It may be unfair, but after you've been a newspaper reporter for a certain number of years, and you've written or read umpteen stories about a place (and been there a bunch of times, too), there are certain word associations you can't shake.

Mention a place, and a certain thing, or detail, or icon comes to mind.

You say Chesapeake City, I think canal.

You say Havre De Grace, I think ducks.

You say St. Michaels, and I think Dick Cheney (OK, that's recent - I used to think lighthouse)

You say Crisfield, and I can practically taste the Old Bay on my fingers.

So you say "Port Deposit," and I think "floods."

As I said, it may be unfair, but I associate the town on the banks of the Susquehanna with high water. Geographically, it's on these rocky bluffs overlooking the river. And every so often, there is a flood warning that the river water will rush through the dam and flood the town.

A deposit indeed, and an unwelcome one.

But maybe it's time to give this 19th century town another look. a bed and breakfast, Granite And Lace, opened recently, and if the pictures are anything to judge by, it looks indulgent. Every room has a jacuzzi bath. And the rates are a lot more affordable than some of the inns around here.

Mary Zajac of Chesapeake Life had a good weekend there, from the sounds of her piece in the mag recently:

All rooms have Jacuzzi baths, but since I have my choice, I pick the Hytheham Suite, a huge three-room space in the same vibrant green as the parlor. Birds are the botanical theme here. I find them on several lamps, in the fabric of the black upholstered couch that sits opposite the gas fireplace in the sitting area, and in the paneled screen that I wish I could take home with me. The bathroom is nearly as large as the sleeping area and contains not only the Jacuzzi, but a two-person shower. After dinner, we spend a few minutes on our covered porch before retiring to watch one of the suite’s two flat-screen plasma televisions.

One note of warning, however: While train enthusiasts might delight in sleeping approximately fifty feet from functioning railroad tracks, all but the heaviest sleepers should remember ear plugs, especially on Sunday nights when more than a half dozen freight trains pass through town.

Special Touches Aside from sweet touches like pillows wrapped in fabric bows like Christmas packages, each bedroom offers modern bathrooms with Jacuzzi baths, plasma screen televisions, and free Internet access.

What’s for Breakfast Just like the cheese plate that greets guests upon arrival, breakfasts at Granite and Lace are ample and very fine. We enjoyed a variety of fresh fruit, bacon, sausage patties, deliciously not-to-sweet orange pancakes, and a slice of frittata with spinach, feta, and sliced tomato—all on one plate. Judy also presented us with homemade apple strudel accented with almond. If you leave the table hungry, well, it might be time to reconsider your food intake.

Her sightseeing recommendations include the Paw Paw Museum for Civil War-era history and a hike to the top of the Naval Training Center to see the river.

Who knows? Maybe after your next trip, you'll hear Port Deposit and think "Darn trains-I can't stop that ringing in my ears!"