Things to Do in Oxford MD This Fall: Events and Hours
October 8, 2026
October 8, 2026
On a Wednesday in October, the Mews window on South Morris Street is closed, and so is the coffee counter next to the Town Park. The museum at 101 S. Morris St. doesn't open again until Friday at noon. Up the street at 314 N. Morris St., the Robert Morris Inn is still closed, and the Oxford Inn's website shows renovation renderings where its dining information used to be. By Thursday afternoon most of that has changed. For the next six weeks, Oxford keeps a shorter week, and anyone who plans around it will get much more out of the season.
Most of Oxford's daytime spots now share the same four days. Here is the schedule as each business posts it.
| Place | Where | Posted fall schedule |
|---|---|---|
| Oxford Social Cafe | 102 S. Morris St. | Thursday to Sunday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. |
| Scottish Highland Creamery, The Mews | S. Morris St. | Thursday 3 to 8 p.m., Friday to Sunday noon to 8 p.m., closed Monday to Wednesday |
| Scottish Highland Creamery, The Window | Tilghman St. | Closed for the season |
| The Oxford Museum | 101 S. Morris St. | Friday to Sunday, noon to 4 p.m., through November 15 |
| Oxford Market & Deli | Across from Oxford Park | Every day, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. |
| Doc's Sunset Grille | On the Tred Avon, facing west | Described as open year-round; call for hours |
Look down the third column and the pattern is clear. Three of the six places post Thursday-to-Sunday schedules or something close to it, and a fourth is shut until spring. From Monday through Wednesday, the steady options in the village are the Oxford Market and Doc's Sunset Grille.
The Market covers more than its name suggests. The Oxford Business Association lists homemade sandwiches, soups and salads, ice cream, produce, groceries, and beer, wine and liquor. It also points out that the market sits right across from Oxford Park, which works well for a breakfast or lunch outdoors on a clear fall day. For dinner, the same association describes Doc's as a west-facing room on the Tred Avon River. The pitch is the sunset, which gets earlier every week now. Doc's takes phone orders at (410) 226-5550. Call that number to check fall hours, because we couldn't confirm a posted schedule, and the website link on the business association's page no longer goes to the restaurant.
Ice cream fans can still get Scottish Highland Creamery early in the week, just not by the cone. The Oxford Social Cafe sells the Creamery's pints and quarts, and serves RiseUp coffee and baked goods from Blue Heron Catering. The business association also lists Town and Country, Tilghman Island Country Store, Emily's Produce and Chesapeake Seafood as other places that carry its quarts.
Part of this is the usual end-of-season slowdown. This year has an added reason. The two village inns that usually serve dinner are both closed, and they're closed for very different reasons.
The Robert Morris Inn at 314 N. Morris St. was condemned in January after town officials cited water intrusion and other hazards. Utilities were disconnected, and some nearby sidewalks and parking areas were closed for a time. A Talbot Spy column in July described the building as still shuttered and waiting for a new owner.
The Oxford Inn is a renovation, and its own site describes it that way. The Inn and Pope's Tavern are "temporarily closed as we embark on a full-scale renovation," and the owners say they look forward to welcoming guests back in early 2027. A separate site for the project, Oxford House, also says it is "Opening early 2027" and calls itself "a new chapter for the beloved Oxford Inn." The town's Planning Commission packet for August 25, 2026, records approved fire-code changes to the renovation plans for the main inn and the cottage, so work was still active late this summer. Neither site says whether the Pope's Tavern name will come back with the reopening.
The third dining room is still on its way. Babe's Fine Spirits & Provisions is planned for the former Latitude 38 building at the entrance to town, 26342 Oxford Road. At the Talbot County liquor board's March 9, 2026 meeting, applicant Kimberly Oristian described a family business she would run with her brother and father. The plan was about 65 seats, separate areas for on-site and carry-out sales, and a menu in development that included sandwiches, pizza, appetizers and house-made desserts. The board approved the license on the condition that it pass a Health Department permit and a Fire Marshal inspection, and the family said they hoped to open in May or June. In June the Oxford Business Association still listed it as "coming soon," and we haven't found an opening announcement since.
That means no dinner service at either village inn this fall, while the newest spot waits on its final sign-offs. The town's gatherings have moved up Oxford Road.
The Oxford Community Center at 200 Oxford Road has an October and November schedule that covers most of what restaurant dining rooms usually host in the off-season. That includes live music, food, drinks, and a reason to see neighbors on a weeknight.
The two weeknight events land on a Thursday and a Friday, the days the village starts opening back up. The Fall Fest and the Boat Show are both on Saturdays, when the Mews, the Social and the museum are all open, which makes a full day in town easy to put together. After lunch at the Fall Fest grill, it's a short trip back into the village for a cone on South Morris Street before the Mews closes at 8 p.m.
The Oxford Museum's current exhibit, "Carried on the Tide: The Rise and Fall of Colonial Oxford," opened on Oxford Day, April 25, to mark America's 250th anniversary. It traces how Oxford grew into a port built on the British tobacco trade, and how that trade collapsed after independence. The journal of Jeremiah Banning, an Oxford mariner, trader and civil servant, guides visitors through the period. Lenders include the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, the Library of Congress, the Mariners Museum and Park, and the Talbot Historical Society. Admission is free.
Fall hours run Friday through Sunday, noon to 4 p.m., through November 15. The Model Boat Show on November 14 falls on the exhibit's second-to-last day. If you've put off the colonial port exhibit since spring, you can see it and the model boats on the same Saturday.
The Oxford-Bellevue Ferry's site still shows its seasonal daily schedule. Boats run from 9 a.m. to sunset, leaving Oxford at the top of the hour and Bellevue at the bottom. The 2026 season's last day hadn't been posted when we checked. In past years, service ran daily through October and then on the first two weekends of November before closing for winter. Treat that as a past pattern, not this year's schedule. The ferry's number is (410) 745-9023, and it's worth calling before a November crossing.
There's also something to watch near the waterfront. On October 2, the Talbot Spy reported that town commissioners had approved a letter supporting Oxford's application for $300,000 from the Maryland Department of the Environment. The money would go toward a proposed $512,511 stormwater project at the Strand parking lot. The construction contract will come back to the commissioners only if the state funding comes through. If the contract moves forward, the work would take place in the Strand parking lot itself.
Two of the three dining rooms that are dark this fall have announced plans. Oxford House says it will open in early 2027 at the former Oxford Inn. Babe's has its conditional license, a 65-seat plan and an address at the town entrance. If both open, Oxford would have a renewed inn dining room and a family-run spot on Oxford Road, alongside Doc's on the river. For the rest of 2026, the Thursday-to-Sunday schedule and the Community Center calendar above are the best guide.
If you're deciding whether to keep a second home here open through the winter, or whether to list a property before Oxford House opens, it helps to talk with someone who keeps track of these changes around the village. Reach out to Eddie Matthews and let's connect about how Oxford's next few seasons could affect your plans.
Whether you’re buying your first home, selling a trust property, or navigating a probate sale, my goal is always the same: to provide honest guidance, strong advocacy, and a smooth experience from beginning to end. Real estate is about people, not just properties. I would be honored to help you take your next step.
