Are All Californians Celebrities? We Are!
Hey, I'm going for 2 days in a row; a real accomplishment lately. We are currently at Jane's Island State Park which is just outside of Crisfield Maryland. We awoke this morning in Buzzard Point Marina in the tidewater area of the western shore. That western shore refers to the Chesapeake Bay. The loyal followers of the blog know that of course.
We were camped right by the dock from which the ferry departs, so there wasn't much to this morning except to pack our gear and get on the boat. That part of Virginia is really very beautiful and the view from the water did not disappoint, although it did give a much different impression than the view from the roadways. From the roadways it was obvious that the region is very rural, agricultural and has plenty of folks living somewhere near or below the poverty line.
Virginia has 3 peninsulas that form much of the western shore of the bay. Only one of these, I believe that it is called the James Peninsula, has much in the way of population. With Jamestown, Yorktown and Colonial Williamsburg there is opportunity to develop tourism. Being the closest to the mouth of the bay, it also had an advantage historically and Newport News, which had long been a major shipbuilding center if I am not mistaken, is at the end of this peninsula. Also, Norfolk is just across the James River. The other 2 peninsulas have always been rural, swampy, and have relied on agriculture and fishing as the major industries. I don't know how good, or rich the soil is from a farmer's point of view, but I can say that there are not large tracts for developing. So I am guessing that even in the best of times, these 2 peninsulas have never been extremely prosperous. But that story isn't told very well from the water.
As the ferry pulled out this morning, the sights were nothing short of spectacular. There were many different inlets and streams creating a maze of waterways to choose from. And lining each of these were magnificent homes, all neatly kept, with expansive lawns reaching down to the water's edge, where almost every home had a beautiful boat. It reminded me of a scene that one might picture in Disney's version of an antebellum Rivers of America attraction. When we entered the bay I got a sense of just how large the Chesapeake is. As we got farther away from the peninsula we had left, I stopped paying close attention to the views, because it seemed that there was nothing to look at but water. I am not sure if we did in lose sight of land, but if we didn't, it would have been just a speck on the horizon. I am fairly familiar with the San Francisco Bay and how it looks from the water. At 60 or more miles long and about 10 miles wide, it is a pretty substantial body of water, but it is absolutely dwarfed by the Chesapeake.
Tangier Island is a page out of history, literally. Because of its location, it has been isolated for most of its 300 or so years of habitation by European settlers. They have a dialect of English that is apparently a throwback to old English, and linguists have devoted plenty of time studying it. The primary industry has been and still remains fishing. There are a couple of restaurants, gift shops and even a couple of bed and breakfasts to cater to tourists, but there is nothing to do there. If you were looking for a peaceful weekend, this would be a good choice, but the only thing to do other than hang out at the b&b, would be to take a walk to the beach. The roads are only about 10 feet wide and there are very few motor vehicles other than golf carts. On Tangier you don't have a family car, you have a family golf cart. But don't let that fool you. The golf cart drivers on Tangier firmly cemented our opinion that the drivers in Virginia are the worst that we have experienced on the trip. On U.S. 17, as I mentioned, we were nearly run off the road on multiple occasions. On Tangier, Riley was actually hit by a hag on a golf cart who couldn't even be bothered to stop to see if he was alright.
So, the final word on Tangier Island is, while it is a quaint place to visit, don't do it!
We left Tangier and arrived in Crisfield MD, where we were treated like celebrities at one of the local pizza establishments. The folks were amazed that we had come from California by bicycle. The owner of the place, a woman named Billie, gave us a bag of steamed soft shell crabs to take with us. She apologized for not being able to locate a souvenir mallet to take with us for cracking them, and was adamant that if we were still in town in the morning, that we return for a couple of welcome bags that she would go get from the chamber of commerce. While we were sitting there waiting for our pizza, there was a loud bang that was probably a car backfiring, but might have been a gunshot. The owners son and his friends were sure that it was a gunshot (although Riley and I were skeptical), so the police were called. A sergeant responded and took everyone's statements and then asked us about our trip. Before too long his lieutenant who was obviously on his day off, judging by the way he was dressed, showed up, not to look into the bang, but to talk with us about our travels. It seems that Sergeant Taylor called him to let him know about the two guys who had biked from California. The lieutenant is an avid cyclist who told us that he would love to ride coast to coast someday and he wanted to meet us and see our bikes. It was indeed a very warm welcome that we enjoyed in Maryland!
We are now camped at Jane's Island State Park and there is wifi by the park store, so I'll stop now, take a stroll on over there, get this posted and then hit the showers. Good Night.
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