autumn in virginia: 2008

Monday, October 13, 2008

Autumn in Virginia

This blog is dedicated to the memory of Mark Romanak. Mark was married to my cousin Mary DeVries, one of only six cousins that I have on the face of this earth. To be honest with anyone who reads this blog, I only met Mark once at my father's funeral. Mark and Mary had built a home in Greenbackville, Virginia with the intention of retiring to it some day. The night that Mark and Mary got back from spending a week in Virginia, Mark experienced a massive stroke and died soon after. I have corresponded with Mary via email for some time. During the course of our correspondence, she always told me that I needed to see and experience their "Place That Love Built" and to visit "The Road To Paradise". It's because of Mary that Marlene and I visited their home in Virginia during the fall of 2008. As I mentioned earlier in this posting, I only met Mark once. But because of Mary's generosity and encouragement, I believe that I have come to know Mark better through this experience. Visiting their home, the environment, the sea shore and all of the other wonderful things that we did, certainly gave us a deeper understanding of who Mark was and what things he enjoyed doing. Thank you for this gift that you have given us, Mary ... Paul and Marlene DeVries

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Beginning The Trip

Our trip to Virginia began on a Friday at noon. We travelled 400 miles, about half way, and stayed overnight in a bed and breakfast in Elwood City, Pennsylvania. The accomodations were wonderful and we enjoyed our stay. The owner was a retired finish carpenter and he had put a lot of extra work into this old home. The floors were wide plank pine from Maine and the doors were solid cherry.

We left early on saturday morning, headed for Virginia. We saw a lot of color in the mountains and foothills of Pennsylvania. The rest stops were great since they had Starbucks Coffee shops. The highway through Pennsylvania was very scenic. Surprisenly, going through Maryland and the area around DC, we expected to see lots of billboads, apartments close to the roads and other signs of busyness. But the highway was lined with trees and forests and any signs of population was removed from view.

Before we arrived we made a little mini trip to the beach, a side road that started in Stockton, Maryland. The side road from Stockton was called George Island Landing Road and the buildings in the distance are probably abandoned fish packing structures since access to them is on a side road called Packers Bay Road. The structures are located on a small penninsula that curves around behind the end of George Island Rd. If you "click" the picture itself, you can see a much better detail of the complex of buildings. George Island Landing Rd has a public landing and boats can be launched here to reach George Island, only a short distance from the landing. We saw shore birds and watched a beautiful sunset. Be advised that this is not a sugar sand beach, but more of a working mans beach ... lots of oyster shells ... but the view is very nice and it's a good spot to watch the sun setting. There is a small parking area there as well. You can park your car facing the west, load the cd player with some beautiful music and wait for the sun to set. You probably won't see another soul. Actually it's less than a three minute drive from Stockton. It was only a short trip to Mark and Mary's place after our small side trip.

Our First Full Day in Virginia

Our first full day in Virginia started with coffee, of course. We had purchased a new batch of freshly ground coffee in Grand Rapids for our trip well knowing that Mary had a french press waiting for us. Every morning was a tradition of coffee, a boiled egg, dutch edam cheese and a slice of health bread that Marlene had made for our trip. The health bread recipe comes from her sister Fran and we have it often on trips to eat in the car. It was very cozy to sit at the dining room table with a French tablecloth and enjoy the ambience of the home and the view out the back screened in porch.

Later on, about noon, we headed for Snow Hill. There was a Celtic festival going on and we intended to see what was going on. We had a wonderful time and saw many wonderful things. There were even sheep dogs that entertained us by hearding several sheep in an enclosed area. There was also music (bagpipes), food, demonstrations, singing, weaving and many, many more traditional Celtic happenings. The festival took place in a restored village called Furnace Town. It reminded me a lot of Williamsburg, Va. The normal happenings and demonstrations were going on ... weaving, painting, garden walks ... all while the celtic festivities were woven into the day.

After the Celtic festival, we headed for Chincoteague Island. We parked our car just over the bridge and biked across the island to the bridge that led to Assateague, the National Park part of the island chain. Assateague is the name of the Native Americans that lived here early on in the growth of our country. There were wonderful biking and hiking trails on the island. We saw many shore birds, a small breed of elk, wild ponies, an eagle shown above and many beautiful marsh scenes. The elk that live here are Sika's and were in fact introduced to the island by a group of Boy Scouts in the 1920's. Once we had visited all of the sights that we intended to see, we headed back to the bridge. Along the last bit of stretch across a large salt marsh with a magnificent view, we happened upon a small pickup truck with it's back door open. Upon passing the vehicle, we saw the owner seated on a chair and quietly strumming his guitar. What a beautiful scene.

Once we had made our way back to the car we headed to the south end of Chincoteague and watched the sunset. A beautiful end to a beautiful day.

Berlin and Northern Assateague

Earlier in the week we had gone to a bookstore in Snow Hill and met a charming woman who had recently purchased both the bookstore and an antique shop immediately next door. We exchanged stories with her. It seems that her husband had died several years ago and that her sister had been living in Snow Hill working as a specialist in the school district. Through association and visiting of the area she bought the bookstore and antique shop. Soon after she purchased the bookstore her sister died of breast cancer. The bookstore owner remains upbeat though and enjoys the area. She is originally from Pennsylvania. She was a joy to spend time with. She has a small coffee bar and some chairs to relax into. The wonderful thing about sitting in those chairs ... there is a back door to the store. It was open when we visited. Looking through the door was like looking into a wonderful painting ... river, woods, shore birds ... all of the things that make up a most beautiful painting.

Anyway, somewhere in our conversation, the bookstore owner brought up Berlin, MD and told us what a wonderful place it was. So today we headed up to Berlin with the idea of going out to the northern part of Assateague. We got to Berlin before lunch and walked through the town. Many lovely shops and wonderful street scenes. It turns out that the movie "Runaway Bride" was filmed here. Evidently there are lots of recognizable scenes in the movie of Berlin. We went to the hotel and got a table on their porch and had a wonderful lunch ... pizza on flatbread and a wonderful salad, something that can be rare in these parts. Oftentimes the salad consists of head lettuce and a tomato. This meal and the salad were delicious!

After lunch we headed for the National Park on Assateague. We purchased a "lifetime pass" for seniors good for any National Park in the United States for $10! We parked the car and rode bikes all around. The scenes on the island were marvelous. We walked the beach as well and saw the pony below who appeared to be rather exhausted from a morning of frolicking and romping along the seashore.

Later in the afternoon, we headed north to Ocean City for a look at what this seaside resort had to offer. This city is quite commercialized and very, very busy with hotel upon hotel. We did board the boardwalk just to see what that was all about. Earlier on the beach we asked a local for a good spot to have something to eat. He directed us to a spot we would never have found. I had shrimp and Marlene of all things had fish and chips. Our total bill was fifteen dollars. It's in a small working class harbor on the outskirts of the city.

Marlene's Birthday

Today was the day to head for Delaware. Marlene wanted to head for a beach, one of her very favorite things to do. We unloaded our bikes and rode the boardwalk at Rehobeth Beach. There were these wonderful benches on the boardwalk that had a backrest that moved either way to allow one to view the ocean or to view the boardwalk. Simply grab the backrest and pivot it in the opposite direction. If you squint at the picture above you can see Marlene on her bicycle just past the third bench. Just to the left of the boardwalk was a lot for sale. If you had 3.5 million to buy the lot, you then could have a beachfront home built for you.

The beach was a wonderful one. There was a myriad of stones, unlike the other beaches we had visited in the area. One other thrill ... a group of porpoises went sailing by as we scoured the beach for treasures. What a great birthday present that I had ordered up for Marlene's birthday. The porpoises don't come cheap. Sometimes they have scheduling issues also.

After spending some time on the beach we headed for Lewes, Delaware. What a beautiful little seashore town. We walked the streets for a while and visited some shops. Later on in the afternoon we visited the small hotel for their happy hour. A small glass of wine and complementary homemade snacks of pate' and hummous were enjoyed.

Total bill ... $10.50 including tip!

Later on in the evening we had a little dinner of roasted chicken back at the home of Mark and Mary. I also managed to secretly purchase an arrangement of birthday flowers while Marlene was busy elsewhere in the store. I got them, ran to the car and put them in the back, then reappeared in the store just as Marlene came into sight.

A Little More of the Birthday

This small garden was in Lewes, Delaware close to the downtown area. In fact we parked our car here and walked a couple blocks to the main street where all the action was.

If you look carefully at this picture below, you can just see the heads of the porpoises as they were making their way south along the beach. As you can tell, they are very close to shore. There was a group of about six. In fact if you enlarge the photo, you can see the dark shapes of the ones who are submerged.

The boardwalk was a wonderful place to sit and watch the shoreline. The breeze from the ocean provided a warmth and a comfort while watching the goings on down by the beach. This beach was the place to be ... at least for Marlene. All the different colored stones made for a wonderful birthday celebration.

A Trip to Smith Island

The trip we took to Smith Island began in the village of Crisfield, Md. We signed on with the Island Belle II, a mail boat that brings not only mail to the island, but tables, chairs, dryers, and a whole load of other things that people living on the island need for their existance. Notice our bikes carefully stowed on the back of the boat and covered with canvas and lashed to the railing. On the trip over to the island, I sat next to the dryer and Marlene sat behind someones coffee table.

We met an island native on the trip to Smith Island. He had come into town for provisions at the local Wal Mart. During our conversation I asked him for a good recommendation for crab cakes. He said ... " ... there are some fancy places where they charge you for the view but the food is'nt that good. Go to Rukes and you'll have the best crab cakes on the Bay". He was right and not only that, it was reasonable.

Here's a picture of Rukes. Does'nt look like much, huh? Great food!

There are three small communities on Smith Island. One is the community where the boats dock. The second is on the same main island and was easy to reach with our bikes. The third community is on a separate island and is reachable only by another boat. Another thing we did is to go to the Smith Island Cake Co where they make 10 layer cakes that are quite famous and quite good. We took our cake and coffee and sat down by the inlet to the island watching the goings on and enjoying our delicious cake.

More Smith Island Pics

Marlene was always eager to keep moving so we would'nt miss anything. Here we are on the main street of Ewell, her in the front. Many cozy small houses lined the streets and only an occasional car that was travelling to who knows where. I think some folks simply fire up the old Jesse just to take a spin around the island and back home.

Marlene spotted this little garden scene on the main street. The sentiments are wonderful and the flowers were very beautiful.

This scene below is of a small coffee house located on the outskirts of the town and it appeared they had many, many things to offer. If you "click" on the picture you can read the most amusing things that this small shop posted for their customers.

A small shed on the water provides cover for things like garden tools and other things that would not fit into the small home in front.

A Day on the Virginia Coast

Today was the day to visit the portion of Virginia that we had not yet visited. It was the area south of Chincoteague. We took back roads and found beautiful little villages and scenic roads. The first small town we actually spent some time in was Onancoke. This village is located on the Chesapeake Bay side of the pennisula that we were exploring. Wonderful old homes and a cozy downtown area. We were getting hungry and thought maybe Cape Charles was a good choice for some lunch. We did however walk a bit more in Onancoke until we located a small restaurant right on an inlet of the bay. It was an old hardware store that had been done over. We sat outside (our favorite spot to sit) immediately next to the most beautiful blue and white sailboat you have ever seen. In the distance there was a crabman checking his pots. Over to the right was a small tugboat waiting to perform his appointed task for the day. All the little goings on of a small harbor protected by two small penninsulas that engulfed the inlet in their arms. The lunch was delicious ... mussels and another wonderful salad of greens, cucumbers and a whole lot more.

We then headed south towards Cape Charles. Marlene had another opportunity to visit the beach and take advantage of shells, beach glass and anything else that would provide a memory. We biked in this small town as well and wended our way to the end of the pier where fishermen were landing small perch.

The day was magical. On our way back north we talked about supper. We had fallen in love with Onancoke. The restaurant was called Mallards and we made it our supper destination. Another wonderful meal. At this time of year there is not the busyness of the summer. A few others were having dinner but it was all very quiet. As the shadows began to darken the view, small lights from the homes on the penninsulas began to appear. The sun sank in the west over Chesapeake Bay and finished the evening with a beautiful magenta sky.

The Chincoteague Oyster Festival

The Chincoteague Oyster Festival was magnificent! Extremely well organized. Wonderful surroundings in a parklike setting. There were young ones and old folk alike. It was very much like a church ice cream social. Everyone was very polite.

In addition the food was fantastic. You can see some of the choices on our handy Chincoteague carrying trays. There were steamed oysters, oysters on the half shell, oyster fritters, fried oysters, large bowls of crab, clam fritters, oyster stew, hot dogs, soda pop, coffee, and a few other things that I can't remember.

Immediately to our left was a small Jewish family from Long Island with two very active twins that played in the sand all afternoon. They were very busy and had a very rigorous schedule of digging and moving sand all over the place. On our right side were two older people that obviously had been through this many times before. They were very systematic with their crab shell excavation. They had all the right tools and stayed on task the whole afternoon. Not much time for socializing.

After three and a half hours at the festival, we headed back for one last time at the National Park on Assateague Island. Rode bikes through marshlands, wooded spots and wonderful trails all the way to the beach. If you "click" the picture of Marlene, you can appreciate the fine stitching detail of the jean jacket she purchased for $4 in a small church second hand store in Berlin, MD.

We hiked the beach and spent some time just sitting there on the shore and admiring all the things to see ... waves, terns, gulls, washed ashore shells and sailboats on the horizon. This picture was taken at exactly 3:26 in the afternoon.

What a wonderful way to end a wonderful vacation. We even stopped at Ray's Shanty on the way back for a scallop take out dinner.

The Trip Home

Ah yes. There comes a time when all good things must come to an end. After spending a week in Virginia ... experiencing all the sights and sounds that a seashore has to offer, enjoying good food, taking wonderful bike rides, walking the beach, collecting treasures from the sea ... the enjoyment was beyond all expectations. God's world is a most beauiful place.

Nessun Dorma

Nessun Dorma of course is an aria that was made famous by Luchiano Pavarrotti. It is from Puccini's Turandot. It was also one of Mark Romanak's favorite pieces. That's why it's playing on this blogspot. Below is the English translation for the work ...

Nessun Dorma

Nobody shall sleep!...
Nobody shall sleep!
Even you, o Princess,
in your cold room,
watch the stars,
that tremble with love and with hope.
But my secret is hidden within me,
my name no one shall know ...
No! ... No! ...
On your mouth I will tell it when the light shines.
And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine! ...
(No one will know his name and we must, alas, die.)
Vanish, oh night!
Set, stars! Set, stars!
At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win!