Nestled in the hills of Howard County is a treasure to be enjoyed for the day or the weekend. Off Route 29 and Route 40, north of Columbia, historic Ellicott City is easy to reach and well worth the drive. Just look for the highway sign pointing to your destination. Whether you are a railroad buff, a history aficionado, or a shopping enthusiast, you will find something to love in Ellicott City. And if you are like me, you will find candy and pastries to soothe your soul.

As you wind your way down the hill into town, you will be reminded of earlier days when life was easier in some ways and harder in others. If you look at your surroundings with a hopeful eye, easier will come to mind, and for a moment you will suspend the present and relax into the day.

Park in one of the seven free or metered parking lots (I prefer Lot D, which is off Main Street beside the Howard County Visitor’s Information Center) and prepare to walk back in time. The stroll down Main Street will afford you the opportunity to visit antique shops, custom-built furniture shops and gift shops; to remember your childhood at a toy store; to peruse original artwork from painting to calligraphy; to grab a quick lunch; to indulge in a bakery; and to lose yourself in a candy shop with prize-winning fudge. There is a shop for your pet, too. As you reach the bottom of Main Street, look to your left to see a bear blowing bubbles from atop a store awning. You may want to blow some bubbles yourself.

In addition to visiting Ellicott City’s more than 50 shops and restaurants, you don’t want to miss the walking tour of historical sites. They include the first county fire station; the Old Courthouse dating to the early 1800s; the oldest surviving residential structure in Ellicott City, the Thomas Isaac Log Cabin; the Patapsco Female Institute; the Early Quaker Schoolhouse; and many more.

Ellicott City (originally “Ellicott Mills”) was established by the brothers Andrew, Joseph and John Ellicott in 1772. Drawing from expertise gained from managing a mill in Pennsylvania, they created a flour mill on the site, processing wheat grown in the area after they had convinced farmers to turn from soil-depleting tobacco. The flour mill and other buildings along the Patapsco River have been rebuilt more than once after floods and fires. Today, Washington Brand flour is still milled on the site of the Ellicott Brother’s mill.

At the corner of Main Street and Maryland Avenue is the B&O Railroad Museum, housed in the oldest railroad station in America. You can’t miss the chance to learn more about the nation’s first railroad, climb inside an old caboose, and become fascinated by the model trains flying around tracks to and from Baltimore to Ellicott City delivering their passengers and freight. Enjoy the short film that accompanies the model railroad. The exhibits at the museum change three times a year. The current “Roads to Rails” exhibit, which began in May, continues through November 4, when it will yield to a holiday exhibit featuring even more model trains. As you walk through the B&O museum, you will learn what life was like in the 1800s, imagine yourself jostling around in a stagecoach for long dusty hours, or sitting on a hard bench in a train car pulled by a horse. Be sure to take advantage of the many interesting and fun hands-on exhibits.     

Come spend a Saturday or Sunday enjoying all that Ellicott City has to offer, and retrieve that sense of where we have been, and maybe where we are going.  

For more information, log onto www.visithowardcounty.com, call 800-288-8747 or visit the Howard County Visitor Information Center at 8267 Main Street, Ellicott City, Md.