice can echo to the entire town below, so my father began preaching to the masses (that is, advertising Home Tips with Jim to the local population).

The higher we got, the better the view.

As we approached the highest point, we noticed a suicide prevention poster. That’s actually a pretty good idea…

The highest point of the bridge, facing the main half of the town.

Highest point showing the other half. I know I didn’t get a panorama of this, I really should’ve.

I took a few more shots on the way down.

…my dad made a point to wave at every single car that went by.

Did I mention that this bridge is /very/ rusty?

After returning to land, we decided to check out the museum. Sadly, it was closed. The museum used to be the pump house, back when the canal was made of chambers and locks.

This town is apparently the half-way point in the canal!

Commemorative tablet on the side of the museum.

Since the museum was closed, I took it upon myself to hold the camera up to a window and snap some pictures. Sadly, reflections had other things in mind.

Since there was no museum, we decided to head off, but not before I snapped a picture of a small lighthouse, used to help ships navigate the canal.

On the way home, I encountered this car, aptly named “Big Daddie”. I just had to take a picture because reasons.