A trip to Maryland’s Eastern Shore lets you retrace the journey of Harriet Tubman

Summer may be the best time to visit the beach, but winter is my favorite time to visit Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Through the loblolly, many of them becoming spindlier by the day because of intruding saltwater, drivers can see the creeks, necks and rivers that define this landscape. They are the waters from which many men and women eked out a living, and which provided the tools to camouflage an escape to freedom. In 1850, Maryland had a split personality, with parts of the Black population enslaved and parts living in freedom. In Dorchester County, on the Eastern Shore, half of the population was enslaved, and half free. Through close family ties and alliances, they helped each other find paths through the water and the woods to freedom in Philadelphia and beyond.