Summer Issue 2023

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CONTENTS

FEATURES

13 How I’m

Going to Spend My

Summer Vacation

Seven waterfront parks for RV camping on the Bay— Jefferson Holland

47 Virginia Coast Reserve’s Treasured Islands

Explore the barrier islands and lagoons of the lower Eastern Shore— Marty LeGrand

COLUMNS

5 From the Editor

Ospreys abound in summertime— Jefferson Holland

8 Chesapeake Adventures

Pan fishing with Shawn Kimbro— Angus Phillips

41 On Boats

This classic hybrid Bay boat runs shallow inshore but still handles big seas offshore— Capt. John Page Williams

56 Chesapeake Almanac

What’s the big deal with the Bay’s little fish?— Capt. John Page Williams

62 Chesapeake Chef

Country Corn & Crab Dip from Libbey’s Coastal Kitchen

80 Stern Lines

Back Creek Crab— Jefferson Holland

SPECIAL SECTION

Talbot County, Maryland: Open for Adventure!

18 Oysters and Rockfish and Crabs—Oh My!

A culinary odyssey in search of Chesapeake favorites— Oliver White

22 Pickering Creek Audubon Center Bird Walk

Spot some of Talbot County’s 331 bird species— Ren Gilbert

25 Bike Talbot

Cycle from Oxford to St. Michaels via ferry across the Tred Avon River— Margaret Enloe-North

28 In Search of Frederick Douglass

Kayaking Tuckahoe Creek to find a great man’s humble birthplace— Oliver White

31 Talbot County’s Independent Book Nooks

Every town needs a great bookstore— Niambi Davis

34 How to Watch Log Canoe Races

See a flotilla of century-old sailboats battle for bragging rights— Craig Ligibel

36 Step Back in Time at Tuckahoe

Steam & Gas

Discover Talbot County’s rich agricultural heritage brought back to life— Oliver White

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

65 2023 Real Estate Showcase

A tight market calls for expert guidance

COVER: Crew members provide the ballast for log canoes racing in the Choptank River. Photo by Jay Fleming.

ABOVE: Kids seine for little fish on the Rhode River in Maryland (see p. 56). Photo by Jefferson Holland.

FROM THE EDITOR

Ospreys Abound

by Jefferson Holland

Summer for me means one thing: ospreys. How wonderful that they’ve made such an amazing comeback over the past 50 years. Here in Annapolis, there’s a nest on just about every green daymarker in city waters.

When my daughter was a little girl, we lived in a cottage on a beach at the mouth of Back Creek. The ospreys would start to return from Central America in late March and the males would immediately get to work rebuilding their nests. We would scatter the beach with twigs and branches and watch the birds swoop down to snatch the sticks up in their talons. Once we tied a ribbon around one particular twig, then over the summer, we canoed around the creek until we spotted the nest with the ribbon.

Summer also means playing in, on or at least around, the water. In this issue, we’ll take a tour of Talbot County with some talented writers, thanks to the sponsorship of Talbot County, Maryland. You’ll bike across the Tred Avon River aboard a ferry, kayak down Tuckahoe Creek in search of the birthplace of Frederick Douglass, ramble through all the delightful independent bookstores, go birding at Pickering Creek Audubon Center, tour an eccentric collection of antique steam-driven tractors, and reconnoiter restaurants in search of innovative recipes featuring oysters and rockfish and crabs. Oh, my.

For playing in the water, John Page Williams presents a review of an update on the classic Everglades 243 Center Console. He’ll also take us under the water to meet some of the most important fish in the Bay—all the little ones. Angus Phillips introduces us to renowned sport fisherman Shawn Kimbro, who’s easing up on rockfish to concentrate on another fish that’s just as much fun to catch and eat: white perch.

Award-winning writer Marty LeGrand takes us to Virginia’s Atlantic coast, where preservationists are working to save an area of treasured islands whose wild beauty rivals the Everglades. It’s illustrated with stunning images by aerial photographer Gordon Campbell of the At Altitude Gallery in Cape Charles, Virginia.

Then I’ll share my plans to circumnavigate the Bay— not by boat, but by car, with my new little teardrop trailer in tow. I’ve picked seven waterfront parks where I can camp and find fun places to explore by kayak.

It’s summer on the Chesapeake—go play in the water.

JEFFERSON HOLLAND

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Pan Fishing with Shawn Kimbro

by Angus Phillips

When Shawn Kimbro was a lad in East Tennessee he sometimes took his fishing pole with him on the bus to school. He’d slip off truant before the first bell rang and fish his way back home in the creeks around Cherokee Lake. “If I timed it right, I’d get home just about the same time as the afternoon bus.”

Nobody ever questioned how he’d obtained a bag of panfish in the classroom. Times were hard, money was short and with four boys to feed, dinner fixings were not to be challenged.

From these humble origins came one of the Chesapeake’s most admired sportfishermen and conservationists. Kimbro is the author of three popular fishing books. He sits on the board of directors of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and the Coastal Conservation Association, and is an adviser to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Somehow, alongside all that, he founded and runs the Sleep Medicine Program at George Washington University in D.C. and plays solid bluegrass rhythm guitar.

“Bluegills gave me my work ethic,” he says. As the eldest son, he got to fish with his dad as soon as he was big enough to sling a worm. They would fill a burlap sack with bluegills and crappies; his job was to clean them. “I could sit there for two hours cleaning fish. I learned that if you keep your head down and stick to it, you can finish anything.”

Kimbro’s first two books were mostly about the Bay’s premier game

fish, striped bass (local Bay name: rockfish). But the third, his latest, speaks to his first and foremost love: “How to Catch Chesapeake Panfish.”

Now, a lot of fishing books have been written by people who don’t really know that much. They talk to experts and compile their second-hand dossiers and you can take it or leave it. To confirm his bona-fides, I asked Kimbro to take me perch fishing with him this spring. We launched his 40-year-old jon boat on the upper Choptank River in the early stages of the white perch spawning run.

We putt-putted along upstream until we could putt no more, through

the briers and brambles and fallen trees to a barren, unremarkable deadend where the water was dark, slack and thick with twigs and branches to hang up on and lose your lure.

He handed me a small box of live grass shrimp and a couple of tiny jigs, plus the smallest bobber you’ve ever laid eyes on. “If you get hung up, just try to save the bobber,” he said. “You can’t buy these things anymore.”

He’d caught a half-dozen perch and a bluegill or two while I extracted my lure from multiple snags before I finally got the hang of it and set the hook on my first white perch of the season, a little fellow so puny he could

barely pull the bobber down. “Relax,” said Kimbro, “you’re in my living room. I do this all the time. You’ll figure it out.”

We set a goal, which is crucial in perch fishing: Keep enough to feed me, my wife, and my crabbing partner and his daughter, to whom I’d promised filets. We wound up saving 20 fish, which was about right, and tossed back 30 or 40 more, mostly small. Kimbro said he’d had enough perch dinners for the time being and needed none.

Someone is now bound to howl: “You call yourself a conservationist but you’re keeping fish that are running upstream to spawn? You’re killing the goose before she can lay her golden eggs!”

To which Kimbro (and I) would respond: Fair point, but in this case not applicable. Perch are so abundant in the Chesapeake, and so lightly exploited, that they are in no danger of falling victim to human greed, at least for the foreseeable future. And, while they may be time-consuming to clean, the filets are delicious, both white and yellow perch being widely considered the firmest, finest-tasting fish in the Bay. And this bottom line is why we love to catch them.

“We’re not hurting them,” says Kimbro, who has quit fishing for spawning rockfish in the spring out of concern for their declining numbers. “You can keep a mess of perch and not hurt anything.” That applies even to yellow perch, he said, which are less abundant than whites hereabouts, but plentiful elsewhere across the country.

The spring perch spawning run ends in May and yellows get hard to find. But white perch stay plentiful and easy to catch all summer long and into the fall. “They like to hang around rocks and oyster shells,” Kimbro says, pointing to places like Poplar Island, Kent Point and Bloody Point on the Bay’s Eastern Shore or Thomas Point and Hackett’s Bar on the Western side, and the rockpiles at both ends of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

White perch congregate in summer where the water is 6- to 20-feet deep

with some kind of underwater structure to cluster around, natural or man-made, and they cannot resist bloodworms or grass shrimp fished on or near the bottom.

While Kimbro is not averse to using bait when necessary, he generally catches all the white perch he wants using artificial lures, mostly small jigs of 1/16 or even 1/32-ounce floated under a small bobber in shallow water, or on top of a small sinker to get to the bottom in deeper water. The perch are attracted to motion, so he gently twitches the jigs to draw a strike.

Left: Shawn Kimbro with a brace of fat white perch. 'They like to hang around rocks and oyster shells,' he says.

Above: Shawn’s grandson Tucker and son Daniel Kimbro fishing the skinny water of the upper Choptank.

SHAWN KIMBRO

recipe for panfish filets has not changed over the years. Here it is: Dredge damp filets in flour, then dip into a milk/egg mixture, then dredge again in Panko or Autry’s fish

Six to eight fried white perch filets ought to satisfy even the keenest appetite. Pop one straight into your mouth, piping hot, for two bites of piscatorial ecstasy.

batter, both of which can be found at the supermarket. The filet then goes into hot vegetable oil (375 degrees) for a couple of minutes on each side until the batter browns, then onto paper to drain the excess oil and straight into your mouth, piping hot, for two bites of piscatorial ecstasy.

Six to eight filets ought to satisfy even the keenest appetite. Throw in fresh corn on the cob and tomatoes from the garden and you can safely say that no king ever ate better.

Angus Phillips was outdoor editor of The Washington Post for 35 years, covering the fishing, hunting and boating scene both locally and globally. He’s lived in Annapolis since 1983.

HOW I’M GOING TO SPEND MY Summer Vacation

BY JEFFERSON HOLLAND

You’ve probably made that same week-long cruise around the Bay that everybody has. Here in Maryland, it’s Annapolis to Rock Hall to St. Michaels to Oxford to Solomons and back. There’s nothing wrong with that—if the weather’s fine, it’s a splendid trip, the scenery is beautiful and the towns are fun to visit. But it’s been done and done again. This summer, I’m planning a different spin on that same concept, an 8-day cruise circumnavigating the Bay—not on my boat, but in my car, towing my new mini teardrop trailer.

It's a cute little trailer, built from a kit, but we bought it completely assembled by the manufacturer out of Baltic birch plywood. It was a demo model. It’s got room inside for a double mattress—just big enough for either my wife and me or my dog and me, but not all three of us at the same time. The back hatch lifts up to reveal a functional galley space. And it only weighs about 500 pounds empty, which means I can tow it with my Subaru Forester with ease. When I

arrive at a campsite, I can unhitch it and easily walk it into position.

And set-up is a breeze. I can be lounging in a comfy chair enjoying an adult beverage less than a half hour after arriving. That includes the time it takes to erect a tent over the picnic table and another small pop-up tent that hides a comfortable folding throne that serves as a portable toilet. That useful amenity allows me to be totally self-contained, even in the most primitive settings, and free from having to stumble off to a communal bathhouse in the middle of the night.

I’ve mapped out seven campsites, including three state parks in Maryland, three in Virginia and one privately-owned campground in Deltaville. Each of these places offers both tent sites and RV sites with hookups. They all allow polite dogs on leashes. And they all sit along the shore of the Chesapeake Bay or up one of its tributaries. If I don’t feel like lugging one of my many paddle-able boats along, most of these sites offer canoe and kayak rentals.

My first destination will be Elk Neck State Park at the northern tip of the Bay. It’s an 85-mile drive from my home in Annapolis, which should take about an hour and 45 minutes if I run up I-95 to North East, Maryland, and then south to where the Elk River meets the Bay. The park comprises 2,370 acres of marshlands, forest, white clay cliffs and sandy shorelines. Elk Neck State Park is divided into four areas. The Turkey Point Lighthouse Area is located at the southern tip of the Elk Neck Peninsula and features a trail to the historic Turkey Point Light Station. The walk to the old lighthouse is delightful. When we were there last, my wife and I strolled through a meadow and along a path that leads through a natural arbor. There, we found ourselves surrounded by a whole flock of neon-blue indigo

Above: Elk Neck State Park / My mini teardrop trailer (and Millie) / Cross Rip Campground

buntings. The view of the Bay from the bluff at the point is stunning.

The North East Beach Area is a popular day-use area located in the western portion of the park where you’ll find a swimming area, canoe/ kayak launch, picnic shelters, picnic tables and grills. The Bay water this far north is fairly fresh, so you don’t have to worry about swimming with sea nettles. There’s a boat ramp and fishing pier at the Rogues Harbor Boat Launch Facility. The Elk River Camping Area on the eastern shore of the peninsula provides more than 250 campsites and 16 cabins, a park store, playground and a nature center. We’ve camped there before, and it’s fun to watch the big freighters slip by up close on their way to the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

ELK NECK STATE PARK

4395 Turkey Point Rd

North East, MD 21901

The next stop would be Martinak State Park , 72 miles south, which should take about another hour and 45 minutes to drive. It lies just south of Denton between the banks of the Choptank River and Watts Creek. It’s one of those hidden gems you drive by a thousand times on your way down to the ocean. It’s one of Maryland’s smaller parks at just about 125 acres of pine and hardwood forest, fields and marshes, but there’s a lot to explore.

It’s named for George Martinak, who donated the property he bought in 1928 for a fishing and hunting camp. The log cabin he built on a bluff overlooking the river has been restored and moved to a more central location in the park, which boasts hiking trails, several enticing playgrounds, picnic pavilions, a nature center and an amphitheater overlooking the creek.

The campsites are scattered around the loblolly forest, providing a serene

atmosphere. Pets are allowed in all areas of the park except the pavilions and cabins. There’s a boat ramp where it would be easy to launch a small boat to explore the creek as it winds around to meet the river.

MARTINAK STATE PARK

137 Deep Shore Rd (two miles east of Denton, off Rte. 404)

Denton, MD 21629

Next comes Pocomoke River State Park , 73 miles farther south along the Delmarva Peninsula. That should take about 90 minutes to drive. When you’re engaged in this sort of land cruise, you can schedule your travel for the time span between check-out time at one park and checkin time at the next. That way, you can plan stops for lunch, sight-seeing, dog walks and restocking provisions.

The park is surrounded by 18,000 acres of the Pocomoke State Forest. The park is split into two sections, one on each side of the river. The Milburn Landing area lies on one side, north of Pocomoke City. The Shad Landing area is on the other side, just south of the charming little town of Snow Hill.

Shad Landing boasts a boat ramp and a marina with transient slips. There’s a swimming pool, a ballfield, large picnic pavilions and a multitude of drive-in sites for tent camping or RV-ing. All the campsite loops are set in a mature loblolly pine forest, and while they are all quite pleasant, the main attraction is the river itself.

You can launch from the park to explore a couple of different water trails, but on our last visit, we drove to Snow Hill and hired an aluminum jon boat with a small outboard from the Pocomoke River Canoe Company. It’s located in an ancient red wooden warehouse by the drawbridge. The trip up the river was nothing short of ecstatic. We saw bald eagles, an enormous blue heron and a bevy of belted kingfishers. Bend after bend, the river became narrower until we

Millie is the ideal weight to serve as bow ballast for a solo canoe trip at Pocomoke River State Park.

JEFFERSON HOLLAND

were idling through a primordial swamp. We kept going until we started bumping into submerged logs and cypress knees, then spun around and drifted down with the ebbing tide.

POCOMOKE RIVER STATE PARK

Shad Landing Area

3461 Worcester Highway

Snow Hill, MD 21863

MILBURN LANDING AREA

3036 Nassawango Road

Pocomoke City, MD 21851

Next up will be Kiptopeke, a Virginia state park located at the very southern tip of the Eastern Shore, 79 miles south of Pocomoke State Park. In this itinerary, we reluctantly pass by Janes Island State Park near Crisfield, Maryland, which we’ll visit next time. Kiptopeke is along the Atlantic flyway, so it’s a great place to see migratory birds from season to season.

The park has cabins, lodges, RV and tent camping, yurts and a bunkhouse. There's a boat ramp, lighted fishing pier, picnic areas, five miles of hiking and biking trails, playground, beach bathhouse and swimming beach. The beach is broad, beautiful and ideal for those iconic long walks. You can hardly see across to the Western Shore from there. On our trip there last year, we visited the

nearby town of Cape Charles and enjoyed browsing through the art galleries and shops and had a wonderful lunch at a seafood restaurant overlooking the inlet.

KIPTOPEKE STATE PARK

3540 Kiptopeke Dr. Cape Charles, VA 23310

Kiptopeke is three miles from the northern terminus of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, and I’m confident that my light little trailer will make it across—all 19 miles of it—with ease. Our destination will be Chickahominy Riverfront Park , 80 miles away. This will probably take two hours to cover, considering traffic driving through Norfolk and Newport News. It will be a new experience for us, so I’m eager to explore. This is a James City County park featuring more than 80 campsites, some of which have scenic views of Gordon Creek. There are basic tent sites as

well as full-hookup sites for RVs. There are no cabins available.

The park offers a 290-foot lighted fishing pier that’s available for use 24 hours a day and a catch-and-release pond. A Virginia freshwater license is required for all fishing in the park for anyone over the age of 16. The park also features a boat ramp for a modest fee. Canoes and kayaks are available for rent all year. Chickahominy Riverfront Park is close to both Jamestown and Williamsburg and all the historic attractions.

CHICKAHOMINY RIVERFRONT PARK

1350 John Tyler Highway Williamsburg, VA 23185

Next stop is the Cross Rip Campground, a privately owned site in Deltaville, Virginia. The 60-mile drive north ought to take about 90 minutes. It’s located on the Chesapeake Bay between the Rappahannock and Piankatank

Above: Kiptopeke's beach is protected by breakwaters composed of sunken ships.

Right: Westmoreland State Park has wooded campsites overlooking the Potomac River.

COURTESY OF VIRGINIA STATE PARKS

COURTESY OF VIRGINIA STATE PARKS

RESOURCES

Maryland State Park Reservations parkreservations.maryland.gov

Virginia State Park Reservations dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/reservations

Teardrop trailer kits: Birch Campers birchcampers.com

Chesapeake Light Craft Clcboats.com

rivers. I’ve never been, but friends tell me it’s a fun, laid-back place with plenty of beautiful scenery and lots of character. There’s a private sandy beach where you can launch a boat, a fishing pier and a fresh-water pond. Another of the many amenities is a large field for dogs to run off-leash. Plus, I can visit my friends at the

Deltaville Maritime Museum while I’m there.

CROSS RIP CAMPGROUND

503 Cross Rip Rd.

Deltaville, VA 23043

Then it’s a 72-mile drive to Westmoreland State Park , which should take about 90 minutes. The park stretches along about a mile and a half of the Potomac River shore on the Northern Neck of Virginia. The park opened in 1936 and several cabins and other structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps are still in use, which explains its listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Fossil hunters search the beach at the foot of the Horsehead Cliffs for sharks’ teeth. The park offers hiking on six miles of trails, camping, cabins, fishing, boating and swimming. It’s close to George

Washington's birthplace and Stratford Hall, the birthplace of Robert E. Lee. Offshore breakwaters are great for fishing. Birding enthusiasts find the park an excellent site for spotting American bald eagles, ospreys, kingfishers, great blue herons, common terns, green herons and gulls, as well as wintering waterfowl.

WESTMORELAND STATE PARK

145 Cliff Road

Montross, VA 22520

Our whirlwind, 600-mile circumnavigation of the Chesapeake Bay by land ends with the last leg, a 90-mile drive back to Annapolis. Now the only question remains: who do I take along? My wife or my dog?

CBM ’s editor Jefferson Holland writes about the Chesapeake Bay in poetry and prose. He lives in Annapolis with his wife, Louise White, their rescue retriever, Millie, and two cantankerous cats.

Oysters and Rockfish and Crabs – Oh My!

BY OLIVER WHITE

Over the years, my partner Amanda and I have visited the ports of Talbot County aboard sailboats and powerboats, paddled her marshes and peddled her country lanes from village to village. We have joined the throngs in Easton at the Waterfowl Festival, marveling at the avian art and delighting in the retriever demonstrations, and we’ve luxuriated at waterfront B&Bs on secluded country estates. But on this visit, we had a specific mission in mind: we were intent on discovering some of the best dishes at some of the best restaurants Talbot County has to offer. We were in hot pursuit of oysters and rockfish and crabs, what some describe as the Chesapeake Bay’s “holy trinity.”

We knew from the start that we’d never be able to cover as many of the places as we’d like on the few days we had to spare, but we were determined to do our best. As with any good mission, we planned our strategy carefully. My partner and I began with a review of the official Talbot County website. The list of restaurants and eateries is as extensive as it is alluring.

There are dozens of seafood places, ranging from tables covered with butcher paper to white linen tablecloths. However, seafood is not the only option among the plethora of eateries. There are those serving Italian, Asian, Mexican and South American and all-American burgers and BBQ. Others offer just

breakfast or just lunch, or concentrate on baked goods, sweets and ice cream, like the highly recommended Scottish Highland Creamery at the Oxford Mews.

But our quest was for seafood. Me, I’m a sucker for oysters. My better half favors crabs. And we both enjoy fish dishes. We booked a room at the Tidewater Inn smack the center of Easton’s historic district and headed straight for the Hunter’s Tavern for a late lunch. The highlight was the cream of crab soup, full of big chunks of lump crab meat and adorned with a dollop of sherry.

We walked off our meal with a stroll around town. We spent the afternoon browsing among the many art galleries

and antique shops -- and of course stopped by Vintage Books on Washington Street. We toured the Third Haven Meeting House, an inspirationally austere wooden building built in 1684 with timbers hewn with broadaxes. Notably, William Penn worshipped there. We hadn’t been since Quaker friends of ours were married there 40 years ago. William Penn sailed back to England on a ship, while the newlyweds departed the scene on a motorcycle.

Our appetites revived, we strolled down Harrison Street to have dinner at Legal Assets, a bistro featuring craft food and spirits. It was a little too cool for seating in the outdoor garden, so we took a booth inside. I was tempted to try the rockfish, but opted for one of the specials: blackened blue channel catfish on a bed of sauteed spinach. It was served with lemon beurre blanc sauce festooned with lump crab meat. It was so good, I forgot to take note of what my partner ordered.

Neither of us are big dessert eaters, but the flourless chocolate cake proved too enticing to resist. The texture was more like chocolate mousse. We fought over the last spoonful of the ricotta cream topping. We were grateful that our room was nearby.

The next morning, we enjoyed breakfast at the Hunter’s Tavern. I devoured the Delmarva Omelet with Virginia ham, Maryland crab, spinach and cheddar cheese, while Amanda, just this once, passed on the seafood and went for a parfait layered with yogurt, oatmeal and fresh fruit. 

Top: Cream of Crab Soup at Hunter’s Tavern

Middle: Blackened Blue Channel Catfish on a bed of sauteed spinach at Legal Assets

Bottom: Flourless Chocolate Cake at Legal Assets

For lunch, we drove to St. Michaels for the oyster stew at the Inn at Perry Cabin. The inn is named for Capt. Oliver Hazzard Perry, hero of the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812. There are portraits of him in the lobby, along with a wooden ship’s figurehead carved in his likeness. The expansive dining room looks out over the Miles River, which we

admired from our table by the bank of windows. The stew lived up to its reputation, with plump local oysters in a rich broth lightly flavored with ginger and lemongrass.

On our way out of town, we stopped by the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum to see the progress on their new visitor center. Construction is well

underway. When it opens in the fall of 2023, it will house the gift shop and two exhibit spaces as well as the visitor center. Incidentally, I’ve heard that the museum has purchased the property where the Crab Claw restaurant is located. Museum officials are still working out what they’ll use the site for, but meanwhile, this will be the Crab Claw’s last season, so plan to go soon if you’re into steamed crabs.

For Amanda and me, it was off to Oxford for dinner. We took the ferry from Bellevue, of course, and had a stroll along the town’s main street. Like the ferry service, the town dates to 1683. The Robert Morris Inn was built as River View House in 1710 and has served as an inn since 1800. George Washington indeed slept there, as did Revolutionary War financier Robert Morris and other Founding Fathers, not to mention James Michener, who is said to have outlined his novel “Chesapeake” here.

We had an early dinner at the inn. Amanda started with a special wild mushroom salad with cranberries, cherry tomatoes, smoked bacon and sprinkles of feta caressed with a truffle oil dressing, while I sampled the smoked bluefish pâté with crostini and a lightly dressed green salad.

For our main courses, we shared a special flounder with crab Imperial over zucchini and baby potatoes and the inn’s famous crab cake with zucchini and potatoes. The crab cake’s crisp panko breadcrumb crust tenderly bound big chunks of lump crab meat kissed with tarragon. Utterly stuffed, we were tempted to take a room for another night, but deadlines and dog sitters

Top: Delmarva Omelet at Hunter’s Tavern

Middle: Oyster Stew at the Inn at Perry Cabin.

made us recall that the drive home wasn’t all that long after all.

Earlier, on our way out of St. Michaels, we had stopped by Ava’s Pizzeria and Wine Bar and ordered a large pizza to take home for future reference. A friendly baker who referred to herself as a “pizza-rista” set my handcrafted pie to bake in the wood-fired oven. While I waited, I popped next door to the Eastern Shore Brewery. I wanted to consult with an expert to find the proper local beer to pair with pepperoni. The owner recommended a Vienna Lager and I bought a six pack to go.

Somehow the pizza made it home intact and the lager, indeed, made eating it an extra special treat when I re-heated a couple of slices the next day.

On the drive back to the Western Shore, we debriefed on our mission and decided that it was a marginal success. While every dish we tried surpassed our expectations, and every venue we visited was a truly delightful experience, we were disappointed not to have had the time to dine at other restaurants and explore other towns in Talbot County. For instance, I’ve heard that Chesapeake Landing in McDaniel is, without a doubt, the locals’ favorite. And then there are all the spots on Tilghman Island. Ah well, we’ll try those the next time we venture across the Bay.

Oliver White is a travel writer who lives aboard a yachtified buyboat on the Rhode River with his partner Amanda and their Newfoundland retriever, Max.

Top: Flounder with Crab Imperial at Robert Morris Inn

Middle: Wild Mushroom Salad at Robert Morris Inn

Bottom: Crab Cake at Robert Morris Inn

Pickering Creek AUDUBON CENTER Bird Walk

BY REN GILBERT

Ornithologist Dr. Wayne Bell began welcoming a group of avid birders who had gathered at the Pickering Creek Audubon Center in Easton on a splendid spring morning. Mid-sentence, he cocked his head to one side and cried, “Did you hear that? That...There it is again. A white-eyed vireo—first hearing and sighting of the spring!” We hadn’t even left the parking

lot and we were already surrounded by a multitude of bird calls and songs. “Witch-ity witch-ity witch-ity!” called a common yellowthroat from the nearby meadow.

“Sometimes we see them, sometimes we hear them,” explained Susie Pratt, a member of the Talbot Bird Club and a volunteer at Pickering Creek. “We’ve learned so much from Wayne,

ever since a birding class started through the Chesapeake Forum during COVID—it was a great chance to get outside.” Pratt coordinates these weekly monitoring walks. “We accrue volunteer hours counting birds as citizen scientists,” she explained enthusiastically.

The bird walks are one of many programs the nonprofit Pickering Creek

Audubon Center hosts throughout the year for school groups, families and the general public, including guided nature walks, paddles on the creek, gardening and environmental education classes.

I had joined this group of volunteers for a walk on the center’s 450-acre site on this tidal tributary of the Wye River. Bell retired from his position as the founding director of the Washington College Center for Environment and Society and currently teaches through the Maryland Ornithological Society.

Like Mr. Rogers preparing for his day in the neighborhood, Bell changed into his birding boots and secured his scope and binoculars. “It’s best to use a pair of 8x42s,” he advised. “Then you’ll have a

wide enough viewing field, with just the right amount of magnification. Too much and it will be difficult to view birds that are moving in the trees.”

Mark Scallion, the Pickering Creek Center’s executive director who accompanied the group, agreed. “You can get a decent pair of Vortex or Celestron binoculars for about $100,” he noted. “The more you spend, the better the quality of the lenses, the more fun you’ll have birding.”

Just over 20 years ago, Pickering Creek Center’s site consisted only of agricultural fields. Through the donation of land by the Olds family, the center now includes a diversity of habitats: meadows, fresh and brackish marsh, a mile of shoreline along the creek, tidal and non-tidal wetlands and a mature hardwood forest.

As we set out toward the meadow, Talbot Bird Club member Lisa Sargeant opened up the eBird app on her phone and began recording our finds. It was an active and exciting time to take a walk on the numerous trails. “Right now we are seeing the songbird migration,” Bell

explained. “Winter species such as the white-throated sparrow are heading out, and our spring birds are setting up their nests. The shorebird migration will peak in May.”

Though we spotted birds as they flew by every now and then, our group identified more of them by the plethora of sounds all around us. Bell explained that many bird calls are composed of triplets, and often sound like words.

“Clear! Clear! Clear! ” We heard the greater yellowlegs, a shorebird that breeds in the Arctic tundra, cry out as it flew off from the pond’s edge. Bell recognized a tufted titmouse by its “Peter, Peter, Peter,” not to be confused with the white-throated sparrow who calls, “O Sweet Canada, Canada, Canada! ” Two bald eagles raced overhead as Bell noted that it takes five years for them to get a fully white head and tail.

“Each habitat consists of four components: food, water, shelter and space,” Scallion explained. Mourning doves shelter from predators in the cedars in the winter. Tree swallows often

KAREN GILBERT

Previous Page: Dunlin is a shorebird, in this case migrating through this habitat in spring on its way to its Arctic breeding grounds.

Above: Pickering Creek volunteers Susie Pratt (left) and Peggy Ford stroll through the meadow, listening for songbirds.

Right: Cedar waxwing, a species that capitalizes on the berries and other fruits of the center's extensive scrub and edge habitats.

Below: “We have seen as many as a dozen eggs in one wood duck nesting box. When it’s time to incubate the eggs, the mother duck moves them all into a neat order on top of the downy feathers.” — Quote & photo by Mary Carpenter (Talbot Bird Club member)

take up residence in the numerous bluebird boxes along the meadow trail.

Since formal bird monitoring began 11 years ago, with the use of eBird as a recording tool, Pickering Creek volunteers have counted 233 species on the center’s collective “life list.”

And Pickering Creek is just one of the many places in Talbot County to take a bird walk. The Bill Burton Fishing Pier State Park on the Choptank River, Black Walnut Point on the southernmost tip of Tilghman Island,

Claiborne Landing on Eastern Bay, Marengo Woods Wildlife Preserve near Easton, Mill Creek Sanctuary near Wye Mills and Poplar Island are all excellent places to view Talbot County’s 331 sighted bird species.

Informative online options exist to help enhance your birding experience. Birdcast.info works with weather radar to report what’s seen flying over an area

in peak season. Merlin is a popular app that identifies birds by sight with a photo or sound by listening to the calls occurring in real time.

Ren Gilbert is profoundly grateful she gets to write, photo, sail, teach, and live on the Eastern Shore of the ever-changing canvas that is the Chesapeake Bay.

DR. WAYNE BELL

MARY CARPENTER

BIKE Talbot

BY MARGARET ENLOE-NORTH

When it comes to exploring on my bike, I am a “poker.” I like to poke around and down roads that I have not ridden to see what’s there. In Talbot County, these scenic detours will take you into beautiful woodlands, past marshes, through little hamlets and ultimately to the water or just a scenic dead end. The 7-mile ride from Oxford to St. Michaels offers many side road possibilities for a poker like me but this time I’m mostly sticking to the main route, which is a treat all by itself; one that starts with a historic ferry ride. Once you’re across the Tred Avon River, this route meanders past pastoral farmlands, forests and through the small Eastern Shore villages of Bellevue and Royal Oak before landing you in historic St. Michaels.

I love the first mile of this ride aboard the Oxford-Bellevue Ferry. This tenminute crossing from the Oxford ferry dock is a peaceful way to experience the Eastern Shore as well as views of the expansive Choptank River. My favorite part of this experience is smelling the breeze, all the while knowing that I am riding on the nation’s oldest privately owned ferry service, having been in operation since 1683. The ferry runs seven days a week, 9 a.m. to sunset, starting at the end of April and going through October. Be sure to check the schedule online.

Disembarking on the other side of the Tred Avon River, I can’t resist taking a detour in the village of Bellevue, an historically Black community that used to be home to several seafood and vegetable canneries and packing houses. A quick ride off the main road

has me looping through the residential village and just appreciating the community and its history.

A prominent Black family, the Turners, whose patriarch was a schooner captain named William A. Turner, owned and operated the W.A. Turner and Sons Packing Co. and the Bellevue Seafood Co. during the second half of the 20th century. Though the businesses had closed by 1998, the buildings still stand at the town dock on Tar Creek. In their time, they were the only two African American-owned seafood packing houses on the Eastern Shore. As late as the 1970s, as many as 70 employees picked crabs and shucked oysters and soft-shell clams there.

Back out on the main road, I’m off for the next village, Royal Oak. For the next

three miles, rounding each bend on the winding Bellevue Road is a treat. Every few hundred yards, the view changes from woodlands and canopied side roads to expansive estates, farms and fields. Some are full of last fall’s shorn corn harvest while others are ablaze with bright yellow buttercups or softly verdant with winter wheat that hasn’t yet turned brown. My nose gets a treat, too, enjoying the scents on the breeze from those fields, nearby creeks, budding trees, freshly cut grass, and blooming flowers and vines.

Three miles later, as I roll into the village of Royal Oak, I stop in the parking lot at the Royal Oak Methodist Church (on the left) where there is a water and refreshment stop for bikers on hot summer days. No water today, so I ride just a few hundred feet farther

Above: The historic Oxford-Bellevue Ferry is the nation's oldest privately-owned ferry service. It began operating in 1683.

It only takes about 10 minutes for the ferry to cross the Tred Avon River, but the ride provides a splendid view of iconic Eastern Shore scenery.

into Royal Oak’s “downtown.” There, I pop in for a quick tea at “t at the General Store,” a great tea-inspired restaurant that is a hidden gem with limited hours. Not one to pass up an opportunity, I stopped for a quick peek into Oak Creek Sales, known by the locals as "Fast Eddie's." You can get lost in the maze of vintage items in this eclectic place and never know what you might find, although no treasures for me today, at least none I can tote home on my bike.

Refreshed, I’m back on the bike for another mile on the Royal Oak Road, headed for St. Michaels.

A note of caution: If you ride this route, be sure you’re paying attention on the Bellevue and Royal Oak Roads. These are main thoroughfares for locals on weekdays and even busier on weekends when tourists are enjoying the area. Make sure you are visible to motorists and ride single file with the flow of traffic. There are no shoulders, only ditches. A more family-friendly day would be Bellevue to Oxford via the ferry, riding in town and to the Oxford Conservation Park and returning with a stop at the town park and Scottish Highland Creamery for ice cream.

For the last leg of my ride, the experience changes. Once I carefully turn left on Route 33, the final two miles is essentially a straightaway into St. Michaels with a mercifully wide shoulder on a heavily trafficked road. I breathe a little easier thanks to fewer cars and trucks zooming past. A short last push and I arrive at the sign for the Town of St. Michaels with its iconic Chesapeake Bay log canoe on it. Arrived!

A few tips for once you’re in St. Michaels. As you come into town, turn left into the parking lot opposite the pool and get on the paved, local rail trail. If you continue straight but would like to stay out of traffic, the side streets parallel the main street and go through the town’s residential neighborhoods. Finally, the ride on Route 33 beyond St. Michaels has a comfortably wide shoulder and less traffic. You can ride 14 miles past the villages of McDaniel and Sherwood to the waterman’s village on Tilghman Island.

You can download a bicycle trail map from TourTalbot.org. The map has six unique routes to explore. You’ll also find a list of bicycle rental companies and helpful safety tips.

Margaret Enloe-North is long-time county resident, leisure cyclist and a consultant for Talbot Thrive, a new non-profit dedicated to promoting outdoor mobility so that everyone who lives, works or visits can safely walk, run, ride or roll around Talbot County. Get involved at TalbotThrive.org.

In Search of Frederick Douglass

BY OLIVER WHITE

David Geller spends most of his days getting other people out on the water in a fleet of kayaks and stand-up paddleboards he rents from his Shore Peddle and Paddle shop in St. Michaels, Maryland. But he made an exception on one of his days off in April to take me on a guided tour of nearby Tuckahoe Creek. He wanted to show me a waterside view of where famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass was born in slavery and where he spent the first years of his youth in the care of his grandmother.

Douglass eventually escaped from slavery and then risked his freedom by becoming an outspoken anti-slavery

lecturer, writer and publisher. From his 1881 book, “The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, Written by Himself,” he wrote:

"My first experience of life, as I now remember it, and I remember it but hazily, began in the family of my grandmother and grandfather, Betsey and Isaac Bailey...My grandmother…was a good nurse, and a capital hand at making nets used for catching shad and herring, and was, withal, somewhat famous as a fisherwoman. I have known her to be in the water waist deep, for hours, seine-hauling…Her little cabin had to me the attractions of a palace. Its fence-railed floor…up stairs, and its

clay floor down stairs, its dirt and straw chimney, and windowless sides...The mill-pond, too, had its charms; and with my pin-hook and thread line I could get amusing nibbles if I could catch no fish.”

The Bailey’s cabin is no longer there. In fact, it had disappeared by the time Douglass returned to the site as a revered elder. But Douglass gives enough details in his autobiographies that the general location is easy to assess, and Geller offered to take me there by kayak. I met him at his shop on Talbot Street early one Tuesday.

Geller has been in the business of renting paddle-able boats and pedalable bikes to visitors for about 10 years

now. Most of his clients have seasonal waterfront vacation homes, while others want to explore one of the nearby creeks for the day.

A robust, jovial guy in his 50s, Geller has a background in outdoor education, though he spent most of his career building houses. He grew up in the area and decided he wanted to launch a business where he could get people actively involved in exploring the environment. He lives on the water and spends each morning on his paddleboard, greeting the sunrise from the middle of the Miles River.

But on this day, he was eager to show me the Tuckahoe. I followed his pick-up truck, with the two bright green kayaks propped in the back, as Geller cut through the town of Easton and past farm fields and pastures. The road came to an end at a place called Covey’s Landing near Cordova, where a Talbot County boat ramp provided access to Tuckahoe Creek. There’s an interpretive panel by the boat ramp that tells of Douglass’ local connection.

I was surprised to see how broad the creek was at this point. I’d only seen it further upstream, near Tuckahoe State Park, where it’s much narrower. It flows about 20 miles from above the park there to where it meets the Choptank River about six miles downstream from Covey’s Landing.

The water was smooth and the wind was calm as we launched our kayaks into the middle of the stream. The Tuckahoe is a tidal tributary at this point, and we paddled upstream with the gentle current.

We followed the stream’s languorous bends past marshy islands and wooded banks. We only saw a couple of houses on top of the bluffs in the trees, but we saw plenty of birds—ospreys crashdiving into the water after shad, eagles soaring way up high to avoid the ospreys, enormous great blue herons perching for perch, and for me, a rare

close-up glimpse of a long-legged marsh bird called a dunlin, poking its proboscis-like beak into the mud for clams. We passed a huge beaver lodge, but saw no sign of its eager denizens.

Since we were nearly at the height of the tide, we were able to cut corners on the bends in the creek, coasting in inches of water across beds of marsh plants with arrowhead-shaped leaves that were still in the process of sending spring shoots up from the mud. Later, I learned that these plants are called arrow arum by botanists. The native Americans who lived here called them “Tuckahoes.” Eventually, Dave guided us into a side creek off to the left. We followed its bends as it narrowed until we were blocked by a fallen tree. This is as close as anyone can get to the site of Douglass’ grandparents’ cabin.

I could envision the little boy tagging along with Betsey Bailey as she stretched her nets across the mouth of the creek, or pinning a worm on a string to try for “some amusing nibbles,” if not a fish. Douglass gives us a glimpse of an idyllic life as a young boy, one which changed abruptly when he was farmed out to work at the estate of Edward Lloyd V. That’s where he learned what it meant to be a slave. That’s where he first witnessed the unspeakable cruelty of the institution he later fought so valiantly to destroy.

We made our way back to Covey’s Landing, having paddled about five miles round trip. One nice thing about this section of the creek is that the current is so gentle, even with the tide, you can easily paddle upstream and down and return to where you put in.

Most of Geller’s clients launch their rented kayaks on Santo Domingo Creek along the southern edge of St. Michaels, where they can paddle through the marshes and explore the little islands of Broad Creek.

There are dozens of other put-in sites where you can launch your car-top boat,

Explore Frederick Douglass’ Life in Talbot County by Car

Start at the Talbot County Courthouse in historic downtown Easton, Maryland. There you’ll find a statue of Douglass sculpted by Jay Hall Carpenter to commemorate the abolitionist’s “Self-Made Men” speech he delivered in the main courtroom in 1878.

This is one of many sites on not just one, but four self-guided driving tours, each hour-long tour depicting a separate era of the great orator’s early life and his return to the area in his later years. You can find these at www. frederickdouglassbirthplace.org.

You’ll also find directions to Frederick Douglass Park on the bank of Tuckahoe Creek, established in 2018 in honor of the 100th anniversary of his birth. It’s located at 13213 Lewistown Road near the town of Queen Anne. You can see several interpretive panels as well as a view of the creek from atop a bluff not far from his supposed birthplace.

The Talbot County Courthouse features a statue of Douglass sculpted by Jay Hall Carpenter to commemorate the abolitionist’s "Self-Made Men" speech he delivered in there in 1878.

and Talbot County presents some of the best in their St. Michaels and Tilghman Island water trails maps. These trails provide well-mapped excursions ranging from quick loops in protected coves to longer cruises along the open Bay shoreline. Pick one that fits your time frame and go exploring, whether you’re an experienced paddler or still trying to figure out which pointy end goes first.

Printed on glossy, waterproof paper, the maps are available at the Talbot County Visitors Center in Easton, or online. Each trail includes driving directions to the launch site, the distance covered and the suggested time allocation, along with cautions about the tidal currents, wind, weather and boat traffic conditions you can expect to encounter, plus helpful tips on local landmarks and wildlife you’re likely to see.

A separate water trail guide published by the National Park Service’s Chesapeake Gateways and Waterways Program shows how to access Tuckahoe Creek along Talbot County’s eastern border. Section 5 of the Choptank and Tuckahoe Rivers Water Trails Map Guide

covers the Tuckahoe from Hillsboro Landing to Covey’s Landing. You can download a map at tinyurl.com/ yaauy9wu.

The water trail maps are an excellent source of other information you can use to plan your explorations of Talbot County’s 600 miles of shorefront along the Chesapeake Bay, the rivers and creeks, time and again.

You can find a number of kayak, boat and bike rentals in Talbot County at https://tourtalbot.org/tt_business_ services/kayaks.

Oliver White is a travel writer who lives aboard a yachtified buyboat on the Rhode River with his partner Amanda and their Newfoundland retriever, Max.

Talbot County's

INDEPENDENT BOOK NOOKS

BY NIAMBI DAVIS

Entering a bookstore is like going a treasure hunt—you never know what you’ll find.

A number of independent booksellers survive in Talbot County, each with a personality of its own. This makes them fun to explore, especially on a rainy day. Whether you’re a collector of historic volumes and antique maps or you’re simply searching for the latest bestseller, you’ll enjoy the hunt and, if lucky, engage in an informative conversation with a passionate bookseller.

Flying Cloud Booksellers

26 W. Dover Street Easton, MD 21610 www.flyingcloudbooks.com

Inspired by the idea that every town needs a great bookstore, The Bluepoint Hospitality Group opened Flying Cloud Booksellers in September 2020. The clipper ship for which it was named held the world’s sailing record for the fastest passage between New York and San Francisco for over 130 years, hence the tagline “the swiftest fulfillment of your literary needs.”

Flying Cloud’s bright red door and eye-catching window display invites readers to browse the shelves of fiction and non-fiction bestsellers, biographies, literary classics, books about design, food and wine, and the natural world. Among its specialty publications are The Paris Review, Monocle, Poetry, and Ploughshares published through Emerson College.

Although the children’s room was designed for young readers to explore the collections of classics and new releases, the colorful space is equally appealing to the adults in their lives. With approachable shelves, playful animals and chairs made for relaxing

with a good book, the room was created to foster the love of books. The one-of-akind artwork in the children’s section was commissioned by award-winning artist Penelope Gottlieb.

“You’ll find crabs, birds, and natural items specific to the Eastern Shore seamlessly interwoven with notable books of important historical figures, art, and the natural world—all intended to conjure the imagination of our young readers,” said Bluepoint Hospitality’s Emily Sullivan.

Flying Cloud has hosted book signings and children’s readings with additional programming planned for this summer and fall. From its opening, the bookstore has been an active participant in local community events, including the Chesapeake Children’s Book Reading Festival. A book club reading room is planned for this summer, open by reservation to the community.

“Being part of a community that is rich in intellectual curiosity makes bookselling enjoyable,” said Sullivan. “And we love watching young readers develop a love for reading. Last year we did a children’s Year of Free Books giveaway where the recipient can select a new book each month.”

Through their restoration efforts, Bluepoint Hospitality Group owners Paul and Joanne Prager have brought another Flying Cloud to life. An historic log canoe built on Tilghman Island in 1932, it was the largest and most competitive log canoe under sail. “Nearly 100 years later, Flying Cloud has returned to competitive sailing form, and we love being able to watch one of our namesakes in action.”

Each of Talbot County’s independent bookstores has an appeal of its own, which makes them fun to explore, especially on a rainy day. Collectors of historic volumes and antique maps as well as the reader searching for the latest best-seller will find these to be engaging places for a leisurely browse and an informative conversation with a passionate bookseller.

Vintage Books

4 N. Washington Street Easton, MD 21601 www.vintagebooksmd.com

Tim Boyle had always been an avid reader and book lover whose lifelong dream was to own a bookstore. When his children left for college, Boyle

ditched the corporate world and made his dream come true. Now his Vintage Books and Fine Art bookstore is a place to browse, to marvel, ask questions, and join in a lively conversation.

On the shelves are titles on Eastern Shore history, antique books and maps, art posters, and original work from Eastern Shore artists. Boyle purchases his stock from “anywhere and everywhere”—other book dealers, rare book auctions, online sales, donated books and house calls to view private libraries. He describes the collections as time machines to the past. Vintage Books also carries a few items unrelated to books; items described as “forever hip and cool” from the art deco through Mad Men eras.

Boyle finds there’s a lot to like about Easton. “It’s a spectacular town, one of the prettiest in the state with a great amount of historic appeal,” he says.

Mystery Loves Company

202 S. Morris St. Oxford MD 21654

www.mysterylovescompany.com

Kathy Harig was a librarian for 28 years and the owner of Baltimore’s Mystery Loves Company bookstore for 31 years. When she and her husband moved to the Eastern Shore, she searched Talbot County for the best place to open a second location. Nothing suited her needs until the day she stood with a friend outside of the Oxford Museum.

Previous Page: Flying Cloud Booksellers promises 'the swiftest fulfillment of your literary needs.'

Left: Happiness is being surrounded by great books.

COURTESY OF UNICORN BOOKS

“Just then the sun set over the Tred Avon River. I took it to be a sign,” she recalled. “We fell in love with the restored Bank Building on Morris Street.”

The white-columned building, listed on the National and Maryland Historical Registers, became the second location of Mystery Loves Company. When the commute between the shores became too much, Harig closed the Baltimore location.

Oxford's Mystery Loves Company is a beautiful, cozy space to browse for a new book or a fragrant candle. It's got a reading room with a view overlooking the river and carries a variety of fiction, new and used, for all ages. The selections include books on Eastern Shore history, nature, and nautical life. Since Harig is a prodigious reader (and is reading several books a day), she’s happy to offer suggestions.

“I love recommending books… giving the right book to the right person at the right time, by talking with them and finding out what they really want and need.”

Store events are also part of what connects Mystery Loves Company to the community. These take place in the bookstore, the museum or at a nearby restaurant. Readers get to meet their favorite authors, both local and national, attend readings, ask questions, and have their books signed.

“I love meeting new people and seeing and talking with my regular customers,” says Harig. “I love being around books in a beautiful, special place like Oxford.”

Unicorn Books

3935 Ocean Gateway Trappe, MD 21673

www.unicornbookshop.com

The brick store on Ocean Gateway in Trappe is a bibliophile’s wonderland. It specializes in Maryland and Eastern Shore history and among the nearly 30,000 volumes are titles on World War II, history, fishing, gardening, African American and Native American history, travel, and photography.

“I try to carry a little bit of everything,” said Unicorn's owner Jim Dawson, but he doesn’t let his personal feelings determine what books to carry. “My personal books are in my house, and store books are in the store for the public.”

Among Dawson’s personal favorites are the books of Henry David Thoreau and the works of Gilbert Byron. As luck would have it, Dawson and Byron became personal friends after the author visited the Unicorn.

Known by admirers as the Thoreau of the Chesapeake, Byron’s "The Lord’s Oysters" is considered the finest novel written about the Eastern Shore. Dawson published two of Bryon’s books when the author couldn’t find a commercial publisher.

“It was just like the bookstore venture,” Dawson recalled. “I didn’t know what I was doing, but I did it anyway.”

In 1946, Byron moved into a house he built in St. Michaels after he left teaching to pursue a writing career.

Jacques Baker, Byron’s friend and founder of the Gilbert Byron Society, spearheaded the effort to move the house to Pickering Creek after Byron’s death in 1991.

Until recently, the Gilbert Byron Society held an annual birthday party at the house. Coincidentally, Byron shares his July 12 birthday with Thoreau.

“He was a modest man,” Dawson recalls of his friend. “Although he was called the Thoreau of the Chesapeake, it was a title he never claimed for himself.”

Niambi Davis was raised on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and takes every opportunity to share her love of the Land of Pleasant Living through words and pictures.

Below: Unicorn Books owner Jim Dawson says he tries to carry 'a little bit of everything.'

COURTESY OF UNICORN BOOKS

How to Watch

Log Canoe Races

BY CRAIG LIGIBEL

From June to September, the Chesapeake Bay’s fleet of log canoes stages a weekly water ballet as the delicate flotilla of centuryold sailboats battle for bragging rights. The series of regattas takes place up and down the Eastern Shore on the Miles, Tred Avon, Chester and Choptank rivers.

These races are characterized by long runs up and down the river with hair-raising mark roundings that often result in several boats unceremoniously dumping their crews in the water, where they await rescue by one of several tenders that ply the racecourse, tow ropes at the ready.

“Once she goes over,” Island Blossom’s long-time skipper Corbin Penwell cautions, “it’s all over for the racing. Pretty tough to get these boats back up and sailing. We save the beer for the ride home and live to race another day.”

Today, there are fewer than 24 log canoes racing on the Bay. Originally, the boats were simple workboats, constructed of three or five logs fitted together to form the hull. The canoes range from 23- to 34-feet in length and carry 500- to over-1,200 square feet of sail.

Moveable ballast in the form of hefty crewmen who scramble up and down 12- to 15-foot-long hiking boards keep the boats upright…most of the time. When the skippers lose the wind or a puff comes up unexpectedly, the boats do a slow-motion roll that is almost impossible to stop when the boats reach a certain tipping point.

Viewing options are limited but worthwhile.

The Chesapeake Bay Museum’s restored buy boat, the Winnie Estelle, was a favorite viewing platform for racing on the Miles River for many years. This year, however, she is laid up waiting for a refit which will last through the summer. In its place, the museum is giving spectators the option to charter one of the museum’s classic

boats for $375 for a two-hour cruise holding six passengers. CBMM members will receive a 20 percent discount. Cruises are slated for June 24 and 25, July 29 and 30, and Sept. 9, 10, 16 and 17. Slots are filling up quickly, says Membership Services Coordinator Debbie Ruzicka. To reserve a boat, go to: bit.ly/LogCanoeCruises2023.

Patriot Cruises general manager Robin Marrah says guests on their 145-passenger tour boat may get a glimpse of the log canoes on race day, but their narrated cruises don’t specifically follow the racing on the river.

For better viewing, check out the Selina II. Captain Iris Robertson’s 41foot catboat offers a number of viewing options for log canoe racing on the Miles River. Guests can either book a regularly scheduled cruise for around $125 or charter the entire boat for $550 for a personalized experience you won’t soon forget. Captain Iris recommends guests check racing schedules carefully and contact her directly to secure a spot on this classic boat before it sells out. “You’ll get a real feel for the racing from our decks,” she says. “We follow the fleet just outside the boundary lines. It’s quite a thrill to be this close to the action.”

Additional opportunities for viewing may be available by contacting the sponsoring yacht clubs to see if members will be taking guests aboard for the races.

Some venues may offer on-shore viewing opportunities depending on the location of the racecourse. Another good resource is the Log Canoe Sailors Facebook page.

Craig Ligibel is an award-winning Annapolisbased photojournalist. He has written about and photographed sailing on the Bay for the past 10 years. He and his wife were the only American journalists who covered the 36th America’s Cup in Auckland, NZ. He sails a vintage 20-foot-long catboat, Mystic Wind.

2023 Log Canoe Schedule

• June 24–25: MRYC Centennial Series

• July 8–9: CRYCC/ CRYC Series

• July 15–16: RHYC Series

• July 29–30: MRYC Gov. Cup Series

• July 29: Boardman’s Challenge, MRYC

• Aug. 12–13: TAYC/CBYC Oxford Regatta

• Aug. 19–20: CYC Hicks Trophy Series

• Aug. 26–27: TAYC Heritage Regatta

• Sept. 9–10: MRYC Labor Day Series

• Sept. 16: MRYC Higgins/ Commodore Cups

• Sept. 17: CBMM Bartlett Cup

For More Information

Miles River Yacht Club (MRYC), St. Michaels, 410-745-9511

Tred Avon Yacht Club (TAYC), Oxford, 410-226-5269

Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, 410-745-2916, cbmm.org

Sail Selina II, sailselina.com, 410-726-9400

Log Canoe Facebook Page: facebook.com/groups/ logcanoesailors/

Step Back in Time at Tuckahoe Steam & Gas

BY OLIVER WHITE

I’ve driven past the place a thousand times, and I’ll bet you have, too.

On U.S. Rt. 50, about five miles north of Easton, Maryland, there’s a sign on the right at the entrance to what appears at a passing glance to be a perfectly splendid picnic grove, but with barns and bleachers off in the distance. The sign at the gate reads, “Tuckahoe Steam & Gas Association.”

When I took on the assignment of writing about Talbot County’s agricultural heritage, I thought I might find some inspiration there. But when I arranged for a tour, I was floored by what I found.

Patricia Harvey met me at the gate one Sunday afternoon this spring.

Harvey is one of the chief volunteers among a corps of 250 locals devoted to collecting, restoring, displaying and operating a wide variety of vintage industrial machinery and agricultural equipment. They have everything from antique steam-powered tractors to a fire-engine red 1912 Ames Iron Works Steam Engine from Oswego, New York, used to operate multiple machines in an old machine shop.

Steam engines played a huge role in the improvement of both industry and agriculture. Before the development of large internal-combustion engines and steam turbines, reciprocating steam engines powered electrical generators,

cable car systems, line shafts to run factories, ships, and just about everything else. Traction engines replaced horses as the power source for much of the labor required for farming.

Left: One of dozens of antique steampowered tractors that volunteers have lovingly restored to working order.

Above: Visitors watching demonstrations in the stationary steam engine shop at last year's open house.

The association’s volunteers collect and restore these historic engines, machinery and tools. It’s astonishing to think that all of the hundreds of intricate contraptions of iron and steel have all been brought back to their original condition, an achievement that must have taken countless hours of labor, gallons of elbow grease and vast stores of expertise.

“We’re trying to preserve our rural heritage,” Harvey explained. “And not just agricultural heritage, but our way of life. We focus on the machines that revolutionized the farming industry as well as all the supporting industries like canning and transportation.”

The nonprofit organization celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2023 and Harvey has been involved since day one. Her father was one of the 79 charter members, and early on, Harvey was put to work organizing volunteers and events. She was eager to show me around the grounds of the association’s sprawling 70-acre campus.

“Our Rural Life Museum is dedicated to preserving the ‘living’ side of the culture,” she said, unlocking the door to a large exhibit hall. Just inside, there’s a replica of an early 1900s general store, authentic down to the collection of tomato cans from local packing plants.

Most of the items have been donated by members and others who are interested in the preservation of their links to the past, she noted. The museum features a typical Eastern Shore farmhouse kitchen furnished with

items from the period 1900 to the 1930s. The museum also features displays of hand tools used by farmers and craftsmen, along with memorabilia from the time that steamships were a primary mode of transportation on the Eastern Shore.

Elsewhere on the campus, there’s a blacksmith shop, a steam-powered sawmill and extensive exhibit halls devoted to—and packed with—stationary steam engines and engines powered by oil and gas. A working machine shop with every imaginable mechanism for shaping, grinding, drilling and forging metal provides the necessary tools for volunteer craftsmen to keep the other pieces of equipment operational.

Harvey walked me past open sheds crammed with scores of antique steampowered tractors and other farm machinery, each of which has been

painstakingly restored to working order by volunteers. They haul them out for display to the public at their annual show the weekend after July 4. This year’s Steam Show will be held July 6–9. The museum buildings are open the first Saturday, July through November. The East Coast Modified Truck and Tractor Pull takes place on July 19. The Fall Harvest Festival is slated for October 28–29.

Tuckahoe Steam & Gas Association is located on U.S. Route 50 between mileposts 58 and 59 at 11472 Ocean Gateway. For more information, visit: tuckahoesteam.org.

Oliver White is a travel writer who lives aboard a yachtified buyboat on the Rhode River with his partner Amanda and their Newfoundland retriever, Max.

This 1912 Ames Iron Works Steam Engine from Oswego, New York, was used to operate multiple machines in a machine shop.

Refreshed but Still a Classic–Everglades 243cc

by Capt. John Page Williams

Everglades 243cc

LOA: 24’3"

Beam: 8'2"

Draft: 16/31” (engine up/down)

Weight: 4,120 lb.

(dry, w/o engine)

Weight: 5,650 lb.

(full fluids, engine, options)

Transom Deadrise:

19 degrees

Transom Height: 30"

Bridge Clearance: 7’5”

(to hardtop)

Bridge Clearance: 8’8”

(w/ upper station)

Fuel Cap: 82 gal

Water Cap: 9 gal

Livewell Capacity: 36 gal

Max Power: 300 hp

For more information, visit www. evergladesboats.com/sportfish/bayboats/243cc/. Everglades dealers in the Chesapeake are Bluewater Yacht Sales in Hampton, Virginia, www.bluewateryachtsales.com and Annapolis Boat Sales in Chester, Maryland, www.annapolisboatsales.com

It was “kinda sporty” late last fall when Blake Tice of Bluewater Yacht Sales in Hampton took us out into Hampton Roads in a new Everglades 243cc powered by a Yamaha F300 outboard. The 15-knot east wind from the open Atlantic was pushing against a strong ebb current flowing out of the James River. Those conditions made the rig’s manufacturer-certified 43-knot top speed (6000 rpm) irrelevant.

What stood out instead was how happy this rig was in these conditions, running at 17 to 20 knots (3200 to 3500 rpm). The hull eased along over the seas, balanced and firmly on plane, throwing chilly spray out so flat that we and the windshield all stayed dry. The hull felt rock-solid as it sliced through the water, with nary a shake or rattle. The bulletproof Yamaha provided instant response when necessary, especially riding on the backs of following seas. 

At one point, we throttled down, put the engine in neutral, and laid her broadside to the seas. The motion was moderate and comfortable. Driftfishing with jigs or bait would have been comfortable and safe. I began to understand why my friend Frank Bonanno in Baltimore feels comfortable towing his 243cc down to Point Lookout after Thanksgiving to fish the last of Maryland’s rockfish season in the big water off the mouth of the Potomac, or why Capt. Gary Neitzey has fished his 243cc with clients from the Susquehanna Flats in April to the Chesapeake Bay BridgeTunnel between the Virginia Capes in December. For prudent skippers, the Everglades 243cc inspires confidence. By the way, Neitzey has been guiding with his boat for 20 years. It was one of the first five 243ccs that Everglades built, and it’s still just as solid as the day he took delivery.

Back in 2003, we had the pleasure of testing one of Gary’s boat’s sisters, hull number 4. This model was arguably the first “hybrid bay boat” that could run shallow inshore but still handle big seas in bluewater offshore. It was the first big-watercapable model the legendary Bob Dougherty designed after he founded Everglades Boats. The hull rides on a variable-deadrise bottom with twin lifting strakes on each side, wide reverse chines, and a pronounced rise in the chine line in the forward quarter. The center of gravity lies right where the skipper and a companion stand or sit at the console.

After all this time, the 243cc remains in the Everglades portfolio, in an age when most boatbuilders retool each model every five to seven years. Curious about why the basic 243cc hull has withstood change, we talked with David Brown, vice president of

product development & engineering at Everglades Boats. “It’s the ride and the variable deadrise hull shape,” he explained. “We work constantly to bring our entire portfolio to modern standards, as driven by customer feedback. People run them offshore regularly. We still build 70 to 80 243ccs each year because demand remains strong. This model has great features that endure, starting with the hull. It’s sort of a cult boat.”

He went on to cite the enduring strength of Dougherty’s patented Rapid Molded Construction Process (RAMCAP), in which a pre-molded, high-density foam core fits precisely between an Everglades hull and liner. Using careful monitoring of resin and materials, the lamination crew literally welds the components together with chemical bonds under intense vacuum pressure, after which they allow the boat to cure as one cohesive, rigid, unsinkable boat. The materials for the RAMCAP process have largely remained the same over the life of the 243cc model, because they still meet the specifications of the company’s composite structural engineer. RAMCAP is the foundation for the Everglades lifetime hull warranty. In addition, Everglades builds most components in-house, ensuring that elements like fiberglass parts, aluminum frames and rails, and wiring harnesses meet the company’s high standards.

In addition to RAMCAP construction and the hull form, enduring features of the 243cc include

The comfortable helm seat converts readily to a leaning post.

BLUEWATER YACHT SALES

a sturdy but comfortable helm seat that converts readily to a leaning post (we used to joke with Neitzey that the seat was comfortable enough for watching the World Series), a patented up-and-down sliding windshield, multiple rod racks and holders, flipout tackle bins, a well-designed livewell, convertible seats under the aft casting platform, a convertible bow platform and full hullside bolsters.

At the same time, a lot of new features and equipment have become available since 2003. First of all, the 243cc was designed for Yamaha’s original 225-hp V6, four-stroke outboard, with which it ran well with efficient cruising speeds in the 20s and a top-end around 40 (Neitzey, after some 3,000 hours, replaced his original engine with a super-efficient Yamaha four-cylinder 200.)

Today’s standard engine, though, is the company’s F300, which offers more power on even less fuel, along with Helm Master EX electronic steering and controls, with autopilot and joystick. The original canvas T-top has morphed into a composite hardtop with VHF and storage box, stereo speakers, life jacket storage, rod holders and an elevated ski pylon. The optional fishing package includes a T-and-H Atlas jackplate, an 8-foot Power Pole shallow water anchor and a 36-volt Minn Kota iPilot bow mount trolling motor. For sight-fishing, a full upper steering station is available with controls and electronics. One interesting option is

a pair of transom lifting platforms that are built separately, foam-filled, and bolted on for added buoyancy, shallow draft, and lift, plus providing a base for a PowerPole. Everglades fits the 243cc’s trim tabs into pockets molded underneath.

Brown told us that he and his staff evaluate every Everglades model each year for upgrades to keep the boat competitive. Examples include

switches, lighted stereo speakers, SeaDek nonskid pads and Garmin electronics upgrades. A naval architect on staff reviews all changes to make sure they don’t affect the boat’s balance or performance. The engineering department also monitors updates to the systems standards promulgated by the American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC) and the National Marine Manufacturers

The center console features Helm Master EX electronic steering and controls with autopilot and joystick.

Have a Waterfront Wedding In a Private Marina

Association (NMMA). For example, the three 12-volt trolling motor batteries fit into a bow compartment on mounts that must pass an ABYC pull test. The option of lithiumiron-phosphate batteries will be available soon.

No, the Everglades 243cc does not have hinged backs that convert bow seats into forward-facing lounges, and headroom inside the console is only 41 inches, so it’s not a practical space for anyone but children to use the available portable toilet, but boaters have gotten by without such amenities for centuries. The 243cc is still a comfortable boat for many family activities, and its new features make it an even better, more versatile rig that fits virtually any fishery in the Chesapeake. Most of all, though, it remains a safe, seaworthy rig, an investment whose working lifespan can be measured in generations rather than years. It endures because it works, a testimony to Bob Dougherty’s hard-won design wisdom: “It takes complex thinking and planning to make something simple.”

Base price for a 2023 Everglades 243cc with a Yamaha F300 is $167,327. Our test boat, with Garmin electronics, a stereo, and a modest set of options, freight, make-ready features and a safety package carried a retail price of $196,147.

CBM Editor-at-Large, educator, guide and author of three quintessential Chesapeake Bay books, Capt. John Page Williams was named a Maryland Admiral of the Bay in 2013.

Hold the ceremony in a white gazebo followed by a wedding reception on the waterfront lawn covered by a white tent • Elegant, on-site inn and restaurant offers lodging, dining and catering • Marina event planner available to help you plan your special day • For smaller

or special

our restaurant can be transformed into an elegant space

The Virginia Coast Reserve’s Treasured Islands

BY MARTY LEGRAND

Asummer sunrise, bright as polished copper, illuminates the barrier islands and lagoons of Virginia’s Eastern Shore. This treasured island landscape needs no burnishing. It’s an 80-mile-long East Coast anomaly: a stretch of deserted beaches, windswept dunes and salt marshes laced with impossibly circuitous channels, all nestled between two mega resorts, Ocean City and Virginia Beach.

From the air, the Atlantic seaboard’s lengthiest coastal wilderness reveals its past and prophesies its future. Building-less chimneys, pilings shorn of wharves and the rotting ribs of doomed ships indicate people once lived on and worked the seaward islands shielding the southern Delmarva Peninsula. Quirky inlets, deceptive shoals and sandy beaches that swallow dying

trees bear witness to the sea’s constant remodeling of these westward migrating strips of sand and saltmarsh.

“It’s just such a unique place— the ruralness of the islands and the rawness of them,” says Gordon Campbell, an aerial photographer whose low-altitude images capture the shore’s stark beauty and abundant bird life. He’s photographed the East Coast and found no rival. “Maybe parts of the Georgia coastline, but this is the only area with a long stretch of just nothing.”

On coastlines, too, there are tipping points; moments when incremental changes suddenly become irreversible and there remains only “before” and “after.” On August 22, 1933, a hurricane spinning south of Virginia’s then-inhabited barrier islands foretold their destiny. For more

than 30 agonizing hours, torrential rain and terrible winds swept away buildings and livestock, left residents clinging to treetops and battered hapless ships at sea with waves taller than palm trees.

The rain eventually stopped. The winds ceased their assault. But nothing on these ethereal islands would be quite the same.

The people—watermen, farmers, hoteliers and their guests—abandoned lives and livelihoods they’d pursued for generations. After enduring decade upon decade of hurricanes, nor’easters and ceaseless erosion, enough was enough. Rebuilding again was unthinkable. 

Overwash on Cobb Island

The resilient islands recovered as they always have—at nature’s pace. Waterbirds—avidly hunted for food, sport and ladies’ millinery— returned, joining countless species that migrate along the Atlantic Flyway. Some wax myrtles, cedar and pine trees survived the storm’s power washing, preserving swaths of precious forest. Oysters, clams and bay scallops were buried in sand and stripped of nurturing grass beds. Their comeback was painfully slow.

There are maybe 20 seaside islands extending from the MarylandVirginia border south to the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. Exact numbers depend on one’s definition of an island; some are mere marshy mounds protruding from shallow water at low tide, others are phantoms of the ocean.

Wind and waves conjure the barriers. What the sea takes it often gives back, shuffling sand to reshape islands or make them disappear and

reappear. The southern end of Cobb Island, one of the narrowest, survived for decades as a summer resort because sea and wind kept extending its lease, replenishing with imported sand an oceanfront so firm it was said you could drive a carriage on it. Time expired for the Cobb Island resort in 1896, when storm waters over-washed the entire island and left the hotel half-buried by its former beach.

Today only the northern islands, Assateague, Chincoteague and Wallops, have significant human presence; Assateague as a national wildlife refuge and seashore, Chincoteague a watermen’s community-turned-tourist mecca, and Wallops a colonial-era livestock pasture-turned-naval-air-stationturned-launch site for NASA spacecraft. (The cattle would be gobsmacked by their old grazing grounds.)

But most islands appear nearly as untamed in the 21st century as they

did when Captain John Smith explored one of the southernmost in 1608. The Nature Conservancy, a resourceful national conservation group, stepped in to acquire and protect 14 barrier and marsh islands, known collectively as the Virginia Coast Reserve, before developers could build on them. Meanwhile, an equally resourceful local group, founders of a museum and heritage site called the Barrier Island Center, is ensuring that the legacy of those who once lived here is never forgotten.

‘Like a Little Eden’

Humans once thrived on the middle and southern islands, too: in hotels and hunting lodges, life-saving stations and lighthouses, cottages for watermen and schools for their children. There was industry: boatbuilding, commercial fishing, shellfish shucking, sheep shearing and salt making to name a few. Hog Island had a town (Broadwater) of several

hundred people, a post office, a couple general stores, an elementary school and a church.

The Great August Storm of 1933 submerged all but the largest of the islands, driving even the most stubborn residents to the mainland by the 1940s. The diaspora threatened their cultural heritage, too.

Thelma Jarvis Peterson bought three vintage quilts from an elderly ex-Hog Islander 30 years ago and had a reckoning. Peterson traces her ancestry back to the 17th century on both the salty (the Jesters of Assateague and Chincoteague) and brackish (the Jarvises of the Chesapeake) sides of the peninsula. She learned that many more of the old woman’s possessions had been sold to a collector living 200 miles away. Worse still, they weren’t the first island artifacts to go.

“At her house that day it really hit me that a huge part of our history, our heritage, was gone,” Peterson recalls. “I left feeling depleted, angry and upset.” Her emotions percolated for a few days before she consulted a friend, Chincoteague museum curator John Maddox. With his encouragement, she gathered more than 20 prominent citizens into a steering committee that raised funds and civic awareness. Their ultimate mission was to create a museum that would preserve island artifacts and teach island heritage.

Housed in a renovated, 19thcentury county almshouse, the Barrier Island Center sits at the end of a winding, crepe myrtle-lined driveway not far from U.S. 13 in Machipongo. The building (called

the “poorhouse” in its day) is rich in island lore. More than 7,000 artifacts—nearly all of them donated or on long-term loan—fill two floors and an attic: islanders’ spinning wheels, rocking chairs and toy sailboats; decoys, shotguns and furnishings from numerous hunting lodges; room keys, a front desk ledger and a restored harp from the celebrated Cobb’s Island Hotel; a breeches buoy, logbook and

uniforms from the islands’ U.S. LifeSaving Service and Coast Guard stations; even the Sears & Roebuck bed on which a newlywed couple stood to escape floodwaters during 1933’s storm.

In a short film, Hog Island emigrants reminisce about their homeplace. “It’s like a little Eden,” a former Broadwater resident says (conceding that paradise was filled with outsized mosquitos and a biblical

Far Left: Horses feed along the marshy shores of Chincoteague Island.

Right: Smith Island with Cape Charles Light (second tallest lighthouse in the USA), and Fisherman Island at top.

GORDON CAMPBELL

quota of snakes). Islanders were closeknit, self-sufficient, and celebrated July Fourth with a community picnic, a baseball game and homemade pies. “It was a way of life that you can never reclaim,” he says.

Peterson, the center’s first board chairperson and director, has retired from her administrative roles and now pursues her other talents: painting and songwriting, with the local seascapes, culture and history as her inspiration. Photographer Campbell, who moved here 20 years ago to buy an old airstrip and now runs a gallery in Cape Charles, is one of the board’s current members. But Peterson has remained a chronicler of vanishing island history. When a client commissioned a watercolor of Cobb’s Island’s derelict 1880s life-saving station, she was inspired to make the work the basis for an eight-print series featuring abandoned stations.

“It took about 15 months to get out to all islands,” she says, “and 15 years until all the prints were done.” Today,

only the Assateague and Cedar island stations remain. Peterson harbored a special affinity for Cobb’s, which was, as she puts it, “taking a bow” when she first saw it. “She held on well,” Peterson says of the structure, a watermen’s navigational landmark, which fell into the sea a little over a year ago.

Peterson devotes a song on her CD Of Salt and Sand to “the devil storm” of 1933, which forced even Coast Guardsmen to flee their posts. Three people died on the mainland and in the marshes, including a child ripped from her mother’s arms as they sheltered on a roof. Caretaker George Cobb was swept off the island his family had lived on for a century.

“The ocean’s in the attic,” Peterson sings of the peril facing islanders, among them a relative. “Aunt Lizzy and her daddy tied themselves to a tree/With a boat lashed to the trunk below,” the song goes. The pair survived. Most islanders disassembled their houses, took them by barge to

mainland towns like Willis Wharf and Oyster and started new lives. Sixty years later, Peterson writes in “Storm of Thirty Three,” Aunt Lizzy went looking for the tree “that saved them from washing out to sea.” She found it; rope still embedded in its trunk.

‘Quietly Conserving Nature’

A naval bombing range, a cross-marsh causeway, a toll bridge and a multimillion-dollar seaside resort with vacation homes, hotels, an airport and an amusement pier. One or all of those could have been the barrier islands’ fate had no one raised objections.

The first alarm was sounded in 1955 when it was reported that the U.S. Navy wanted Parramore Island for target practice. Midway down the

The last remnants of the Cobb Island LifeSaving Station, built in 1880, washed off the island last fall. Painting by Thelma Peterson.

THELMA PETERSON

chain, Parramore was and still is considered the crown jewel of barrier islands; it’s the largest in the group and supports the only old-growth maritime forest.

The island’s then-owner connected with The Nature Conservancy, a fledgling non-profit based in Northern Virginia. Could they help scuttle the Navy’s plans and make Parramore a wildlife refuge? It took decades for the Conservancy to secure the island, but the Navy eventually backed down.

The completion in 1964 of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and, three years later, a proposed causeway linking privately owned Cedar Island to Parramore and points south, threatened to open multiple islands to development. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers surveyed them all and concluded that the “barrier islands should not be developed for residential

purposes or even expensive summer cottages.” Its 1968 report was bluntly dismissive of would-be developers and their assurances: “As a rule, such people know little or nothing about the forces of erosion at work.”

Developers weren’t deterred. In 1969, the Smith Island Development Corporation unveiled plans for a massive residential-commercial resort on the southern islands of Smith, Ship Shoal and Myrtle. When a recession stalled the project, The Nature Conservancy was able to acquire the islands, thanks—ironically—to the philanthropy of a woman whose grandfather developed much of coastal Florida. The Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust largely underwrote a Conservancy landbuying spree that secured not only 14 islands, but mainland buffers, too, including farms and marshland whose

use could imperil the islands. The Conservancy is now the largest landowner on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, although, the group hastens to point out, a neighborly one.

“Ninety percent of the islands we own allow public use,” explains Jill Bieri, director of what’s officially known as the Volgenau Virginia Coast Reserve (VVCR). She’s spent nine years with The Nature Conservancy and more than 30 as a marine scientist and environmental educator. “This is kind of like a dream job,” she says. Bieri oversees a staff of 12 at VVCR’s headquarters, a low-slung, shinglesided building on Brownsville Preserve, a 1,200-acre former tobacco farm in Nassawadox.

The Coast Reserve functions as an environmental classroom and ecosystem laboratory. The University of Virginia and the College of

William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science maintain research facilities nearby, two of numerous scientific collaborations VVCR fosters. On beaches, salt marshes and coastal bays, biologists monitor migratory bird populations, work to restore marine habitats and study coastal resilience.

VVCR fosters budding scientists, too. Conservancy staff take local students on nature-immersive field trips. Fifth graders learn to identify animal tracks in the marshes. Seventh graders paddle kayaks through lagoons to examine oyster reefs. Tenth graders visit Parramore Island to study biodiversity. Conservancy staff also offer week-long professional development sessions to local teachers.

Without the bridges developers had sought, the islands are only accessible in the traditional way—by boat.

Birding, beach walking, photography, paddling, surf fishing and other low impact day-use activities are permitted, although some islands close seasonally to protect nesting shorebirds and some, like Parramore, have privacy restrictions. Other islands are publicly accessible under the auspices of state and federal agencies.

The VVCR is one of about 700 global sites of excellence in UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves (the United States has only 28). As such, its mission is part scientific, part public engagement: preserve an invaluable ecosystem in an environmentally sensitive yet culturally and economically acceptable manner. The latter had bumpy beginnings.

Residents whose families had hunted and trapped on the islands for generations saw no compelling reason

to abandon the tradition. Early VVCR managers functioned as ersatz game wardens and reluctant caretakers of Hog Island’s feral sheep. (The wooly wanderers have since been removed.)

Bieri says public misunderstanding about VVCR’s financial obligations also required some fence-mending: “We do pay taxes on the land we own.” The organization conducted public focus groups six years ago and has a Community Advisory Committee whose members include (as of last summer) a farmer, a minister, an educator, ecotourism guides and a representative of the shore’s multimillion-dollar aquaculture industry.

VVCR staff leave politics at the door when engaging with the community. “We know not to say ‘climate change’,” Bieri says. Instead, they discuss with local leaders and

residents ways to mitigate flooding and their other climatic concerns.

Meanwhile, Bieri says, “we’re quietly conserving nature.” Vital habitat has been restored: Eelgrass beds went from virtually zero acres to 10,000 (the world’s largest seagrass restoration project). Oysters were restored by planting shell and building reefs with artificial substrate. Bay scallops were reintroduced where they hadn’t lived in 80 years. Bird species whose populations plunged due to hunting and egg-collecting have rebounded. In 1907, a noted ornithologist predicted extinction for the islands’ gull-billed terns, royal terns and American oystercatchers. All three species are still there.

saltmarsh (nearly four times the size of Cape Charles) since 1870.

Susan Bates, VVCR’s coastal science program manager, works with local communities to forecast climate vulnerabilities and propose natural infrastructure to mitigate them (oyster reefs and restored wetlands, for example). Using a web-based modeling tool customized for Virginia’s Eastern Shore, Bates can, for example, simulate flooding and even the movement of sand over time.

“For me, it’s where exciting science can come into play,” says Bates, who holds degrees in oceanography and climate dynamics. “I wanted my science to be relevant.”

Will conservation, education and climate science help preserve the Atlantic coast’s wildest place? Time and rising tides will tell. Until then, the barrier islands remain as restless and fickle as the sea they hold at bay.

“It’s like buying a piece of the wind,” an Eastern Shore waterman told the Washington Post after The Nature Conservancy acquired the Coast Reserve. “Those islands change all the time. Come a big storm and one of them can disappear between sundown and sunup.”

‘Like Buying a Piece of the Wind’

Station, one of a series of eight paintings of abandoned stations on the Virginia coast created by Thelma Peterson.

THELMA PETERSON

What’s the Big Deal with all the Bay’s Little Fish?

by Capt. John Page Williams

Atlantic menhaden are crucially important members of the vast food web in the Chesapeake Bay and its adjacent Atlantic coastal waters. But they aren't the only important fish in our Bay. We humans should eat a variety of foods to avoid becoming dependent on only one source and to fill a wide range of nutritional needs. So, for similar reasons, should the predator fish in the Chesapeake and the Atlantic also feed on a variety of forage fish and shellfish.

The numbers of available species vary from season to season and year to year, so food webs are healthiest and most stable with multiple members at each level.

There’s a good reason why ecologists sometimes describe food webs as food pyramids, with broad bases that become narrower going up. At the base of the Chesapeake’s pyramid are the trillions and trillions of plants that convert water, carbon dioxide, minerals and sunlight into the organic molecules that make life

Kent County

continuous biomass of these underwater plants.

Herbivores eat plants, either exclusively or primarily. At the microscopic level, in the drifting zooplankton, live multiple species of the most abundant animals in the Chesapeake ecosystem—tiny crustaceans called copepods. Copepods graze on algae. Other Bay herbivores include filter feeders like oysters, hooked mussels and first-year “peanut” menhaden, which filter phytoplankton with feather-like structures in their gills as they swim through the water.

Another grazer is the grass shrimp, which scrapes algae off of wooden structures like fallen trees and docks. Because a single herbivore eats multiple types of plants, the biomass of herbivores in the Chesapeake system, though still gigantic, is only about 10 percent of the plant mass.

Carnivores eat other animals. They might be baby rockfish, chasing down copepods, or older menhaden,

which swim through clouds of zooplankton, catching them in their gills. One fierce but small predator of zooplankton is the bay anchovy, the single most abundant species of fish in the Chesapeake.

What the Chesapeake’s carnivorous fish eat depends on their body structure. Consider, for example, the striped bass and the Spanish mackerel. Our beloved rockfish are generalized predators. Their mouths and eyes are large, handle prey of multiple sizes, and feed effectively in low light. Their bodies are strong and streamlined for long coastal migrations, but their broad tails equip them well for maneuverability and acceleration for ambushing prey disoriented by tidal currents around marsh points, boulders, wrecks and navigation aids. Yes, they love menhaden for their highcalorie oil and protein content, but they also love river herring of all species—including river herring, alewives and bluebacks—and eels for the same reason. In the Chesapeake, they love young Norfolk spot and Atlantic croakers, along with killifish, silversides, small mud crabs of multiple species, grass shrimp, and, like us, soft crabs.

Spanish mackerel, on the other hand, are pelagic, built for open-water

speed in straight lines and long migrations. They’re even known, like their larger cousins the king mackerel, to vault high into the air to land teethfirst on pods of prey fish. In the Chesapeake, they particularly concentrate on bay anchovies, whose schooling patterns of dimples on the surface have given them the nickname rainbait. Much as Spanish mackerel love rainbait, they also enthusiastically chase down other small schooling fish like “peanut” menhaden, silversides, needlefish, mullet, and herring.

Another part of the food web are the detritivores or debris-feeders. This broad class of creatures eat material that is dead but was once alive. Sounds pretty gross, but every ecosystem, the Chesapeake very much included, offers a huge quantity of detritus, both plant and animal. A land-based example would be the earthworm, literally eating its way through soil, absorbing calories from dead material and passing inorganic material straight through.

The Bay’s most prominent detritivore is our beloved blue crab, but mud crabs do so too. One of the most important and abundant forage fish of the upper tidal rivers, where the salinity is low, is the gizzard shad (also known as mud shad), which sieves out

COURTESY OF CHESAPEAKE BAY PROGRAM

Spot are small, feisty fish commonly found in the shallow waters of the middle and lower Bay.

detritus by literally grubbing in the river bottom. Distantly related to menhaden, shad and herring, mud shad find plenty to eat in our waterways. Their flesh is oily, packed full of calories and protein, not only for full-time river residents like blue catfish and largemouth bass, but also for seasonal transients like rockfish.

Bay’s marine worms are also detritivores. Ever use bloodworms for bait? What did you catch on them? Probably just about every predator species in the Chesapeake’s repertoire. The bloodworms sold in bait shops come from New England, but our Bay system grows several native species of these bristle worms, perhaps best known as the small, pink worms that forage on oyster reefs and the “Mayworms” that swarm for spawning in the late spring, a fascinating spectacle and a feast for rockfish. All along the Atlantic coast, bristle worms form an important segment of the food web. Here in the Chesapeake, we can ensure a strong stock of them by restoring oyster reefs. Ditto for three tiny fish that also forage and hide in the reefs: gobies, blennies, and skilletfish.

Learning about these forage species is great for fishing, but the lesson doesn't stop there. The easiest way to study them first-hand happens to be a great summertime activity, especially for families: pulling a 20- to 30-foot minnow seine through shallow water along a Bayside beach or marsh bank. You’ll be astounded and delighted at all of the life that is swimming in our waters. If you are not already familiar with these forage

critters, you’ll see a whole new world of Chesapeake knowledge opening up. A seine net with a couple of poles will cost less than $75 bought either from a local tackle shop or online. The last piece of gear for seining is a good field guide like the richly illustrated, informative classic, Life in the Chesapeake Bay by Alice Jane and Robert L. Lippson, published by the Johns Hopkins University Press. It’s readily available online and in local bookstores, both new and used. These other forage fish, crustaceans, and worms are also vital

to the Chesapeake and Atlantic coastal food web. Shad, herring and eels, in particular, are much depleted, confronting challenges as serious as the ones facing menhaden. They deserve our attention as much as menhaden, because strong stocks of all of them are critical to a strong, balanced Chesapeake.

American eels live in freshwater rivers and spawn in the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic near the Bahamas.

Picnic Area

CBM Editor-at-Large, educator, guide and author of three quintessential Chesapeake Bay books, Capt. John Page Williams was named a Maryland Admiral of the Bay in 2013.

Country Corn & Crab Dip

Recipe from Executive Chef Mauricio Quizhpi of Libbey’s Coastal Kitchen + Cocktails

You can’t miss it as you’re driving eastbound across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge: an enormous waterfront sign for Libbey’s Coastal Kitchen & Cocktails in Stevensville, Md.

The restaurant is currently managed by the team at Chesapeake Bay Beach Club, which has a devoted following for their nearby inn, as well as their events venue. Keep an eye out for specials like dog-friendly happy hours and live local music and enjoy complimentary dockage (two hours max) when dining by boat.

Country Corn & Crab Dip

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. lump crab

2 oz. country ham, diced, plus some shredded for garnish

16 oz. cream cheese

¼ cup sour cream

¼ cup mayo

1 cup roasted corn

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp Tabasco

½ cup shredded jack cheese

½ tsp minced garlic

INSTRUCTIONS:

Combine all ingredients and bake at 350º for 20 minutes or until hot throughout. Top with shredded roast ham and serve with mini naan bread and wonton chips.

CHESAPEAKE CHEF

LET A PROFESSIONAL GUIDE YOU IN THE Highly Competitive Real Estate Market

Arecent post on Forbes.com noted that while 30-year fixedrate mortgages have increased modestly, the rate of inflation should gently decline over the course of 2023. “The prospect of lower mortgage rates for the remainder of the year should be welcome news to borrowers who are looking to purchase a home,” one economist was quoted as saying. The report noted that housing inventory has been a challenge since the 2008 crash, when the construction of new homes plummeted. It still hasn’t fully recovered—and probably won’t in 2023.

The report cautioned that trying to predict what might happen this year is

not the best homebuying strategy. “Buyers sitting on the sidelines today in anticipation of lower prices tomorrow may end up disappointed,” said Neda Navab, president of the U.S. region at Compass, a real estate tech company.

Forbes reported that Navab “expects home prices in the hotter markets during the past few years to decrease somewhat, but she doesn’t expect a widespread, national price decline like what followed the 2008 financial crisis.”

Instead of waiting for lower prices, experts suggest buying a home based on your budget and needs. If you find a home you love in an area you love,

and it also fits your budget, then chances are it might be right for you.

“Only the best prepared, with their financing lined up, a solid understanding of what they can afford, and constant checking of prices and listings will be successful in today’s highly competitive market,” said one economist.

That’s why it’s important to team up with a professional real estate agent or broker, someone who knows the local market and who has the expertise to guide you through the process of buying or selling your home here on the Chesapeake Bay. 

LUKE ANDREAE

info@andreaegroup.com

866-761-8138

DiscoverPuntaGorda.com

Luke leads the team of real estate professionals known as The Andreae Group at RE/MAX Harbor Realty in Punta Gorda, Florida. Punta Gorda is located on the southwest coast of Florida between Naples and Sarasota, at the confluence of the Peace River and Charlotte Harbor. This area offers some of the best fishing and boating in the nation. The protected waters of Charlotte Harbor lead directly to the Gulf of Mexico and beyond. Keep your boat docked at your backdoor and let your adventures begin from your backyard. The Andreae Group specializes in waterfront properties – helping boaters and water lovers find their Florida home.

WILL HOOPER

Will.hooper@penfedrealty.com

240.561.3149

L♥veChesapeake.com

Chris McNelis is an Associate Broker/REALTOR® with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty and has over 30 years of experience in the Southern Maryland market. She is the team leader of McNelis & Associates, a team of seven superb professionals dedicated to serving the Chesapeake coastal region. Chris's specialties include waterfront properties, land, farms and luxury homes. Leasing and sales of commercial property is an integral part of the services offered by McNelis & Associates.

Will Hooper is the licensed Executive Assistant to Chris McNelis, Associate Broker/Team Leader of McNelis & Associates, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY HOMESERVICES PenFed Realty. The eight-member team of full-time and dedicated REALTORS® is known for award-winning customer service. Will supports Chris’s specialty book of business to include marketing and sales of residential and commercial properties throughout the Southern Maryland region. Will’s role is essential for excellence in client care and team coordination. 

Chesapeake Lifestyle Experts

Denise Neitzke REALTOR®/Team Member

Chris McNelis Associate Broker/Team Leader

Ashley Burroughs REALTOR®/Operations Coordinator

Will Hooper REALTOR®/Executive Assistant

Announcing our new Team Member Megan Erickson REALTOR®

Look for her in our future ads!

O 410-394-0990

M 410-610-4045

Web: mcnelis.penfedrealty.com

Waterfront. Land and Farm. Condominium. Commercial.

Serving Southern Maryland and the Patuxent River region since 1992

Lacey Foerter REALTOR®/Team Member

Megan Erickson REALTOR®/Team Member

Kyle Antel REALTOR®/Team Member

Denise Neitzke REALTOR®/Team Member

Announcing our new Team Member Stefon White, REALTOR® Look for him in our future ads!

O 410-394-0990

M 410-610-4045

Web: L veChesapeake.com

Waterfront. Land and Farm. Condominium. Commercial.

GORGEOUS JUTLAND CREEK

near Historic St. Mary’s City hosts this very special artisan cottage on 21.9 acres. The home and property offer a very special experience. Privacy, wildlife, hiking and kayaking, fishing and crabbing. A beautiful waterfront world. Discover now!

CUCKOLD CREEK

A member of the franchise system of BHH Affiliates, LLC

Will Hooper REALTOR®/Executive Assistant

Chris McNelis

ASSOCIATE BROKER/ Team Leader

Serving Southern Maryland and the Patuxent River region since 1992

2.3 acre estate property on Half Pone Point is available for summer! 5548 SF brick contemporary with 5BR/4BA + office/den is move-in ready. New pier, rip-rapped shoreline, in-ground pool. Spectacular deep water, wide views. Don’t miss it!

BEVERLY SHULTZ

beverly@beverlyshultz.com

804.436.4000

shultzrealtors.com

Beverly started in real estate in 1991 in the Northern Neck of Virginia with Bowers, Nelms & Fonnville. She was named Rookie of the Year and started her successful career in real estate. Beverly was awarded the top awards from Northern Neck Association of Realtors and gained a high referral base. In 2004, Beverly became a top sales agent and associate broker for the Long &Foster Bay/River office. She joined the Long & Foster Gold Team, comprised of the highest producing agents for the entire brokerage and in 2014 was inducted into the Gold Team Hall of Fame for consecutive years of the highest level of production. Beverly works with the Shultz Team and they have been the top agents with Long & Foster for the Northern Neck & Middle Peninsula for the past 10 years. She is focused on serving her clients with the highest level of attention and ethics.

NEILL SHULTZ

neill@shultzrealtors.com

804.580.0476

shultzrealtors.com

Neill Shultz started in real estate in 2012, joining his wife and mother on a real estate team. Neill’s family moved to the Northern Neck when he was 8 years old. He was raised in the Northern Neck and was a member of the Boy Scouts of America, earning his Eagle Scout Award. Neill enjoys the lifestyle of the Northern Neck, from the small towns, close personal relationships, sailing, boating and fishing. These passions are shared with his family and clients. His wealth of knowledge about the area is invaluable to buyers and sellers. The Shultz Team has grown to five agents. For the past 10 years, the team has been honored as the top agents for Long & Foster in the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula of Virginia. Neill’s high standard of ethics, market knowledge and genuine personality are why his clients not only value him but love him.

FORREST DAMERON

Forrest.dameron@longandfoster.com

804.580.1246

shultzrealtors.com

LISA

SHULTZ

lisa@shultzrealtors.com

804.724.1587

shultzrealtors.com

Lisa Shultz is a native of Virginia and started in real estate in 2012, joining her husband and mother-in-law in a real estate team. Lisa has two young children and encourages them to enjoy everything that the river area has to offer. Lisa was a member of the Girls Scouts of America for 12 years. That love for the outdoors is what draws her to Virginia’s River Realm. The Shultz Team has grown to be the top agents with Long & Foster for The Northern Neck & Middle Peninsula of Virginia for the past 10 years. Lisa has been awarded the Long & Foster Service Award for the Bay/River Office twice. Lisa prides herself in her care and communication with her clients. Her knowledge of the area and the tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay are valuable tools to market her listings and educate her buyer clients.

DAWN PARRISH

dawn.parrish@longandfoster.com

804.833.5351

shultzrealtors.com

Dawn began in the real estate industry in 1997. Beginning in the property management side of the industry, she serviced the needs of 200+ residents at multiple properties. After the sale of her first home, She became interested in the buying-and-selling side of the industry and earned her license in 2006. She has found great passion and pride in walking the path of home ownership with many clients throughout the years. Dawn and her husband, Shane, have been married since 2002. They have three children and three fur babies. After enjoying part–time river life, they decided to make the Northern Neck their full-time home. Dawn joined the Shultz Team in 2018 and has proven to be a valued addition. Dawn loves spending time with her family and friends getting together for dinner and cards, riding ATVs, or going for boat rides along the beautiful waterways.

Having lived in Northumberland County all of his life, Forrest Dameron has a vast knowledge of the area. Forrest knows the waters of the Great Wicomico and Chesapeake Bay well from crabbing and oystering. He is a licensed boat captain and also holds his commercial pilot certificate. He enjoys spending time on the water with his wife and children, boating and fishing when he can. Connecting with clients and showing them what the area has to offer is one of the reasons he loves being a realtor. Forrest’s attention to detail is unmatched and he always works hard for the clients he represents. Whether you are purchasing or selling, Forrest strives to make your real estate experience seamless and enjoyable. When Forrest is your agent, you become part of the Shultz team which has over 60 years of combined real estate experience. 

www.CorrotomanRiver.com

YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL!

This property is a river playground offering big water views, pier with boat lift, two waterside decks, a screened gazebo, detached garage and room to spread out. The property comprises two waterfront lots and an additional off-water lot for a total of 3.84 acres and over 300 ft. of water frontage. It is elevated out of the flood zone but offers an easy walk to the pier and waterside. The Corrotoman River gives you access to the Rappahannock River and The Chesapeake Bay.

3 BR, 2 BA, 1714 Sq.ft.

$899,000

The Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula of VA have the most beautiful waterfront and fantastic small towns on the entire East coast! Let us help you navigate buying your waterfront getaway. With over 60 years of combined experience, our family of Realtors has intimate knowledge of the rivers and roadways and can help you find the home or property that best suits your goals. That’s why we have been the top producing agents in Long & Foster for the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula since 2013. We are passionate about the Chesapeake Bay Lifestyle and are eager to share it with you!

Please visit our property websites to view interactive floor plans, aerials, maps and more!

804.724.1587 • ShultzRealtors.com

Your Northern Neck & Middle Peninsula of Virginia Real Estate Specialists

DAVID DEW

David@HorsleyRealEstate.com

804.436.3106

horsleyrealestate.com

Managing broker David Dew started his real estate career more than 20 years ago and knows the market extensively. A native of Richmond, Virginia, David has prior experience as a loan officer and a branch manager. David and Katie have made a successful team together earning many years the Top Realtor Awards and Diamond Awards for their dedication and exceptional commitment to their careers. Now running the family firm together with his wife Katie, Isabell K. Horsley Real Estate is proud to be large enough to deliver the best real estate services, yet small enough to care for the company and clients they serve.

SANDI LENT

Sandi@HorsleyRealEstate.com

804.694.6101

horsleyrealestate.com

With a career that spans more than 20 states and thousands of transactions, Sandi has devoted her career to residential real estate. Whether a waterfront estate or cozy condominium, Sandi’s analytical perspective and negotiating skills are ideal in guiding her clients to fulfill their real estate goals. Named a Top Virginia Realtor, she provides white glove service in every type of residential sale. When she and husband Tim chose the Piankatank River in Hartfield as their new home in 2001, Sandi put this knowledge to work. She appreciates and understands all the amazing benefits of life in Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay region.

KATIE DEW

KatieDew@HorsleyRealEstate.com

804.361.9141

horsleyrealestate.com

Growing up in the family firm, Katie continues the tradition as third principal broker following the legacy that originated with her grandmother, founder of Horsley Estate and father, former principal broker. As a husband-and-wife team, David and Katie continue to carry on the cornerstones of this well-established firm by blending strong work ethic, creative marketing skills, enthusiasm toward market trends and eagerness to meet and exceed client’s needs, positioning them as an outstanding family firm. David and Katie reside on Dymer Creek, making them the ideal candidates for representing all your waterfront estates and homes throughout the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula areas of Virginia's Chesapeake Bay.

MCKANN PAYNE

Mckann@HorsleyRealEstate.com

804.815.4192

horsleyrealestate.com

McKann Payne is a native of Urbanna on the Middle Peninsula. She is uniquely suited for success in real estate with her in-depth understanding of the region and her can-do attitude. Designated as a Top Virginia Realtor, she goes the extra mile for her clients and her team. Prior to entering real estate, McKann was an accomplished master educator for nearly 20 years with superior communication skills, which she has carried into real estate. A graduate of James Madison University, McKann resides with her husband, Chad, and their son in White Stone on beautiful Carters Creek.

NEENA RODGERS

Neena@HorsleyRealEstate.com

804.436.2326

horsleyrealestate.com

Neena has been a top producer and consistent Platinum Award recipient since joining the Horsley firm in 2003. She is proud to have been named a Top Virginia Realtor 6 years in a row. A Cum Laude graduate of American University, Neena and her husband moved to “The River” in 2001 for the wide-open spaces and uncluttered waterways, and her family relishes their time cruising and sailing. Neena’s clients love her tenacity and integrity, and she attributes her success to hard work, an extensive knowledge of the waterways and care and concern for every client. Neena manages the Horlsey office in Deltaville.

BERNADETTE LA CASSE

Berni@HorsleyRealEstate.com

804.384.7740

horsleyrealestate.com

Bernadette La Casse has lived on the Chesapeake Bay since 2005 and loves the unique charm and laid-back pace of the region. She has been involved in real estate since 2014, and looks forward to helping you navigate your real estate needs. Bernadette is proud to consistently be voted one of the top agents in Virginia, and works closely with her team as broker for the busy Mathews/ Gloucester branch office of Horsley Real Estate. She is dedicated to providing the critical local and regulatory information necessary for her clients’ success.

ANDREA HOLT

AndreaHolt@HorsleyRealEstate.com

804.854.9530

horsleyrealestate.com

Andrea Holt moved to the Chesapeake Bay area from Fairfax, Virginia in 1997 when she and her family purchased a marina in Deltaville on the Piankatank River. Andrea has combined experience in marketing, general construction knowledge, and above all, a passion for the Bay and rivers of the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula. She is a consecutive platinum sales award winner with the Northern Neck Association of Realtors. Today Andrea lives on a 20-acre farm, in Wake, one mile from the Rappahannock River.

DIANA WOLFSON

dianawolfson@horlseyrealestate.com

804.567.8348

horlseyrealestate.com

Diana Wolfson a native of Potomac Maryland and grew up on the Chesapeake Bay sailing with her father every weekend. In 2013 she and her husband and two sons relocated to White Stone, Virginia, full time and opened up Northern Neck Burger Company in Kilmarnock 2013-2022. Now her family owns and operates Small Town Burger in Kilmarnock, which opened in December 2022. Diana became a Realtor in Virginia in 2017. She has had great success with Isabell Horsley Real Estate working out of White Stone and Urbanna offices. Diana works mainly by referral. “I have an amazing career serving my clients helping them facilitate their real estate transactions.”

ROSEMARY GRIFFITH

Rosemary@HorsleyRealEstate.com

804.387.1807

horsleyrealestate.com

Rosemary and her husband have lived in the Bay area since 2009 after building their waterfront home in Mathews. Originally from McLean and Richmond, she knows that waterfront living is buying into a lifestyle that she loves sharing. She has been a full time realtor since 2014 after many years in the film business and owning a local food shop in Mathews. She works very hard for her clients to ensure a pleasant and positive experience.

JOHN MECKE

John@HorsleyRealEstate.com

804.577.0363

horsleyrealestate.com

John Mecke began his time on the Northern Neck in 1998, but began his love of the Chesapeake in the 1950’s sailing on his father’s Star Class boat, Flying Cloud on the northern Chesapeake Bay. An active member of the community, he combines his in-depth knowledge of the local real estate market with 38 years as a sales and marketing executive to offer the skill and business acumen needed to successfully fulfill the needs of his many clients.

Shelley@HorsleyRealEstate.com

301.717.5157

horsleyrealestate.com

Shelley has developed an eye for homes through a background in real estate staging, visual merchandising, interior design and sales. This makes Shelley a great asset in finding you a home or a buyer for your property. Working with clients in the home furnishing fields, Shelley came to appreciate the deep connection between people and their houses. In today’s world, we are spending more time at home than ever before. Our house has become a home office, our favorite restaurant, and center of family entertainment. Whether you are a buyer or seller, Shelley’s keen eye and creativity can work for you.

VIRGINIA STOUGHTON

Virginia@HorsleyRealEstate.com

804.577.3584

horsleyrealestate.com

Virginia has deep family roots in Lancaster County, where her great-grandparents settled in the last century. She was born in White Stone, moved out of the area, and returned in 2006 to raise her three boys. Since starting her real estate career, she has earned the loyalty of numerous clients due to her exceptional customer service and knowledge of the area. Virginia is excited to exceed your expectations. 

82 Bellows Drive West, White Stone

On Dymer Creek with views out to the Chesapeake Bay, 6+’ MLW at the private pier with two boat lifts, private Sand Beach, Pool & Entertaining Areas with an outdoor Fireplace & built-in Grill make this an iconic place to play outside! Gorgeous 5 Bedroom, 4.5 Bath Home with all Open Entertaining areas plus a detached garage with a full bathroom & a huge bonus room upstairs. Comes Completely Furnished - Move in Right Away & Start to Play! $2,450,000

6-7’ MLW on Carters Creek with a Private 8’ wide Pier, Boat Lift, & minutes off the Rappahannock River to the Chesapeake Bay. Charming 1940’ Farmhouse that has been completely redone with 4 Bedrooms, 4 Full, 2 Half Baths, gorgeous finished & water views. In the heart of a Golf-Cart Friendly Area. The Village of Irvington with shops, dining, community activities & more. Comes with an Extra Buildable Lot and room for a pool. $2,400,000

77 Mad Calf Lane Irvington

MARGARET EPPES CURTIS

Margaret@HorsleyRealEstate.com

804.435.2919

horsleyrealestate.com

Margaret, a Richmond, Virginia native, attended St. Catherine’s School. She worked for 46 years and retired from Bank of Lancaster as vice president and head of the residential lending department. She specialized in portfolio and secondary market home mortgages as well as coordinating construction loans with owners and builders. After retirement, she became licensed realtor in 2011. She has been married 55 years and enjoys fishing on their charter boat Gypsy Charters with Captain Ted Curtis, sailing, gardening and Mah Jongg.

SHYANN LEWIS

SLewis@HorsleyRealEstate.com

804.338.0483

horsleyrealestate.com

Shyann moved to the Middle Peninsula area in 2009 after spending most of her summers on the Rappahannock River and the Chesapeake Bay. She started her journey with Horsley Real Estate in 2017, when she became an agent's assistant. Since then, she has assisted with more than 100 closings and earned her real estate license while also completing a degree in business management. Shyann enjoys showing off the unique lifestyles of the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula and she’s ready to serve you at the Horsley office located in Urbanna.

HUNTER LAW

HunterLaw@HorsleyRealEstate.com

804-480-0269

horsleyrealestate.com

Hunter Law is a native of Fauquier County and a graduate of Wakefield and the College of Charleston. As a child, Hunter spent most of his time fishing, crabbing and boating on the Rappahannock River and the Chesapeake Bay. After graduation, Hunter was fortunate to move to the Rappahannock River and make the area his home. Hunter is still an avid outdoorsman and spends most of his free time on the water. He became a realtor with Horsley in 2010 and received the Platinum sales award his first year and every year since, plus he has earned the Diamond award in sales for 2016-2022 plus Top Realtor awards. You can find Hunter in Horsley’s Urbanna office location.

$1,300,000

garrett Realty Partners presents COASTAL VIRGINIA’S finest

$1,250,000

$1,000,000

kingsmill

All brick 5 bedroom 3.5 bathroom home. LARGE kitchen w/ double ovens, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances. Family room with cathedral ceilings and gas fireplace. 1st floor primary bedroom.

$1,000,000

YorktoWn

7-bedroom, 7-bathroom, 6,900 sq ft home with 3 ensuites, one on each level, MEDIA ROOM, office and formal living room. Full walk out basement w/ in-law suite and indoor solar heated pool & hot tub!

$649,900

YorktoWn

Gorgeous 4 bedroom 3 bath home. Beautiful landscaping, large kitchen w/ island, first floor bedroom and full bath, large sunroom. 1.72 AC lot w/ extremely large outbuildings for storage or entertainment space.

Chisman Creek

VERY RARE OPPORTUNITY! Deep water access in highly coveted York County! Dock has 2 jet ski lifts and 2 boat lifts. Elevator, backup generator, open concept kitchen and living room, sun room, library, and more!

$820,000

fords ColonY

New countertops, fixtures, refinished hardwood floors, brand new luxury vinyl flooring, brand new roof and updated bathrooms. First floor primary bedroom and finished walk out basement.

$600,000

suffolk

5 bed, 3 full bath, gourmet kitchen opens into the great room with gas fireplace and access to the backyard. Home office and one bedroom with en-suite bathroom on 1st floor. Whole home gas generator.

smithfield

Deep water! Almost 11 acres. Refinished hardwood floors throughout the first floor, 3 bedrooms downstairs, with 1 bonus room upstairs and an amazing open floor plan with giant windows.

$650,000

Williamsburg

Extremely private, on a double lot in Seasons Trace. 2nd floor primary bedroom with 2 walk-in closets, 2 additional bedrooms and full bathroom. Basement features 2 more bedrooms and a full bathroom.

$470,000

Williamsburg

5-bedroom & 3-full bathroom brick home with a first floor bedroom & full bathroom! Open floor plan, large family room.

Greg Garrett

FEATURED BROKERAGE

Back Creek Crab

by Jefferson Holland 1982

I’m gonna get my bucket and a chicken neck, And old piece of string and a long-pole net, I’m goin’ down to Back Creek, I’m gonna get me some crabs

I’m goin’ down to Back Creek, sit on a pier, Dangle my line while I sip on a beer, I’m goin’ down to Back Creek, I’m gonna Back Creek crab

Get me some big, fat males, let the little ones go, If they scuttle from the bucket, they can bite you on the toe, Hard crab, soft crabs, even the shedders, I’ll take ’em home and eat ’em, the sooner the better!

Give me some Back Creek crab and a little Old Bay Over chateaubriande any ol’ day I don’t need a knife and I don’t need a mallet, Just a Back Creek crab to satisfy my palate,

WHERE SHORE ADVENTURES BEGIN