This small town on the Eastern Shore, the last burg before the Virginia state line, has always intrigued me. So today, instead of telling myself for the hundredth time that I should check out Pocomoke City, I’m going to do it. Besides, Pocomoke City is dubbed “The Friendliest City on the Eastern Shore,” a fine sentiment for the holiday season.

With no one barreling down behind me, I leisurely drive along Market Street, Pocomoke’s main drag. After a series of historic fires, the city’s downtown has settled into a delightful time-warp of 1920s architecture. You see it in the stately brick city hall and old-fashioned plate-glass store windows and in the colorful art deco marquee of the Mar-Va Theater. I pass several restorations in the making, Victorian homes getting painted like the ladies they were born to be. I’m convinced that in this town of 4,000, I have found Maryland’s “Mayberry” in the purest sense.

Pam Eskiewicz would tend to agree. The attractive fifty-something brunette is still in awe of the turning point that convinced her and husband, Walt, to leave New Jersey fourteen years ago to open Littleton’s, Pocomoke City’s only bed and breakfast. “We sat on the street with a few cars lined up ahead as two neighbors stopped their cars to chat,” she says. “No one honked their horns or got upset—they just let them have their conversation.”

We step from the charming side porch into the large dining room, made both elegant and cozy by walls wrapped in floral wallpaper. This circa-1860 antebellum house, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a Victorian B&B that portrays touches of the era’s grandeur, while gratefully keeping the frou-frou at bay.   

“We knew this is where we wanted to live, a place where you have more human interaction,” chimes in Walt, his New York City accent hard to miss. With their move came their three children—happily, the couple found the schools to be excellent, with an amazing amount of community support. No matter the time of day, buses carrying the winning athletic team home get a police escort over the drawbridge as parents honk their horns with pride. Again, says Pam, no one complains. “It’s just part of the town spirit.”

In the best small towns, life is within walking distance, and Pocomoke City is no different. From Littleton’s front porch, I take Second Street, passing the police station with its certain Gothic look.

The Costen House Museum, a Civil War-era home of the beloved Dr. Isaac Costen and family for more than a century, is a fine example of Victorian Italianate architecture. Here I’m treated to a tour by museum director Norma Miles. Her remarkable mother, Myrtle A. Polk, spearheaded the “Spirit of Newton” committee that saved the property from demolition in 1974. Ornate furnishings of the period abound, ranging from a two-sided courting chair to a grand piano complete with the 1920 sheet music of the song “On the Banks of the Old Pocomoke.” I also learn that the fine doctor Costen doubled as a Confederate gunrunner.

I hate to leave, but I’m off to discover Market Street. There are empty buildings in the thick of downtown, but things look far from dismal—the typical town businesses still keep things alive: from lawyer’s and insurance offices to a photo-graphy studio and the local newspaper office.

“I remember when downtown had a lot of shops, and there were restaurants—it has really slowed down,” says Bill Tull, a native who runs a real estate office with his wife, Sue. 

Bill worked in one of those shops, a downtown men’s store, for sixteen years. He lived through the now familiar story of mom-and- pop businesses forced to close their doors when retail chains popped up along the highway. The final straw, many say, was when Wal-Mart came to town.

But Bill still sees the silver lining of the town’s close proximity to the action. “You’re close but not in the middle of all that,” he says, noting the shopping in Salisbury and the beaches of Ocean City and Chincoteague, all reachable within a thirty-minute drive.

“Pocomoke City is really about living a peaceful, relaxed lifestyle along the river,” says Sue Tull. And there is no denying the river’s draw. The otherworldly feel of this wild beauty is a treat for both boaters and kayakers.

Lunch awaits me right off Market Street at the relatively new Souprise Treats & Treasures Café and Gift Shop. Squeezed into two colorful rooms, it’s a cheerful jumble of café tables and chairs and items for sale, including collectibles, vintage furniture, and lovely colored pencil drawings of the river’s wildlife and nautical scenes by owner Annette Hicks. I park it by an old wooden phone booth and try out the broccoli-cheese crab soup. As the eatery’s name implies, the unique variety of homemade soups are superb and worthy of more than the Styrofoam bowls in which they’re served.

Hicks, who came here from Atlanta after marrying a hometown boy, says she has seen her business triple since opening in the spring.

“Just like the sign says, people really are friendly here and so are the tourists who come in,” she says.

It’s my habit to fall in love with almost every small town I visit, so I do my usual imaginary scheming, trying to figure how to settle on the river. I could open an intimate bistro (if only I could cook), or a cozy inn (if I had the gift of conversation with anyone beside my cats).

With retirees discovering Pocomoke City’s waterfront setting and small-town charm, real estate prices have risen, but bargains can still be had. I learn that homes can be had anywhere from $100,000 to half a million, including the fifty planned townhouses, Drawbridge Villas, coming soon to the riverfront with price tags starting at $300,000.

But Pocomoke City won’t wait for my dreams; its future is underway.

Just ask Michael Day, the one-man-band of economic development for both Berlin and Pocomoke City.

“It’s the opportunity of a lifetime for creative entrepreneurs,” he says. “Pocomoke City is right on the cusp of a major turnaround.”

Like a kid with a new toy, he excitedly tells me about downtown’s revitalization. Business groups are buying up some of those empty buildings and luring restaurants and shops. There’s the Bay Queen, the fifty-person sing-along tour boat that will now call this river home, and the new farmers’ market and flea market, which brings in twenty to thirty vendors and scads of shoppers on Fridays from spring through fall. And the Mar-Va Theater, the old vaudeville movie house where Roy Rogers once performed, is set to reopen with select events this winter. (The grand opening will follow in the spring.) After extensive renovation, back to its gold brocade, art deco roots with brightly colored lights, the 1927 theater will be the regional center for performing arts, movie, dinner theater, and maybe even a singing cowboy or two.

But the icing on the cake is the $3.5 to $4 million, 17,000-square-foot Delmarva Discovery Center, housed in a former car dealership where Model T’s were once assembled. In the spring of 2008, visitors will step back in time to learn about the past 300 years of life on the Pocomoke River, from the Native Americans who once inhabited the area to the steamship era, when Pocomoke bustled as the largest community in the area, its waterway used to transport the essentials of the day—furs, whiskey, and tobacco—to ports in Baltimore, New York, and Philadelphia. The center, with a host of hands-on exhibits, is estimated to draw 34,000 people a year.

All these pieces are needed, says Day, to “get the people to open the shops, and those shops will bring the people.”

After a high-cholesterol dinner at the kitschy Trader’s Chicken, Ribs & BBQ, I find myself back at the inn, safely cocooned among the plump pillows of a queen-size bed. It’s a rare night without my pooch and I crack a window for fresh air. Just before I nod off, I receive a nostalgic good-night, the romance of a distant train whistle, beckoning like a dream.

Freelance writer Donna Rich is a self-proclaimed sucker for small towns.

Locals’ Guide to Pocomoke City

Ti’s the Season

Love a parade? Pocomoke City boasts the largest evening Christmas parade in Maryland on the first Monday night after Thanksgiving. See floats, dance groups, marching bands, and, of course, fire trucks. If you miss it this year, mark your calendars for 2007. 410-957-1919 or http://www.visitworcester.org.

Holiday House Tour

Check out Pocomoke City’s seventh annual Christmas House Tour on Dec. 10 at 4 p.m. Enjoy seasonal decorations in six historic homes, including a newly remodeled Victorian house on Market Street and an eighteenth-century farmhouse. $20. Proceeds go to the Costen House Museum. 410-957-3110.

Roll On!

Whether you want to go the distance, à la Lance Armstrong, or take a peaceful peddle, the View Trail 100, a 100-mile scenic bike trail that winds through Pocomoke City and lower Worcester County, takes bikers past forest, farmland, and the Pocomoke River. 800-852-0335 or http://www.visitworcester.org.

Fair Deal

Since 1901, simple country pleasures have reigned supreme at the Great Pocomoke Fair (August 22-25, 2007). Get a taste of homemade pie, find out who’s won the 4-H blue ribbon, and check out the harness racing and cow paddy bingo. Pocomoke City Fairgrounds, 410-957-4486 or http://www.thegreatpocomokefair.org.

When You Go

General information: 410-632-3110 or visitworcester.org. Or check with the Pocomoke Chamber of Commerce, 144 Market St. 410-957-1919 or http://www.pocomoke.com.

STAY

Littleton’s Bed and Breakfast has four rooms (all but one has a private bath) decorated in an elegant but comfortable Victorian setting. Rates include gourmet breakfast and run from $85 to $135. 407 2nd. St. 410-957-1645 or http://www.littletonsbandb.com. 

EAT

The Downtown Hospitality Coffee Shop is a cozy nook to nosh your breakfast or lunch. Newly renovated, it’s a local favorite for its homemade crab soup and desserts. 103 Market St. 410-957-4700. 

Trader’s Chicken, Ribs & BBQ, a family-style restaurant that specializes in down-home cooking, serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 123 Ames Plaza. 410-957-1682 or http://www.cateringbytraders.com.

No need to leave town to satisfy your craving for Italian food when there’s Cafe Milano. Tiny seating area, but they also deliver. 200 Market St. 410-957-4009.

SHOP

At Souprise Treats & Treasures Café and Gift Shop, hunt through the menagerie of vintage gifts, furniture, photography and art work by local artists, and nautical items. 207 Clarke Ave. 410-957-6484. 

Since 1933 brides have crossed the state line to shop at Scher’s, a full-service, family-owned bridal shop. Check out its selection of monogrammed veils and wedding invitations. 140 Market St. 410-957-0933 or http://www.schers.com.

PLAY

Mild winters keep things going year-round at the Winter Quarters Municipal Golf Course. The nine-hole course, established in 1938, was named after the Native Americans who used the region as their winter home. 355 Winter Quarters Dr. 410-957-1171.

Cast a line, take a brisk walk on marked trails, or bird-watch at the nearby Pocomoke River State Forest and Park or at the Pocomoke City Nature & Exercise Trail. The trail begins at Cypress Park and winds around the eight-acre Stevenson’s Pond to Greenville Avenue State forest: 3461 Worcester Hwy., Snow Hill, Md. 410-632-2566 or http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/eastern/pocomokeriver.html. Exercise Trail: 410-957-1919.

The Costen House Museum is located in the circa-1870 Victorian Italianate home that was once owned by Dr. Isaac Costen—the town’s first mayor—from 1870 to 1920. Inside, see exhibits that define period life in a small town. 206 Market St. 410-957-3110.

You can’t miss the restored red and yellow marquee at the circa-1927 art deco Mar-Va Theater. Closed for the past ten years, its grand opening is planned for spring. The list of upcoming performances includes Bill and Sue Wills’ The Presidents and Their Ladies, Dramatically Speaking. 103 Market St. 410-957-2423 or http://www.marvatheater.org.