A guest in waders stomps down the circular staircase and across the Persian carpet of the venerable Tidewater Inn. The hunter—dog on one side, rifle on the other—crosses the street to the true center of town: Albright’s Gun Shop. There, near an autographed photo of Vice President Dick Cheney, he mingles with a group of local watermen who are discussing the season’s goose hunting.

Once a mom-and-pop shop, Albright’s is now a sleek best-of-Cabela’s. Two gunsmiths are on call to tend to customers’ personal armories. For those in need of a little firepower, Albright offers handguns and rifles, yes, but also Italian-made Caesar Guerini shotguns priced in the thousands of dollars. Decoys, books on hunting, prints of Joe Seme waterfowl paintings, and pricey outdoor apparel abound, all the better to fully accessorize this idyllic corner of rural America. It sounds like a snapshot of the heartland, but this is Easton, Maryland, a vivid red spot in a firmly blue state.

The town of Easton, once merely a pit stop on the way to the beaches of Ocean City and Rehoboth, Delaware, is on the Delmarva Peninsula, flanked by the Chesapeake Bay on the west and the Atlantic Ocean on the south and east. Creeks and rivers—chiefly the Tred Avon—carve into the coastline, creating 620 miles of serpentine waterfront. Historically, the area’s rich, well-watered soil made it prime tobacco country. Today, Easton attracts both Americans and foreigners willing to pay top dollar for a second (or third) home in an area of serene, natural beauty, just 90 minutes’ drive from Washington, DC. And while it has always been home to a number of genteel estate owners and wealthy farmers, new money is flowing into town. Real estate prices have risen rapidly, as has the profile of those who move here—Cheney has a nine-acre waterfront retreat in nearby St. Michaels, for which he paid a reported $2.6 million in 2005, and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has owned a 19th-century manse in the area since 2003.

“In the past five years, things have been booming,” says Larry Albright, proprietor of the gun shop, whose business now includes guided hunting trips, a ladies’ store, and, perhaps inevitably, real estate.

But Easton doesn’t neatly fit any East Coast stereotype of “GOP country.” Two doors down from Albright’s, the 400-seat Avalon Theater presents live performances, including concerts featuring classical, jazz, folk, pop, and reggae music, in addition to hosting Radio from Downtown, Easton’s version of NPR’s Prairie Home Companion. And a number of artists and antiques dealers (and financial advisers, too) have set up shop in the community, lured by the growing numbers of wealthy potential clients.

Evidence of the boom can also be found at Easton’s airport. Since 2005, the two-runway airfield has been ranked third busiest in the state, behind only Baltimore/Washington International and Frederick Municipal Airport. All air traffic is unscheduled—it comes mainly from the 17 corporate jets and two private charter companies in residence. “When Coca-Cola held its corporate meeting here, we had seven Gulfstreams lined up,” says airport manager Mike Henry. At the behest of residents, Henry is hustling to build more hangars and a control tower, and hopes to add Customs facilities, which would allow direct international flights in and out of Easton.

Perhaps the most telling of Easton’s transformations is the proliferation of new restaurants. The town itself has five fine restaurants catering to its 14,000 inhabitants, with another 10 in the surrounding area. Three have opened since 2000, each with a hot chef at its helm: Andrew Evans of the Inn at Easton has caught the attention of food critics nationwide for his Australian-influenced fare; Giancarlo Tondin of Scossa came to Easton after years of experience with the renowned Cipriani family, starting in the kitchen at Harry’s Bar in Venice, Italy; and Richard Hamilton of Restaurant Local, in the Tidewater Inn, previously served as executive chef at the highly respected Spiced Pear in Newport, Rhode Island. “Easton is the Yountville of the East Coast,” says Al Silverstein, head of Talbot County’s chamber of commerce, alluding to the famous Napa Valley home of renowned foodie destinations like the French Laundry.

But such amenities come at a price. In Easton, two acres of waterfront property—sans cottage—starts at $700,000, depending on water depth (three feet being the minimum for boats and therefore more valuable). Two waterfront acres with a house will run upward of $1.3 million. For just under $5 million, you could purchase a restored 1663 Colonial house with nine bedrooms on 76 acres on Island Creek. And prices for the most desirable properties can exceed $10 million—the nine-bedroom mansion on 54 acres that was featured in The Wedding Crashers is currently listed with Lacaze Meredith Real Estate for $16.5 million.

While those prices may seem very high, they’re not—relative to, say, the Hamptons or Newport. This is one reason Talbot County is drawing rich retirees like Jack Stoltz. Before retiring in 2001 from his Pennsylvania company, Stoltz Real Estate Partners, he considered buying in Newport or on Nantucket. Instead, he settled on a 100-acre farm outside Easton, for which he paid more than $5 million. Such a property—at any price—would be unimaginable on Nantucket. Plus, Stoltz notes, Nantucket has “just one little downtown,” while Easton also has St. Michael’s and Oxford, both just 15 minutes away. “Besides,” he says, “the Chesapeake is still the finest place for boating anywhere.”

Property taxes in the Easton area are relatively low as well. Paul King, chief executive of the financial investigative services firm the West River Group, runs his business from home: A 100-acre farm near Easton that he bought nearly three years ago for $3.5 million, it includes 2,000 feet of waterfront on Solitude Creek. Only five acres of the estate are lawn; the rest King farms, reducing the already low property taxes. “You can own a $1 million estate in Talbot County and pay the same tax as you would on a fancy row house in Baltimore,” claims Al Bond, head of Talbot County’s economic development council.  

And no fancy row house in Baltimore will offer such easy access to local gems like Albright’s Gun Shop, whose owner might as well double as official town promoter. “There’s fishing in the summer and hunting in the winter, but it’s the quality of our local restaurants that keeps bringing people back to Talbot County,” he enthuses. “They can’t visit them all in one trip! So, they come back—and bring friends. Once you’ve visited, you always want to come back.”