Books: Secrets of the Eastern Shore

New Eastern Shore Road Trips, book Arrives in Regional Stores

Writer Jim Duffy of Cambridge, Md. spills more ‘Secrets of the Eastern Shore’ in his second collection of day trips on the Delmarva Peninsula

In a brand-new book of Eastern Shore Road Trips, Cambridge-based author Jim Duffy wanders the towns, backroads, beaches, and waterways of the Delmarva Peninsula in hopes of inspiring readers to get out and follow in his footsteps.

“That’s really my goal here,” says Duffy, whose third book is titled Eastern Shore Road Trips #2: 26 MORE One-Day Adventures on Delmarva. “These books are all about helping locals and tourists alike get in touch with the hidden gems, sweet scenes, and incredible stories that make the Delmarva Peninsula such a national treasure.”

Each chapter in the book is a Delmarva day trip, with destinations stretching from uppermost Delaware and Maryland to lowermost Virginia. The itineraries have Duffy traveling to Chesapeake islands, riding ferries, sailing tall ships, visiting little museums, and strolling parks and beaches. Along the way, he’s always searching out stories and personalities from days gone by that helped shape the destination at hand.

“Everywhere you go on Delmarva, the stories are so much richer and more entertaining than what you usually see on dry historical markers,” Duffy says. “This book gets into some fisticuffs and jailbirds and drunken sailors. It tells inspirational stories, too, about up-from-the-bootstraps entrepreneurs, pioneering women, and preachers who set out to change the world.”

An award-winning magazine writer, Duffy founded the local venture Secrets of the Eastern Shore with his wife, the photographer Jill Jasuta, as a way to celebrate Delmarva in stories, photos, and products. The cover of the new book features a photo by Jasuta of an Eastern Shore workboat on the Choptank River at sunrise.

This is Duffy’s third book under the Secrets imprint—in addition to the first Eastern Shore Road Trips Book, he is the author of Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Journeys on Delmarva. More than 10,000 copies of those first two books have been sold so far online and in dozens of retail shops and bookstores. Both ranked as online best-sellers among regional travel titles upon their release.

Each excursion in the new Eastern Shore Road Trips book lays out an itinerary and provides readers with insider tips on sights to see and places to go. The trips are divided evenly among the upper, middle, and lower portions of the peninsula. Among the Virginia destinations featured are Onancock, Accomac, Eastville, Savage Neck Dunes, and Tangier Island. Other chapters run through multiple towns, fishing villages, and parks along the bayside and oceanside backroads.

For more information about the new book, including stores where it is available and online purchase options, visit SecretsoftheEasternShore.com or Facebook.com/SecretsoftheEasternShore.