Showing Off By Jamie Kirkpatrick

Two couples—long-standing (not old)—friends came to visit us last weekend. None had ever been to Chestertown before. They had heard all the stories and probably wanted to see the town for themselves, and, in particular, to visit our porch which has been the scene of many fun gatherings over the years. Neither disappointed.

My wife and I enjoy showing off Chestertown. The weather certainly cooperated as we walked around town: the river sparkled and the trees blazed in all their autumnal splendor. The shops, galleries, and restaurants were their usual welcoming selves. The Halloween parade added just the right touch of nostalgia: memories of a simpler time when we dressed in costumes and went trick-or-treating. This place can leave a lump in your throat; it’s as American as pumpkin pie.

But the best was yet to come. As evening came creeping in, we dressed warmly and gathered on the front porch while we waited for the town to join us. My wife had prepared well: there was a warming buffet of chili, breads and cheeses, charcuterie, and spiced shrimp if we got hungry; plenty of libations if we needed to slake our thirst. But what mattered most, what made the evening glow, were the friends who stopped by, introducing themselves to the newcomers and making them feel welcome and at home. If laughter and stories are the paving stones of the roads to new friendships, our first-time visitors were well on their way.

Do you want to know what really shows off this town? It’s not just the architecture, or our thriving college, or our history and charm, our food and drink, or even the lovely merchandise in the shops, or our wonderful sidewalks made for strolling: these are the sights and sounds and smells that are the frosting on the cake that is an Indian summer afternoon. To me, what best shows off our town is all that lies beneath it: the folk that are from here and the people (like us) who have come here. It’s the spider’s web of human relationships that is stronger than steel here, a connectivity that is at once both delicate and unbreakable. It’s the bonds that hold us together.

I tried to put this into words for one of our guests, but it’s a difficult concept to express. This is an unpretentious town but it’s a town with aspirations. We don’t need a big box store; a revived riverside restaurant and a repurposed boutique hotel would do us just fine, thank you. I know we’re far from perfect; we may quibble and quarrel, but it never seems to get out of hand here. Underneath our differences, there is a layer of respect that provides for a soft landing. We opt for compromise, not confrontation. Tolerance and civility supersede indifference and partisanship.

When all is said and done, it’s the friends I have made here that anchor me to this porch, this home, this town. You can keep all the tea in China, just give me that fresh cup of friendship that is always brewing on the back burner here. I may not be as chatty as you-know-who, but it’s safe to say that when you walk by, I’m glad to see you and happy to share what I have with you.

I think that by the time our first-time friends left on Sunday, they took something of Chestertown home with them. I know they had a good time by what I took to the recycling center. But more than that, I think they “got” this place and when they said, “We should do this again,” they meant it.

In the days to come, let’s do everything we can to keep it that way.

I’ll be right back.

Jamie Kirkpatrick is a writer and photographer who lives in Chestertown. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Washington College Alumni Magazine, and American Cowboy Magazine. His new novel, “The Tales of Bismuth; Dispatches from Palestine, 1945-1948” explores the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is available on Amazon.