The Delmarva Peninsula and the Kindness of Strangers

Chesapeake, VA to Kiptopeke State Park

June 30th (45 miles)

The evening of the 29th I was forced to stealth camp; it was an unremarkable spot in a less-desirable part of town, so I left as soon as daylight arrived. 

Today I rode to the Chesapeake Bay-Bridge Tunnel (CBBT). The CBBT is a 23 mile-long combination of bridges and tunnels connecting the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay near Virginia Beach to the Eastern Shore of Virginia on the Delmarva Peninsula. It is an engineering marvel. 

Since cycling is not permitted on the CBBT, I had to make other arrangements to cross the bay. The management of the CBBT is relatively accomodating towards cyclists as long as one is willing to be a little patient. In my own case, I had to wait about forty minutes for one of the CBBT employees to drive me across the bridge. 

Chesapeake Bay-Bridge Tunnel

When I arrived on the other side of the Bay, I began pedaling north toward Kiptopeke State Park, located just two miles from the CBBT. Kiptopeke State Park is located near Cape Charles, the first town one encounters heading north from the Delmarva side of the Bay. I was not able to shower the day before, and I desperately wanted to at least find a place to rinse off. I decided to take a swim in the bay at Kiptopeke. The water was refreshing.

View of Bay from Kiptopeke State Park

I had originally intended on making Kiptopeke an afternoon stop on my way. I ended up, however, staying the night. While I was relaxing in the salty water of the bay, I met a friendly couple from Lake Orion, Michigan, Dave and Marcy, who were vacationing on the Peninsula. They, as people so often are, were curious about my mode of travel. I had mentioned how much I liked cycling the Upper Penninsula of Michigan (UP), and they told me about some interesting spots to go should I ever revisit the UP. Dave and Marcy invited me to have dinner at their campsite to continue our conversation, and I quite happily accepted their invitation. I told them that I would be there as soon as I rinsed off and finished a small piece of bicycle maintenence. 

Dave is the propietor of a custom jewelry shop (http://www.diamonddavesjewelers.com) and Marcy is a school bus driver, about to complete her last and final 25th year of driving. Having been in business for 35 years, Dave explained that he has competent employees who are fully capable of running his business while they travel, and Marcy does not work in the summer. 

Dave and Marcy have an interesting method of travel. They drive their RV to an area they wish to explore and then rent a car. They use their RV as a base camp, and might even be away from the RV for a few days. When they are satisfied that they have experienced the surrounding location, they turn-in their car and move to another place. I am always fascinated by the various ways people approach travel and find the system that work best for themselves. 

Let me tell you about the meal Dave prepared, for it was truly special. As soon as I arrived at the campsite, Dave offered me a cold beer. It hit the spot. It didn't take long for Dave and me to realize that each of us were both foodies. It turns out that we appreciate the same cooking shows, and we share a philsophy on how food should be prepared. While I would have naturally shown the same gratitude had Dave told me that we were having Beanie-Weanie's and baked beans, Dave and Marcy's generous offer of dinner exceeded my expectations substantially. 

We began with homemade crab dip, folowed by grilled vegetables, squash, corn-on-the-cob, a wonderful Greek Salad. (Dave calls it "Just the Guts" Greek Salad. It's a Greek styled and flavored salad without the addition of lettuce. I plan on making it myself when I return home.), and steamed littleneck clams. For our entrees, we ate grilled shrimp and skirt steak (a very underappreciated cut in my opinion). Both the shrimp and the steak were marinated in a soy sauce-base marinade that complimented the meat rather than overpower it as is often times the case when people use either the wrong marinade or are too heavy-handed. It was the best campside meal I had ever had the pleasure to eat. Thank you, again, Dave and Marcy! :-) 

Dave Preparing the Evening Meal

Kiptopeke State Park to Chincoteaugue, VA

July 1st (78 miles)

I left Kiptopeake by 7:00 am. I wanted to make some mileage before it became too hot to pedal. For most the morning I had a good tailwind. By 11:00 am I had gone nearly 45 miles. As I of often do to avoid the midday heat, I took a break until about 2:30. 

Shortly after my break, I ran into Marcy and Dave on route 13. They had gone up to Chincoteague for the day and noticed me on their way back. Not content to having wined and dined me the night before, they stopped to chat for a few minutes and give me some fresh fruit for my trip. They were such generous and gracious people. 

I arrived at Chincoteague in the early evening. I camped at Maddox Family Campground. I was tired, so I cooked some ramien noodles on my alcohol stove and went straight to bed.

Had I to do over, I would have avoided Chincoteague. It's not that it isn't a pleasant place, for it is. It just wasn't a practical place to hang around. First, it's expensive for the type of travelling I'm doing. I paid $45.00 to take a proper shower and sling my hammock between a couple of trees. There are no state or national campgrounds on the island, which are generally more reasonably priced. Such expendetures aren't in my budget. Second, since it's a barrier island, I had to travel nearly 15 miles east across the marsh, against a headwind, to get to the island. I typically avoid deviating from my route unless I have solid reasons, and that reason is typically something that would cause me to stay a day or two. 

Chincoteaugue Island to Assateaugue State Park, MD

July 2nd (54 Miles)

I left Chincoteaugue at around 7:30 and began heading North to Assateaugue State Park in MD. I arrived around 2:00. Much to my dismay, both the State and Federal Campground on the island were filled. I was not surprised since it was a holiday weekend approaching. I was just being optimistic. I wanted to go ahead and take a swim in the ocean and the campgrounds are right next to the beach before going my way. Since it wasn't practical to take my bike and equipment on the beach, I needed to find some kind someone to watch my things while I swam. 

I came across a group of young people hanging out at their campsite. Ely, John, Henry, Maddie, Christina, and Mae. I talked with them for a bit, and they said they would be glad to watch my bike while I went for a quick dip. Upon my return, I thanked them and explained my dillema--no campsites available.They insisted that I just stay at their campsite. Once again, I benefited from the kindness of complete strangers.

All but one of the party had been graduated from high school this past Spring. As cooincidence would have it, Henry, the youngest of the group, was from the West End of Richmond. After a brief conversation, we realized that he knew one of my daughter's friends. They were a great group of kids, and I was greatful that they were kind enough to let me join them at their campsite.

We sat around a fire, and I answered questions about my travels. They told me about their plans after the summer. Ely and Maddie wil be atending college in Florida; Christina and Mae will be attending comunity college in Maryland; John is a pitcher and will attend college on a baseball scholarship. Henry will be returning to Godwin High School in Richmond. They were a great bunch of young adults. In the morning I thanked them and said my good-byes. 

Ely, Maddie, and Henry

Assateaugue State Park is home to a breed of wild ponies. They are not shy and will terrorize your campsite and eat your food if you allow them to get too close. We were not having very good luck shooing them away. I sent a text to my daughter, a young lady with familiarity with horses as a result of spending time with my mother's horses and years of attending horse camp. She instructed me to "shake and snap" a piece of nylon or tarp to scare the off. It worked like a charm.