A few weeks back, Greg (our beer writer), Gabi (our friend) and I spent the weekend at the St. Michael’s Food and Wine festival. While we loved the event (post forthcoming) which featured hundreds of wines, chefs, seminars and more, we agreed the highlight of our tip was our stay at a quaint rental home called the Martini Cottage provided by Eastern Shore Vacation Rentals located in the downtown area of Oxford, Maryland.

I must admit that until I was invited to stay in Oxford, I had never heard of it. I’ve only been in Baltimore for 4 1/2 years and spend most of my weekends out of the city in Shenandoah backpacking or camping out near Assateague with my dogs. I was very much looking forward to visiting a small town on the Bay (sans dogs!) and taking in the peacefulness of small town life.

After a 2 hour drive in terrible Friday afternoon traffic on Rt. 50, we arrived in Oxford, MD. The town itself is rather small, with a main street that features a food market, library, park (on the water… everything here is on the water, which is kind of cool!) church and all the other cliche but expected small town buildings and functions! An interesting feature we noticed right away was that it seemed like every house had it’s own boat slip. In our time there over the span of two days, we encountered a lot of activity in this small town! A civil war reenactment with platoons of people dressed in period uniforms, a 5 and 10k race, a dog show and even the Oxford town parade!

We arrive at our weekend home which was called the “Martini Cottage.” The good folks at Eastern Shore Vacation Rentals were very helpful in making sure we found our way to the cottage and having it perfectly ready for our visit. Most of the furnishings and all of the appliances were new. It appears to have been recently 100% renovated and was in excellent condition.

The house was beautifully landscaped both front and back and featured a rather spacious backyard, with ample room for a group gathering or to have children run around and play. The location was just blocks from a wonderful park with playground equipment and a giant swing set which we could barely drag Gabi away from!

Gabi enjoing the swings at the Oxford Park.

The interior of the home was perfect for a few friends, or perhaps a family with kids. It featured two bedrooms, one which had a gorgeous, brand new king sized bed. I’m sure it was comfortable, but for confirmation you’ll have to ask Gabi as she slept comfortably in the middle of the giant mattress while Greg and I shared a room with two, firm and rather comfortable twin beds. Our nights were spent out at the festival so by the time we arrived back at the cottage, Greg and I could have cared less to complain about our small beds! What we really looked forward to was morning.

Waking up at 6:30 AM to a sunshine filled day in Oxford was perhaps my favorite part of the trip. A short walk to the town shopping mart (about 400 square feet in size) to get fresh veggies and eggs (and scrapple!) at 7 AM always included interaction with a few of the hundreds of locals and vacationers taking advantage of the quiet beauty of small town mornings. We then spent an hour or so in the in the newly renovated kitchen preparing breakfasts feasts big enough  for 10 people…while Greg and I managed to eat for 4 persons each…Gabi did her part in eating for two! The kitchen wasn’t huge, but spacious enough for the three of us to work side by side and was equipped with utensils and pans to make anything from eggs to a giant feast.

Image: Gabi making pancakes!

Our favorite part of the home was the large screened-in sun room at the front of the house. We ate breakfast here, we sat here at night and even contemplated sleeping out there to take in the cool spring nighttime breeze. This gave us a great view of the daytime events such as a civil war reenactment and a dog show which both occurred a the park across from the house.

Greg giving his thanks for the huge breakfasts we ate on the porch!

The house even features a billiards room with a bar area in the back that is detached from the home, though there was no pool table present at our visit! I’m sure this would make for a great hangout for a group of friends or a nice way for the kids to keep themselves entertained while the grown ups have their fun..especially with its proximity to a new gas barbecue!

The Family Room

Overall, Oxford was a perfect location for a weekend outside of the city. Within a 20 minute commute (which may include a short ferry ride!) to many other small towns and attractions in the area it’s an ideal, off-the-beaten path town to stay in. We opted for the ferry ride each time as it was our only chance to get out on the water and was very cool to park on a floating, moving platform loaded with other cars! Greg, Gabi and I have already discussed getting a small group of friends together and heading back to Oxford for a weekend this summer or in the fall. While the Martini cottage would only comfortably sleep 4 people, Eastern Shore Vacation Rentals has a variety of great properties available. One plus for Kim and me is that many of the properties allow up to 2 dogs, which can be tough to find in a nice vacation rental home.

The sun room where we spent most of our time!

Just one of thousands of boats visible from Oxford’s shores!