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| Date | Starting Place | Ending Place | Author | Last Update |
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| 06-02-10 |
Reedville, Virginia, United States |
Crisfield, Maryland, United States |
ray | 07-26-10 21:17:30 |
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The only way to get across the Chesapeake Bay from the Northern Neck is by ferry. From Reedville, the ferry left at 10am and stopped at Tangier Island, in the middle of the bay. From there, I can get a ferry over to Crisfield on the Delmarva Peninsula, on the other side of the bay. My plan for the morning was to ride the 2 miles to Reedville, have breakfast, and then take the ferry. As such, I left the motel a little after 8 to accomplish all this. The day was sunny and the short ride over to the Reedville was through undeveloped woods.  There wasn't any commerce on the outskirts of Reedville other than a gas station. The part of town I saw was full of large, pretty houses.  I didn't know where the ferry terminal was so I asked a woman I saw walking her dog. She told me that the ferry doesn't leave from Reedville. It leaves from Buzzard Point Marina, just down the road from my motel! Further, none of the restaurants in Reedville are open for breakfast. It looked another one of those breakfast-less ferry ride days! I retraced my route back to the motel and stopped there to fill my Camelbak up with water and ice. The ferry terminal was about a mile from the motel. On the way there, I passed this field of flowers.  The Buzzard Point Marina was not very picturesque as it mostly contained large unattractive buildings housing boat-related business. There was a small office next to the ferry pier where I paid $40 for a ticket from Reedville to Tangier Island to Crisfield for me and my bike. There were a couple of people waiting for the boat which was clearly bigger than would be needed today.  There was nothing to eat but canned sodas and candy bars sold at the ferry office. Breakfast was a banana from yesterday and a can of cola. It was about 9am and while I sat around waiting to board the boat, one of the two young women that made up the crew took my bike aboard and tied it to the railing. Once I got on the boat, I realized just how large it was. It had two floors and benches along the outside. I'd guess is could handle at least 100 passengers. Here is what the lower cabin looked like.  There were maybe 20 passengers on the boat when it left the dock at 10am. We slowly coasted out the estuary and went by green islands,  bird nests,  and large estates with matching boat houses.  It takes 1 1/2 hours for the ferry to get to Tangier Island. Once out of the harbor, there isn't much to see, other than water, so I wandered up to the pilot house and was told it was OK to go up a sit with the captain. In the hour or so that I hung out, Justin and I talk about all kinds of things.  I discovered that the ferry operation was a family affair and that he had recently taken over captain duties from his father. The crew were other family members and Justin's brother ran the boat that went from Tangier to Crisfield. I also learned that at one time Reedville had the highest per-capita income in the US due to the large concentration of Atlantic menhaden fish in the bay. There was a time when this inedible fish was in great demand for use as a fertilizer and fish oil. Due to over-fishing (what else is new), the town is down to only one, large processing plant. Justin and I also talked at length about the 5-finger shoes he was wearing. After the experience I had with blisters in both Charleston and Williamsburg, I am interested in a new pair of lightweight shoes that I can walk in all day without blisters. I'd seen these shoes before and wondered about their fit and comfort. Justin really liked his but didn't know how they would be for all day walking on concrete. While Reedville is all about menhaden, Tangier Island is all about Crabs. In fact, Tangier Island calls itself the Soft Crab Capitol of the World! Not surprisingly, on the way to the island's dock, there are lots of crab traps stacked up around.  The first thing I wanted was something to eat. I'd perused the menus on the boat and knew that looking for a vegetarian meal on Tangier Island would seriously limit my choices. In fact, the only thing I could find was baked potatoes. I took down 2 for lunch in a small restaurant whose air conditioning was on so high that I actually shivered a couple times waiting for my food. After lunch, I walked over and had an ice cream cone. The boat for Crisfield left Tangier at 4pm so I had several hours to visit the island's "sights." One option was to take the 15 minute, $5 golf cart island tour. This didn't interest me, so I started walking along the lanes that make up the island's streets. Here's the main "street."  Many of the buildings had historic signs in front of them. While I read all the ones I saw, this is the only one that I took a photo of.  There were various fishing related decorations in front of various houses. This clam shell flag was the most attractive one I saw.  In addition to the colorful floats on the wall, I liked the trash can covers!  By far, the most interesting thing on the island was the small museum. It was a converted house that had multi-media exhibits, lots of artifacts--both old and new, and provided a good idea of what like of island life past and present. I was there for about an hour. An informative documentary about "watermen" described the life of a soft crab fisherman and covered some of the long-term problems facing Tangier Islanders. I had learned at the museum that much of the island's population (just over 600 in 2000) consisted mostly of a few large extended families. I could see this from checking out the names on the island's tiny graveyard.  About 3pm, I made my way back to the dock to discover that the boat for Crisfield would be leaving at 5pm today, instead of 4. I got quite sleepy as I watched most of my fellow passengers load onto the boat for the ride back to Reedville. The crew had moved my bike over to the Crisfield boat and said it was OK if I wanted to take a nap down below, which I did. The ride to Crisfield takes the same 1 1/2 hours and I dozed much of it. It was after 6pm when I got off the ferry and all I wanted was to find a motel and get something to eat. There is a bit of an older town around the dock but most of the town is along the main highway (413) that heads north from the port. I rode a ways without seeing a Chinese restaurant and switched to finding a motel. I consulted Yelp on the iPhone and located a nearby motel. I rode over, got a room for $45 (including breakfast), and wondered what to eat for dinner. Yelp said there was a pizza place right up the street so I walked out to find it. While it wasn't quite that close, I did see a Food Lion. I eventually located the pizza place which, except for me, only did take out orders. I sat at small table and ate my salad and pizza while two young girls tried to occupy themselves. It was clear that the younger of the two girls was mischievous and didn't mind her parents, both of whom worked at the pizza place. In some odd way, I felt like I was participating in local life. After eating, I walked back to the Food Lion for tomorrow's provisions and then returned to the motel where I surfed TV channels before going to sleep. |
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