Tangier Island and Solomons, VA

Fog in the creek.  This sailboat was anchored near us.

We woke up on Saturday to fog in Jackson's Creek beside Deltaville, VA.  We waited until 10:00 am to exit the creek.  The fog had lifted, and lots of sailboats were coming out too.  I think they had a regatta.  We motored into the bay with about 10 - 15 sailboats.  All of a sudden we were covered with fog.  What?  What to do?  There were crab pots and fog and sailboats.  The sailboats got on channel 16 and identified where they were.  Another voice came on and said that channel 16 is only for hailing.  Thankfully, a sailor replied, "We are in a serious fog situation here."  No more was said.   We were stressed.  Should we go back to Jackson Creek or continue?  George said it was better to keep moving.  If we turned around, we would be in the midst of so many boats and crab pots.

We used our radar and our AIS to identify boats that might be near us.  We called some.  We looked with binoculars.  There was only one boat that really came out of the fog near us.  They were stopped, and we spoke to them as we went by.

Time passed.  Fog came up and down.  At noon the fog totally lifted.  There was clear blue sky and sunshine.  I stood on the back of the fly bridge and sand the Doxology loudly.  So happy.

Two pelicans share a perch on a channel marker.

I went downstairs to make lunch.  When I came up ten minutes later, we were encased in fog.  Oh, no! Even being thankful didn't help us.  The fog really went away before 1:00 pm.  We spotted Tangier Island soon after.  We were very excited to visit this island about which we have read.

Mr. Milton Parks, who runs Parks Marina.

There are several special moments when you go to Tangier Island.  One is the first moment, when you meet Mr. Parks.  Mr. Parks is 84 and runs the marina.  He has always lived on the island.  He was married to his wife for 60 years.  She died 3 years ago.  He told me he still likes women.  

When we called the island to make a reservation, we finally spoke to Mr. Parks after several tries.  He could not understand our boat name, Aunt Aggie, so he said he would hail us on channel 16 on Saturday as "George."  However, when we tried to hail him, we never could make a connection on Saturday.  No worries.  We just came on in.  We thought we would be okay since we were coming at slack tide.  

The wind picked up and pushed us as we tried to dock, but Mr. Parks was out there, calmly asking which slip we wanted.  We came in to the wall, and he grabbed our lines.  Mr. Parks was quite relaxed as we settled our boat.  Another boat came in right after us, and he went to help them.  George asked if he wanted assistance.  No.  

                                        

As we walked around town, we saw signs for three restaurants.  We ate at Hilda's.

Saturday afternoon we took a good walk around the town.  We had heard of Hilda's restaurant and planned to eat there.  The last seating for dinner was at 5:00 pm.  We took a walk, went to the one grocery, and then went to dinner.  We ate family style with crews from two other sailboats.  The food was delicious:  potato salad, ham, slaw, beets, apple sauce, rolls, crab cakes, clam fritters, pound cake, and iced tea.  No beer or wine:  The island is dry!!  We had a great meal and enjoyed meeting the other guys, who were all staying at Parks with us.

Tangier Island was settled by native Americans and then whites before the Revolutionary War.  Enslaved people came there to escape on the way north. The 600 or so residents mostly descended from five English families.  They are all white Protestants.  There are 60 students in the K-12 school; six graduate this year.  Their language is unique:  They have a dialect that hails back to Cornwall.  The waterman is still the backbone of the economy.  Men fish and crab and support their families.  Women might teach or nurse or be housewives.  There are no banks or movie theaters.  They have a lending library.  There are ferries to the mainland.  

We had no internet or cell phone coverage that night.  It was quiet and sweet to walk the streets and eat and consider ice cream.  (We were too stuffed with crab.)  We ended up playing cards, Crazy Eights, Set Back and Rummy.  George won every game.  Can that be luck?  Toward the end of the card extravaganza, we saw Mr. Parks ride his motorcycle down the dock and visit with our neighbors on Red Eagle.  He was out chatting at 9:00 pm.  Pretty good for an 84 year old, especially since we had on our pjs.  I gave up on cards and went to bed to read: I started a new book, 'Tis by Frank McCourt.  'Tis wonderful.  I could read the whole thing aloud.  

Spider web in the fog.

We woke this morning to more fog.  Ugh!  Now this is a nuisance.  It had cleared by 9:00 am, however, and we took off and had no issues.  The water was lovely.  We went 45 miles to Solomons, Maryland.  A new state!  It is Mother's Day, so we took a walk, found a tiki bar, and celebrated.

Methodist Church on the waterfront in Solomons, MD.

Martha and George at the tiki bar in Solomons, MD.