Hello readers! Due to final papers and exams, I have not had the time to compose a post for my second New York City trip. While that post will be coming soon, I have taken the time to put together this cumulative post from the events of this current and last weekend. Enjoy!
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Snowbound Vol. II
Salisbury typically gets its first major snow of winter in January or February. When I heard we would be in for snow two Fridays ago, I shrugged the forecast off and went about with my usual business. Salisbury's location on the Delmarva peninsula usually causes any snow to turn into rain once it comes our way. Little did I know of what was in store for my little town.
Aside from our Christmas lights, my house was completely obscured by the snow. We got a solid 8 inches!
The snow started around 2:00 pm, and began to stick after three hours, turning the roads into a nightmare. It snowed the following day as well, but not nearly as hard as Friday night. However, this didn't stop my house from losing power around 9 Saturday evening. The next day, most of the roads had been cleared, so I decided to venture out into the countryside.
A hidden creek in the woods on the outskirts of Salisbury. An equestrian dirt road once ran beside it, but it has now been forgotten.
The woods were also once frequented by Salisbury's defunct fox hunt club. My father, who grew up near these woods, remembers the foxhounds occasionally ending up on his property.
Town & Country
Wayfarer Sunglasses (RayBan) Italy
Bedale Waxed Jacket (Barbour) England
Blackwatch Scotch Flannel (L.L. Bean)
Cotton Crewneck (St. John's Bay)
Chinos (Brooks Brothers)
Bean Boots (L.L. Bean) USA
RayBan Wayfarer Sunglasses- See earlier posts.
Barbour Bedale Waxed Jacket- In need of a rewaxing due to heavy use this fall and past winter. For more, see other posts.
L.L. Bean Blackwatch Flannel- Passed over from grandfather. Woolrich, Pendleton, and L.L. Bean reign supreme when it comes to where one should buy their flannel shirts. I currently own three flannel shirts including the one in the picture, one from Sears, and a brighter colored one from Vineyard Vines. My one from L.L. Bean by far trumps the other two. Bean offers a wide selection of certified tartan patterns, with my shirt being in blackwatch.
St. John's Bay Cotton Crewneck Sweater- Passed over from grandfather. Due to its wear and large size, I have reserved this sweater for weekends or days at home. St. John's Bay is essentially J.C. Penney's attempt at coastal New England style. While I tend to steer away from most department store brands, I do not condemn St. John's Bay to where Alfani sits. It has been around since the 80's, and sweaters I own from them give a vibe similar to vintage L.L. Bean (but sadly aren't made in the USA). However, I would never seek one out. As with Stafford and Club Room, take it or leave it.
Brooks Brothers Casual Chinos- See other posts.
L.L. Bean Duck Boots- My most worn shoe of the season being put to real use in the snow. For more, see other posts.
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Easton, MD
My family has the tradition of taking yearly day trip to the small town of Easton, MD around Christmastime. While we typically go closer to Thanksgiving, my schedule made us push our trip forward by several weeks. Easton is pretty much summarized by this excerpt from a 1984 Time Magazine article on the town's annual Waterfowl Festival:
“Catalog freaks would recognize Easton as an L.L. Bean kind of town. On second thought, that may be a little narrow. It is a Bean-Gokeys-Orvis-Eddie Bauer-Lands End kind of town; it spreads its trade around. Topsiders, penny loafers, khaki pants, monogrammed sweaters, oxford cloth shirts, lamb suede jackets and the ever present tweed, to say nothing of argyle socks, contribute heavily to the Easton uniform. Easton was preppie when preppie wasn’t cool. Ducks embellish its mailboxes; there are ducks on its welcome mats. It is a place of fine old houses hugging tidy streets. Well-fed cats walk its alleys with the air of taxpayers; they do not prowl.”
On the way to Easton, we drove through a small community known as Trappe. My late grandfather lived here for a time. I mentioned this area in my post on Oxford, MD as being home for a country gentleman, and I will hold to this statement.
A patrician duck hunter's paradise, Talbot County has also attracted the attention of notable Washingtonians, including Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, both of whom have vacation homes in the nautical town of Saint Michaels. Ever wonder where Wedding Crashers was filmed/took place? Saint Michaels and Talbot County.
Prime land for a country estate.
Our scenic route through Trappe led us directly into Easton. As it lies on US Route 50 many pass through a part of Easton on their way to Ocean City, MD. However, the few who venture in further are treated to one of the nicest (and also richest) small towns in Maryland.
One of Easton's most famous landmarks is the Tidewater Inn, a hotel and restaurant that has hosted Elvis Presley, Elizabeth Taylor, Bing Crosby, JFK, and Robert Mitchum (another Trappe resident).
Easton has been host to a number of men's stores over the years. One of my favorites was a Celtic store that sold tartan ties from Scotland. Sadly, the store closed a few years ago, and has had its storefront replaced by Sailor, a boutique transplanted from Saint Michaels specializing in contemporary preppy brands such as Vineyard Vines, Patagonia, Southern Marsh, etc. While I usually make an effort to visit Sailor, today I decided to let another store be the focus of my visit: Berrier Ltd. Berrier is the family namesake of the father and son who own the store, and specializes in a clothing one may find on an English country gentleman.
Berrier offers a large selection of tweed jackets and vests. It is also a retailer of Dubarry, a renowned Irish brand famous for its boots and waxed jackets.
Berrier's offers the classics of men's fragrances, including Royall Bayrhum, and a touch of the region, Chesapeake Bay Spyce.
After leaving Berrier's, I headed to Trumpeter Swan antiques, one of Easton's many antique emporiums.
Trumpeter Swan antiques is owned and managed by a man named Keith Davidson, who shares my affinity for herringbone sport coats and OCBDs. After getting into a conversation about his Dubarry waxed jacket during my visit last year, Mr. Davidson offered me a job helping post merchandise to eBay. While I wish I could have taken the job, my fuel expenses would have skyrocketed due to the hour long commute.
Mr. Davidson also specializes in the sale of decoys, one of the town's claims to fame due to the Waterfowl Festival.
I next headed across the street to Hill's Drugstore. This pharmacy is not your typical CVS or Walgreen's, as it still has the soda counter and diner of yesteryear's drugstores .
The past survives at Hill's Drugstore on Dover Street. Aside from being internally remodeled in 2007, little else has changed about the nearly 90 year old pharmacy and soda fountain.
You know you're in a Trad/Preppy/Ivy drugstore when the only reading glasses they sell are P3 style.
Tattersall OCBD (L.L. Bean) USA
Wool Cableknit Crewneck Sweater (Bass)
Bedale Waxed Jacket (Barbour) UK
L.L. Bean Tattersall OCBD- Borrowed from my father. Visibly fraying at the collar and cuffs but still doing its job, this shirt is straight out of the L.L. Bean heyday, and is made in the USA.
Bass Cableknit Crewneck- I can't recall from where I bought this sweater, as I have owned it for years. Wool sweaters are my go-to for sub-50 degree days, and this particular sweater provides extra warmth due to being a size larger than most of my sweaters. Due to this size issue, I rarely wear it without a jacket on top.
After leaving the drug store, I headed to Albright's Gun Shop which was right next door. Not to buy a gun, but to look for wax dressing for my Barbour jacket. The store is probably the closest Barbour retailer to Salisbury. While they were fully stocked with jackets, vests, and shirts, Albright's unfortunately was not carrying any dressing at that moment.
In addition to carrying Barbour , Albright's is also an Orvis retailer. Easton's duck hunting culture really couldn't be farther from the rednecks of Duck Dynasty.
After my failed search for the Barbour dressing, I decided to go to a place I hadn't visited at all over the years I had been coming to Easton, and that was the *Easton Cigar and Smoke Shop. Years ago Salisbury once had a similar place called Watson's Smoke House. My grandfather remembers it as being a popular store to prank call when he was a boy due to it carrying Prince Albert (a tobacco) in a can ("don't you think you ought to let him out?"). In current times, our town would not be able to support such an establishment today (#VapeNation). However, Easton is the perfect location for those Orvis clad gentlemen to purchase and smoke their Montecristos in the shop's lounge.
Tucked aside from the main hustle of Washington and Dover Streets, Easton Cigar and Smoke Shop sits in one of Easton's historic neighborhoods in a building far different from the smoke shop I visited in North Carolina.
The smoke shop also offers a wide selection of pipes, and not the pot smoking kind.
In addition to traditional tobacco blends, ECSS also offers several inhouse blends named after rivers in Talbot County. They include Tred Avon, Choptank, and Miles.
After my visit to the smoke shop, I rejoined my family and returned home to Salisbury! Merry Christmas Easton! I'll see you next year!!!
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*Smoking tobacco is shown to cause cancer. While not as addictive or as harmful as cigarette smoking, these risks should be still known when pipe or cigar smoking.
