Day 11– At 8 a.m. this morning it was sunny and 50 degrees. A gorgeous day. The water in the Bay was still, like glass. Canada Geese were noisily flying by in “V” formation. Looks like a good day to go out and explore.
Click on any picture below to see a slideshow.
It was nice in the campground, Rob took a few pictures this morning, then we left around 11 a.m. and headed south for about 10 miles to the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge. The Visitor’s Center was closed due to the government shutdown but the refuge roads, trails, and boat launches were open. We drove through to get an idea of what was available, then went back to the Canoe & Kayak Launch. It was perfect for launching our kayaks. We ate our lunch then began unpacking our gear. Oops, we left the paddles back at the RV. Oh well; we have more to see, so we’ll come back to paddle another time.
We drove north & west to Kiptopeke State Park, drove through & checked out the campground which was closed for the season. Campsites did have electricity but they were fairly close together without trees in between sites. Still, worth remembering if we ever need a one-nighter. We parked at the fishing pier and walked the boardwalk out to the end & back. Considering it was December, it was fairly crowded, but it was a beautiful day – partly sunny, 60 degrees. We took pictures of several birds out in the Bay. They also had trails to hike. Nice Park!
We drove north to the smallish town of Cape Charles. Parts of the city were charming and you could see that it’s probably a trendy, popular place for people to go in the summer. They looked to be renovating some of the older buildings. Very nice old houses on tree-lined streets. But there was also lots of development going up, gated communities with pastel-colored three-story beach houses, etc. We’ll take the older charm any day.
At Cape Charles, we were looking for the Cape Charles Natural Area Preserve & finally found it behind the Fuji Film Chemical Factory near where the big boats are stored. (They could really use some signage to help people find the Preserve!) After following both the GPS & google maps by phone & just going around in circles, we found it behind Fuji when we saw people parked in the back parking lot & walking around with their dogs. This was 29 muddy acres with boardwalks, streams, and woods. The dogs being walked were thoroughly enjoying the beautiful weather.
Drove north, past our campground turn-off, to near the tiny town of Eastville and took Savage Neck Road west to the end of the road near the Chesapeake Bay. On that road before you get to the end, there’s the Savage Neck Dunes Natural Area Preserve. The small parking lot was full, so we’ll go back another time. Supposedly great hikes and beaches.
We came back to the campground around 4:30 and went out on the pier. Gorgeous out. Great sunset over the Bay. It was a good day.
