A busy, busy couple of days! Intended as a pleasant two-day drive to acquaint myself with the Delmarva peninsula (Delmarva = Delaware, Maryland,Virginia) it turned into a very substantive trip. The original plan was to head to Jamestown, drive north to Chincoteague, and return home via Baltimore. Simple, right? No. As is so often the case, the closer you look, the more there is to do.
First Leg: Ancient Historic Virginia
Jamestowne was extended to Williamsburg and Yorktown, all remarkably significant and all places I was ignorant about. Something about the timing of my U.S. education must have been off. When U.S. history was taught I must have been living overseas. Suffice to say I have lots of catching up to do!
What I knew of Jamestowne was wrong. Seems in the 1990s they made some remarkable discoveries which showed the colony did not die-off but instead made it through the tough years … barely. They have rebuilt the fort and have a scale model of what the place looked like back in the very beginning. It’s a remarkable story, as were the stories of Williamsburg and Yorktown.
No, I did not know that Williamsburg was the capitol of Virginia in the 18th century and is rich in history as well. No, I had no idea that the last battle of the War of 1812 was fought in Yorktown. Thank goodness the National Park Service oversees many of these places and they have educational programs!
Second Leg: Up the Virginia’s Delmarva
Before dusk I had planned a photo shoot on Assateague Island. No such luck due largely to all the “stuff”
I did en route. Who knew that the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel would captivate me so much? Lots of boat traffic. Cape Charles called out to me with its railway and shipping history on the Chesapeake. I’m a sucker for trains so of course I stopped at the Eastern Shore Railway Museum! Running late had its consequences though and I arrived after dark so a trip out the Assateague was not an option since the island was closed. I’d have to make up for it in the morning.
Third Leg: Through Maryland and Delaware to Home
With sunrise I left my motel in Chincoteague and drove across the bridge to Assateague where I began my exploring. Foremost on my list was to find the famous wild horses which have roamed the island for centuries. Finding them wasn’t too hard but finding them nearby was difficult. Strangely my movements were restricted which made me feel as though I was caged and they were free to roam. Regardless, I got some shots and explored the island for hours. Found a lighthouse. Saw beautiful beaches. However, due to cloud cover, colors were muted. Still, I enjoyed getting to know both islands.
As I left the area, I stopped at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility where more launches of rockets take place than at any other NASA facility. The Visitors’ Center had lots to see and it was free, what a great combination!
Hugging the coastline I went through three side-by-side communities that I’d long heard of: Ocean City, Bethany Beach, and Rehoboth Beach. I’ve long had the impression that they were run-down beach communities from the 1950s. I was wrong, they’re nice places with distinctly different characters. Check out the links and you can see what I mean.
The rest of the drive was punctuated with short visits. The historic buildings of Odessa were great to tour. Seeing Lightship Overfall was cool, I’d never heard of a floating lighthouse before. Visiting the ferry which carries traffic between Lewes, DE and Cape May, NJ took me back to a vacation Beth and I took long ago. As day turned to evening I hit Interstate 95 with blinders on and made my way toward home.
Below is an overview map which starts in D.C. and goes counterclockwise.
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