I spent some time today in the little town of Cape Charles on the Chesapeake Bay on Virginia's Eastern Shore. Cape Charles is about an hour's drive from my house on Route 13 across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, one of the engineering marvels of the modern world.
All the trees aren't budded out quite yet, but the weather was relatively warm and sunny. Here are some trees already decked out in new spring dresses.
I loved this firehouse which is now a restaurant:
Here's an Irish pub to make me feel at home. Check out the celtic knot in the little round window:
Cape Charles is in a largely rural area. It is a town of about 1200 people which grew originally because it was a stop on the passenger railroad:
Many charming Victorians, Craftsman bungalows, and good old sturdy American Four Squares dot the the little downtown area of Cape Charles. Some are listed as vacation rentals. Residents and vistitors enjoy the Cheasapeake Bay at the edge of town. I was fascinated with the detail on the houses, particularly the gingerbreading and fish scale siding. Dig the dragon flies, too.
The downtown business district is adorable:
Don't miss Oliver! "Please sir, may I have more?
I heard a lot of local color when I went into Watson's Hardware.
I picked up some grass seed and had a nice talk with the man who ran the hardware store.
Then Tony from New York sat in a rocker next to Lulu and me. That's Tony in the pic below with the jaunty blue cap. We talked about New York. For two years during the Deparession, Tony lived in an orphanage in Syosset, a town on Long Island, NY. Things folks tell me like that can haunt me for days. I wondered how he ended up there and who adopted him after two years. His new parents were from New York City, whoever they were. There's a book in there somewhere.
Tony was just telling me that he'd like to go back to NY to visit as the gentleman in the orange shirt stepped out of the hardware store and pulled out some bills from his money clip.
"I'll give you this if you'll make it a one-way ticket," he said good naturedly. "I'm sure I can get people to donate the rest." Tony said, "He hates me. He's a county selectman."
Rough words, but when I turned around to take the pic, they were sitting companionably on the rocking chairs reading the newspaper
I had Italian wedding soup for lunch...
At this Italian restaurant in a town not far away from Cape Charles.
