I have been horribly slow at getting posts up from past trips. I am working on getting caught up so I have a fresh memory to write new ones now that we have just come back from Scandinavia. These images are from an amazing vacation we took in late June, to the Eastern Shore of Virginia, about as far down as you can go. I am not going to give much narrative, but please enjoy the images and the small amount of words that go along with them. We started our trip off with a fast visit to Chincoteage and Assateague, since we were driving right by on the way to our final destination.
Sloane hanging at Woody's Beach BBQ on Chincoteague.
Woody's is awesome because of three things : BBQ, Hammocks, and it's proximity to Assateague Island. We rode our bikes from Chincoteague to Assateague, got some exercise and saved a few dollars.
Let the sunburn begin. Sloane on the beach at Chincoteague.
After a few hours in the sun we headed back to our car, and further down the shore to our vacation home.
Bedroom with a view.
The living area.
View from the bed area.
We rented a studio apartment for our vacation, but a really nice one. It was situated directly on a creek, had its own dock and a deck with a view of sunset and sunrise. Below the apartment used to be a boat house, but it was recently renovated to be an event space. This place sits on a peninsula, so you are basically surrounded by water, it's amazing.
The deck view.
The front of the house from the water.
Sunset from the back of the house.
The "back" of the house.
From this home base we : ate, drank, kayaked, hiked, swam, saw lots of wildlife, watched the sun rise and set and generally had an amazing time. Below are some images arranged in some sort of order.
Food:
First nights dinner.
Grilled pizza for dinner.
My first take at oyster shucking in quite a while, I forgot the clean the shells.....
Oysters round 2.
I actually cleaned them this time.
Sunrise:
The morning view from the deck over glassy waters. I still have no idea what this dock was for, but it made for a good photo subject.
I met some wonderful women who went rowing from our dock every morning - they invited me to come along one day, but I had plans of either sleeping in, or kayaking elsewhere in the mornings, so it never worked out.
The Cape Charles Rowing Club.
Sunrise in Oyster, VA on Cobb Mill Creek. I went kayaking out of here to some barrier islands in Mockhorn Bay on this particular day.
A fleet of boats in the Oyster harbor, check out that pile of oyster shells in the background.
Wildlife:
Black Skimmers, flying over the glassy waters of Cherrystone inlet in the morning.
A family of curious sea otters coming to check me out.
Sea Otters!
A Great Egret stalking breakfast in Mockhorn Bay.
A ginormous loggerhead turtle I was lucky enough to spot in Blackbeard's Creek, while eating my lunch from shore during a kayak trip. I swear it's head was as big as mine.
A common tern in Mockhorn Wildlife Refuge
Another Black Skimmer doing its thing. These birds are awesome.
A peregrine falcon protecting it's nesting box, on an old chimney foundation right near Mockhorn Wildlife Refuge.
Dead dinosaur, or horseshoe crab.
Sunsets:
Sunset from the banks of Cherrystone Inlet.
Sunset from the banks of Cherrystone Inlet.
Sunset from the deck.
Sunset on our last night, listening to Amazing Grace and toasting our lost friend, Captain George.
Randoms that have no place:
The decomissioned Cape Charles Lighthouse, which happens to be the second tallest in the US, right behind the Cape Hatteras Light.
Sloane's best Michael Jackson impersonation on our rainy day hike at Savage Neck Dunes, which are some of the highest points on the Eastern Shore.
Perfect hammock spot, under the deck.
He almost got away. True story, I found this scene while kayaking, it was not set up.
At the beach in the town of Cape Charles. Love the repurposed kayak.
Sloane showing me how to dive properly. I'm more of a cannonball guy though.
Late night photo session:
Thunderstorms in the distance, clear skies above.
A skeleton tree near the house, on a late night kayak venture.
Stormy skies on the way back to Baltimore:
Bay Bridge.
An amazing storm to see from the Bay Bridge.
This is one of the best vacations we have taken together, I'm sure it will be topped soon - but we are definitely going back to this place.