Friday, August 28, 2009

An Island that time has forgotten

We left our anchorage on the Corrotoman River and set a course for Tangier Island. After a little bit of a bumpy start in the morning it calmed down and was another beautiful day on the water. As we cruised to Tangier we watched the pelicans diving for fish, The waterman checking their pots, and the seagulls flying over head waiting to pick up the scraps they left behind. (lazy seagulls) As we approached Tangier Island I called on channel 16 for the Parks Marina. No response. I don't think Mr. Parks even owns a radio. If he does, he never turns it on. We waited just off the "dock" and sure enough here comes Mr. Parks. Mr. Parks is 78 years old and he and his ancestors have lived here all their lives. Coming into Tangier is a step back in time with dozens of Waterman crab shacks on stilts along the shore with their boats named after their wives, children, or sweethearts tied up in the afternoon. (their day starts around 3:00AM) My docking was easy because I got the face dock. Doug's was not so easy. The tide was ripping and he had to dock at a 90 degree angle to the tide. (you need to read Gypsies blog for the details) After we were settled the four of us took a walking tour of the town, found the ice cream shop and enjoyed our travel back in time. Life is simple on Tangier and the people like it that way. It is an old fishing village with a charm all of its own. cute little waterman's houses, a few restaurants, a "grocery store" a couple of home grown gift shops, and an ice cream shop. On Tangier you need to do things early because everything closes at 5:00PM.
I asked the Channel Marker Restaurant if they would let us come at 5:30 and they said the would stay open for us. After drinks on Gypsies (Tangier is a dry town) we headed to the Channel Marker. After we walked in they promptly took down the open flag and turned off the open sign. The meal was good. We had fresh soft shell crab and crab dip. The next day we decided we would walk (Cassie and Godiva don't ride bikes) to the beach we saw as we came into Tangier harbor. It was a long walk, but we saw more of the town on the way. The beach was nice, but the horse flies were hungry, so we stayed for a short time, playing with the girls in the water, and headed back to the boat. Tammy and Doug stayed and later let the horse flies carry them home. We enjoyed our visit here, and there's alot to be said for the simple life in a fishing village that time has forgotten. Tangier is a great place to visit for a few days and step back in time, but I wouldn't want to live there. You really need to go to Gypsies blog and read about Tangier Island. It's a great read. If you go back up on our page look on the right side for favorite websites and blogs and click on Gypsies in the Palace then click on their blog.

September Song (back to the present) out
Bob



Crabber checking his pots as we approach Tangier

Stephanie in her helm chair enjoying a beautiful day on the Chesapeake sporting her new active captain cap. Ain't she cute

I love this lady!

Tammy purchasing a hand made map of Tangier Island for a dollar. What a bargain, it even has local recipes on it. Take a map and put a dollar in the soap box.
Posted by Picasa

No comments:

Post a Comment