The Inn at Perry Cabin, Chesapeake Bay, MD
Refined riverside retreat in maritime Maryland

Eat: In this bayside boutique hotel and spa, Sherwood’s Landing is the refined-but-relaxed riverfront dining room, with a neutral palette, old-school linen-dressed tables and garden views framed by floor-to-ceiling windows. Here, the roaring fireplace makes the surrounding tables romantic hotspots for four-course meals laced with seasonal autumnal ingredients such as pumpkin and organic turkey. Or order fried duck drumsticks and crab, spinach and artichoke dip in the snug, laid-back Pursers Pub.

Sleep: Rooms in this clapboard colonial darling in storied St Michaels start from $392 and decorated with fresh, gently nautical modern interiors and smatterings of antiquity.

Be merry: Choose your favourite poison from the wall of spirits or celebrate with a Chesapeake Bay Retriever cocktail: herb-infused vodka, orange juice and grenadine. For a more genteel tipple, between 3pm and 5pm each day, a trad English afternoon tea is on offer in the drawing room. The gardens – 200 years old and containing Maryland's oldest holly tree – are a vision of leafy loveliness and the inn’s Linden Spa alone is a reason to visit.

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Photos: Courtesy of Mr & Mrs Smith