Oyster Fritters, Antiques, a Hike (and a bad sign)

23 Tuesday Mar 2021

Posted by Ronald Parks in chincoteague, Eastern Shore, Hiking, kayaking, Road Trips, Trails

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Antiques, birding, Fritters, Lighthouse, Nassawango, Nature Conservancy, stuff found, unicorns, Veterans park

This was a two day adventure. On the 20th we went to the Chincoteague VFD for a fund raiser – oyster fritter sandwich, a bottle of water and a bag of chips. Although this was my first fritter and I enjoyed it, I must say, I like a fried oyster sandwich best. We picked up our lunch and headed to the Chincoteague Veterans Memorial Park.

It was a nice place to sit and look at the water. Part of Assateague, Va. is right across the water.

Man, are you kidding me? I can see why there is no swimming, but no kayaking?

We left Chincoteague after lunch (We did stop at the bookstore and I picked up a couple local, Eastern Shore history books). Decided to check out a couple antique shops heading up Route 13. Stopping first at Chesapeake Antiques. Last time we were here they had a lot of stuff. Not so much now. It actually looks like they are going out of business. Pickers Paradise next door is closed. Headed up the road a little further and stopped here – Worcester House Antiques. Wow…

We did stop at a very nice shop in Princess Anne – Somerset Choice Station Antiques. It is part of the Somerset Historical Society. http://www.somersetcountyhistoricalsociety.org/shop.html

So, the next day, the 21st, we decided to take a short hike. Went here once again. Always nice to be along the Nassawango Creek, among the cypress.

Found this in the swamp and Kathy wanted it, soooo. We will fix the baby carriage up and place it in the garden.

Looking for frogs. We heard them but did not see them.

Possible UFO sighting.

We did find that elusive Unicorn we have been looking for.

A favorite spot to sit and daydream about kayaking.

A little confusing. After this point the trails were not marked so we stayed next to the creek.

Not sure how this ended up here. Kathy suggested that it was brought up from the creek and the person just walked away. There is a house about a half-mile from here, but they have a ramp? We hiked to about the house and then headed through the woods to the road – Creek Road.

Saw this from the water while kayaking. Like I stated above, the closest house is about a half-mile away.

Nice two days of adventures. Thanks God for these days.

Nassawango Creek at Low Tide

29 Sunday Nov 2020

Posted by Ronald Parks in Eastern Shore, kayaking, nature

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bridges, kayaking, Nassawango, photography, Pocomoke River, Reflections, tides

Headed out a little late for a long kayak adventure so we decided to go to a spot nearby – Nassawango Creek to the Pocomoke River. We have done both of these this past summer, but this is our first time going all the way down the Nassawango to the Pocomoke. The water was unbelievably low today and as we stood on shore looking, the creek was still flowing out, rather rapidly.

I prefer a ramp/launch to get in and out of my kayak. I know I risk scraping the bottom quite a bit, but I’d rather do that than fall in! The water being so low, you need to step down two steps. (This is my favorite photo, taken by Kathy)

Kathy went in at the steps, I slid in next to this varmint box. A muddy mess here.

Low water for the whole trip, to and fro.

In the photo below there is a cobweb just floating along with us –

Alright, already we’ll all float on
Ok, don’t worry, we’ll all float on
Even if things get heavy, we’ll all float on… (modest mouse)

A splash of color to brighten the day.

Some very nice reflections.

The Pocomoke River up ahead.

A couple speeding boats zipping by. Kayakers get no respect on this river.

After about 3.5 miles, time to head back. Under the Nassawango Rd bridge.

Another nice reflection shot by Kathy.

Two steps down and waiting for the combine to cross over.

Our trip. Just over 7 miles with all the zig-zagging and crossing over the Pocomoke.

Another great kayak adventure. Next time we will need to check the tides. We hit a lot of submerged tree limbs and could not cut across the lily pads like we normally do. But it was still a great day to be out and grateful to be able to take these kind of trips.

Thanks God!

Prothonotary Warbler Trail

26 Sunday Apr 2020

Posted by Ronald Parks in Eastern Shore, Hiking, nature, Road Trips, State Parks, Trails

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beaver, birds, flowers, Hiking, Nassawango, nature, Pocomoke River, prothonotary, Trails, warbler

Well that is a mouthful to say! Pronunciation is Pro-ton-o-tar-y, which by itself is a Chief Clerk in a court of law, which is apropos to what I have been going through the past couple of months (another story, another time). But with the warbler attachment, it is just that – a warbler. A trail full of them. This was a 2.3 mile hike.

For whatever reason, All Trails stopped recording our trip so I used their default map, adding an extra red line at the bottom left of the trail because we walked the road back. Not much parking. You need to park on the grass along the road. The guy that lives in the house to the left of the entrance trail was cutting the grass. He does a good job maintaining it. It is turkey hunting season and he wanted to know if we seen any? Glad this property belongs to the Nature Conservancy – No Hunting! I hate ducking bullets!

Some of the plants we saw

The path goes from Creek Rd. to Nassawango Creek. A nice trail with some boardwalks. No steep hills to climb. Molly did well and there were only 3 other people on the trail. We were spaced out accordingly.

It is part of a cypress swamp and the ‘knees’ always remind me of faceless people.

Signage along the trail.

More stuff along the way…

This was interesting. One of the bottles had AA written on it and I thought how weird is that? I looked it up and and it is an Ancient Age Bourbon Bottle. I immediately saw Alcoholics Anonymous!

Well, Molly says enough of this. Although it has been a wonderful, peaceful hike, it is time to feed me! Thanks God for a wonderful hike with minimum people out there.

Quite a few of these photos were taken by Kathy. Thanks Kathy!

Nassawango Iron Furnace

22 Monday Apr 2019

Posted by Ronald Parks in Hiking, HISTORY

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Hiking, HISTORY, Living History, Nassawango, nature, photography, Printing, Weaving

Sunday has become Kathy and my day of rest time, but since neither of us can sit still for too long – Road Trip! Called the people at Furnace Town and they are open with free admission for Easter.

Here is the History Marker on Rte. 12.

Two other times we were here it was closed and I had previously posted photos of the visitor center, so I will spare the repetition. The area is about 300 acres, a Living History Village with an old iron furnace and remnants of the town that use to be there, along with some buildings moved there from other locations.

Before hiking over to the furnace itself we were treated to a nice talk and history lesson by Jessica, the director of the Village and Visitor Center. Then onto the various buildings. Being Easter Sunday our first stop was the church.

It was a very simple time back then but I am sure life was somewhat rough. The church was built in 1874 and then relocated to the Village in 1980. Here is an interior view.

Next stop was the wood shop.

And the interior view.

On to the next building – The Blacksmith’s Shop.

For those who don’t know, a Living History Village has demonstrations and classes on the various trades back then. Here you can learn all about being a blacksmith. The work they do here is scattered throughout the area and some for sale in the visitor center.