Patricia L Christian, PHD, is the author of a popular children’s book titled “The Perfect Christmas”. . Patricia L Christian Visits Easton Maryland.

My intense interest in the workings of the human mind has led me into some interesting inter-actional situations. Yesterday was no exception as my husband and I found ourselves on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the small, quaint town of Easton.

We had been boating in the Chesapeake Bay over the weekend and decided to extend our stay in the area and pay visit to Easton Maryland. As we roamed the sidewalks of the historic downtown area, we enjoyed the Azaleas and Hosta that filled the park.

Patricia L Christian Visits Easton Maryland

The local art was impressive and we made several purchases. We splurged and bought a tray made by a local potter who had teamed up with a local basket maker and created a beautiful piece. I also bought some unique birthday and Christmas presents for family and friends. After shopping for a while, we looked for a place to grab lunch and that’s when we really got to know the town.

I confess that I like to eat at the bar if given a chance and Banning’s Tavern provided me the opportunity. It’s often like being at the theater with a show behind the bar and often around the bar. This bar was a perfect theater bar where people could sit on three sides, making it possible to interact more easily and in my case, observe the interactions more easily. When we arrived, there was a middle aged woman sitting on the side nearest the door. She was about halfway through her hamburger lunch. There were three men, all wearing baseball caps sitting at the front bar counter—they were looking at the menu and carrying on a conversation with the bartender who was a tall, large boned brunette wearing jeans. Her hair was braided halfway down her back and I had a visual of her cleaning barn stalls and riding western style. All three men, who turned out to be liquor distributors, (I never would have guessed that) ordered beers and the soup of the day, white beans and ham. The one sitting two bar stools down from me also ordered a BLT. The bartender wanted to know if he wanted the “good bacon” and he answered in the affirmative. I decided to stay away from the BLT and instead ordered the bean soup and house chardonnay.

The conversation centered on the Beer Festival that was scheduled for Saturday. It didn’t seem well planned to me since no one, including the hamburger eating woman (who turned out to be a shop owner) knew which streets were to be closed. When the owner of the apparel shop across the street entered, the three men shook hands with him and patted him on the back. The bartender poured him a non-alcoholic drink and sat it on the side of the bar that faced his store. I noticed that he kept looking at the front door of his shop. I knew that business was slow, primarily because it was too early in the year for tourists (other than a few like us), but surely someone was “tending the shop.”

I had another visual ….someone entering his store and watching him sprint across the not busy street just in time to make the sale. My visuals were getting the best of me.

In a short amount of time another baseball capped middle aged man entered and took a seat next to the shop owner who continued to look out the window every few seconds. They shook hands and the new addition spoke to the other three. The bartender poured him a tall gin and tonic as someone asked him what time he got up since he had obviously tied one on the night before. He said 10:00 AM. The only way to describe him was that he looked “rode hard and put up wet”. After he arrived, the eagled-eyed shop owner looked at the window and said, “Well look who’s coming.” A younger man entered, dressed as I would expect a shop owner to be dressed—khakis and a button down shirt. He sat next to the gin and tonic and the watchful shop owner. He ordered a beer and said his hellos to everyone.

The really weird thing was that we were obviously the elephant in the room and no one acknowledged our presence.

The talk resumed about the upcoming Beer Festival. The hamburger eating woman, who had long finished her meal, offered to retrieve a list of road closures and events from a flyer she had received. In short order she was back and the discussion began. It appeared that the store owners were being paid various amounts of money for use of their storefronts by the beer distributors —–or that’s how it sounded.

As we were finishing up, a new man entered and sat close to us by the door. He had acknowledged everyone and obviously knew them well. With little prompting, I was able to glean from him that he worked in IT with city government and that 3 of the men on the other side were shop owners and that the other 3 were liquor distributors. In talking about the beer festival, he stated that it was going to be interesting because the town did not have an open container law so people could not walk around with beer. “They will have to stand under a tent and drink their beer.” Hmm…I thought…this doesn’t seem to be well thought out.

Since we had already paid our bill and I had asked all the questions I was curious about, my husband and I said our goodbyes to the one person who had acknowledged us, other than the bar tender, and stood to leave. It took everything I had not to complement the actors on their performance. This was our visit to Easton Maryland.

There is so much to be learned and enjoyed in small towns all across the United States. I’ll just keep on playing in the small towns, learning all I can and sharing my observations.

Patricia’s book “The Perfect Christmas” can be purchased by clicking here.

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Patricia L Christian Visits Easton Maryland