Singer/Songwriter James Taylor has enabled a wonderful legacy for wild birds on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. On Friday, October 8, 2010, an addition to Kiptopeke State Park was officially dedicated in his name by the Director of Parks and Recreation for the state of Virginia. Thanks to James Taylor’s generosity, the state of Virginia , in cooperation with the Nature Conservancy, added an additional 37 acres of upland area to the park. Kiptopeke State Park is located at the very southern tip of the Shore in an area that is vital to the migration of songbirds in their flight south for the winter from their summer breeeding grounds in the northern regions of North America. (See a great video of James Taylor and his wife kayaking on Virginia’s Eastern Shore at www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPBTypUfgYM )
On-site Information Marker for the James Taylor Bird Habitat At Kiptopeake State Park
As the topography of the East Coast shapes into a funnel at the end of the Delmarva Penninsula so follows millions of migrating songbirds where they gather at the tip of Virginia’s Eastern Shore to refuel for the crossing of the Chesapeake Bay and for leaving the mainland of the continent to migrate across thousands of miles of the Atlantic Ocean towards Central and South America. James Taylor personally donated $200,000., the proceeds of a 2009 fund raising concert he performed in Virginia Beach. The land that was purchased and added to the state park was formerly agricultural in use and now will be allowed to flourish as wild bird habitat for future generations forever. Hundreds of native trees, shrubs, and grasses have been planted there to support the songbird migration. Birds truly have “got a friend” in James Taylor.
The Eastern Shore of Virginia Master Gardeners donated 500 hours of volunteer labor and the plants necessary to establish a demonstration garden of native plant species, the perfect compliment to the James Taylor bird habitat. I joined the Master Gardeners two years ago and have gained quite a bit of knowledge and experience in gardening, landscaping, plant diseases, and maintenance. The best part is making new friends and contributing to our wonderful community. Each new class that graduates has installed a garden in a public place and maintains it. The Virginia Eastern Shore community benefits also by the thousands of hours of volunteer work that the Master Gardeners donate each year in support of education and maintenance of public gardens.
If you are thinking of buying a historic home on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, you’ll be happy to know that most of the older homes here have not been razed to build something modern but instead have been lovingly restored. As a consequence, for our size and low density population, the Eastern Shore of Virginia boasts a substantial number of beautifully renovated and modernized Victorian era or older homes. And some spectacular historic real estate on the Eastern Shore of Virginia is for currently sale at very attractive prices. ( Check out our historic home listings on the web at www.blueheronva.com .)
Indeed, several of our little Northampton County towns, including Cape Charles, Virginia and Cheriton, Virginia, were actually founded around the late 1800’s and their architecture consists substantially of Victorian style homes along with Georgian Revival, America Four Square, etc..
The Amazing 17 Mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge & Tunnel
Now for a brief history lesson… Discovered in 1608, with English settlements dating from the 1620’s, the Eastern Shore of Virginia was, for a long time, geographically very isolated. Farming and seafood were the economic engines and remain important today. Travel to mainland Virginia was by boat trip across the Chesapeake Bay, a very substantial trip. ( Even today, most locals here say “I’m going across the Bay today” rather than “I’m going to Virginia Beach/etc. today”, a throw-back to the days before the construction of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge & Tunnel when traveling across the Bay by boat was lengthy and possibly arduous. If a sudden storm were to come up “going across the Bay” back then was a pretty big deal. Now , with the truly amazing 17 mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge, ( www.cbbt.com ) this previously difficult journey has been reduced to a scenic 15 minute car ride. ) Families tended to stay on the Shore and on the farm because, back in the day, farming and seafood here were both very, very lucrative. Beautiful homes were built, both in-town and out on the farms and these homes were passed down through the generations. Today, neither farming nor seafood is quite so appealing and some farms and and a number of lovely historic homes in our towns have been purchased by people moving here from out of the area, as my family and I did, to enjoy the Eastern Shore’s relaxed, coastal way of life. The point of this being that homes that have been torn down in other areas to build new developments have generally been renovated and restored here, enabling the Eastern Shore of Virginia to retain a certain romance, a true sense of yesteryear that many other rural areas have already lost.( www.esvatourism.org/history.asp )
Two very different examples of historic homes for sale on Virginia’s Eastern Shore include a beautiful in-town Craftsman cottage style home built in 1913 and an amazing waterfront historic home, situated on five acres in the country, the earliest section of which was built in the late 1600’s. The Craftsman cottage style home (www.antiquehomestyle.com ) , has been meticulously restored, with over 3000 square feet, featuring five bedrooms and five and a half baths, located only about 500 feet from the wide sandy beach in the quaint coastal town of Cape Charles, Virginia with amenities like beach, golf and marinas. Shown on HGTV’s “If Walls Could Talk” , it’s currently serving as a very successful B&B. However, its open, airy floor plan and modern conveniences will make it a wonderful personal residence, offering great entertaining spaces. Friends and relatives— come on down ! All the “must have” historic treatments are here — ten foot ceilings, raised panel doors, wainscoating, columned room dividers, moldings, etc. Walk to the beach in 30 seconds, enjoy water views and dazzling sunsets from the huge front porch. Golf carts are “street legal” in Cape Charles so you can “go-green” and zip over to the Cape Charles Coffee House, etc. for lunch in your electric cart. Offered at $585,000, this fine home can be a wonderful personal residence or kept as a B&B, the perfect opportunity to have a home business.
On the other end of the spectrum is the nearly 4000 sq. ft. “Wellington House”, located on the water in the country about 20 minutes from Cape Charles. Situated on a colorful, deep saltwater inlet from the Chesapeake Bay, this amazing four bedroom, three bath home with an existing backyard dock is a rare opportunity to marry a love of historic homes with a love of boating. An absolute gem, built of brick, Flemish bond style, this home’s earliest section dates back to the late 1600’s . When you enter the original quarter kitchen with its huge hearth and beams, used now as a sitting room, it’s like going back in time to the Colonial days. High ceilings, additional fireplaces and wide plank floors throughout lend this special home an authenticity and ambience that few historic homes can rival. Add to that its amazing waterviews, backyard pier for a boat and the seclusion offered by its five acre size and it totals one terrific historic home, all this offered at the attractive price of $1,495,000.
We’ll have more posts soon about the opportunites to purchase historic real estate on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. In the meantime, some of our unique historic home for sale listings can be viewed at www.blueheronva.com with prices starting at $199,000 to over $3,500,000 for a home on 100+ acres.
Normally in this blog we discuss both aspects of life on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and some specific real estate here on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. But nobody can pick up a newspaper today without reading about the rampant bank recklessness in the foreclosure process around the entire country and I want to make a short comment about this issue. The widespread disregard that it appears that most banks willfully have shown for the underlying legal process is very disturbing to me because every single property purchase in this country relies on the sanctity of the process of getting and keeping clear title to the real estate being purchased. Therefore, for the system to work properly, when a bank wants to foreclose it needs to be able to prove that it has the right to do so. When these individual property rights are trampled on, it effects public faith in our entire structure of property rights and real estate contract law. So possible foreclosure fraud by banks effects everyone. An excellent explanation of the entire purchase-to-foreclosure process can be found at http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/10/why-foreclosure-fraud-is-so-dangerous-to-property-rights/ . I guarantee it’s worth taking the time to read.
What do the “Run For The Birds”, the “Butterfly Walk” and the “Owl Prowl” have in common ? ( No, they’re not new dance steps ! ) Rather, each is a part of the annual Birding Festival held on Virginia’s Eastern Shore on the first week-end in October. ( The first week of October is getting to be a pretty important week what with the start of the new term of U.S. Supreme Court and the Eastern Shore’s Harvest Festival and Birding Festival all held then. ) This year’s Birding Festival, held last week-end, was the 18th in this series of highly successful eco-tourism events and included the largest number of participation activities of any Festival so far. Bird lovers from all over Virginia, indeed from all over the East Coast, came to Cape Charles, Virginia to hear the keynote address given by Dr. Gregory S. Butcher, an internationally renown ornithologist and Director of Bird Conservation for the National Audubon Society.
If you look at a map it’s easy to see that the shape of the DelMarVa (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) peninsula is rather funnel-like. On the northern end, in Delaware, the funnel is rather wide. Venturing south, the penninsula grows more and more narrow so that by the time you reach Northampton County, the Shore is only about 8 miles across, narrowing to about 4 miles south of Cape Charles. During the Fall bird migration, as the birds fly south along the Atlantic Flyway, they are funneled into an ever decreasing land mass. This results in the Eastern Shore of Virginia having large concentrations of migrating songbirds and raptors at our southern tip where they are able to rest and replenish before flying over open water. Great efforts to protect and study these birds have been expended by a large number of organizations including US Fish and Wildlife, The Nature Conservancy, Coastal Management Dept of VDEQ and numerous others. From those efforts grew the idea for the eco-friendly Birding Festival. The rest, as they say, is history.
Part Of Our Pristine Chain Of 18 Barrier Islands
I personally think that what accounts for the continuing great success of the Birding Festival is that there are such interesting activities in which to participate, with new and different activities being added all the time. This year a number of different boating options were available including a two+ hour trip from the little town of Willis Wharf out to the Machipongo River to view shore and wading birds, a 2 + hour trip out of Watchapreague and a 3 hour boat trip out of the tiny town of Oyster to Cobb Island hoping to see nesting terns, oystercatchers, whimbrels, sandpipers, etc., maybe even plovers out on these pristine Barrier Islands and a 2+ hour trip, also from Oyster, out to Wreck Island to see what is being hailed as the world’s largest and most successful seagrass restoration program.
Adios Amigos, We Are Off To Mexico
I personally always enjoy the bird banding– it’s amazing how calm these beautiful birds are as they are banded but how quickly they flit away as they are released. The bird banding station is located at Kiptopeake State Park which is the very, very tip of the the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Millions of songbirds migrate through our area each year and many of them can be found at Kiptopeake Park which has a huge natural maritime forest plus open areas and lots of specifically planted beneficial shrubs and trees. Like ducks to water, the birds have really taken to the Park. Apparently over half a million birds have been banded at Kiptopeake Station over the years, a real achievement, mostly by volunteers. Also located at the Kiptopeake Park is an amazing hawk observatory. On Saturday, mermerized watchers were counting with glee the numbers and variety of hawks and falcons they were observing — lots of Cooper’s hawks especially. The Kiptopeake Observatory is plays a vital part in the the annual raptor count for the Shore. Kiptopeake Park is also home to a beautiful Butterfly Garden planted and maintained by the Master Gardeners of the Eastern Shore. The Garden was filled with colorful Monarch butterflies on Saturday, flitting along in their migration south to over-winter in Mexico . Lots of folks, many with kids in tow, were snapping picture of them while waiting for the “Butterfly Walk” to begin. Later still, 9-11 pm, for those who had the energy, Kiptopeake Park would be one of several sites for a two hour “Owl Prowl”. ( I love owls. Often, if I am up very late, I can hear a pair softly calling to each other not too far from my house.)
" Release Me Already, I'm Banded"
Finding Butterflies
Hawk Observatory- Seeing A Lot Of Cooper's Hawks Today
Meantime back in the town of Cape Charles, at Festival Central, ( www.esvafestivals.com ) lots of organizations had booths set up, literature to distribute, ready to answer questions and give advice. Tons of interesting exhibits and plenty of stuff for kids too. Next door, the Marine Science Aquarium’s huge mobile truck was set up with its “Oceans In Motion” exhibit plus its mini “Touch and Feel” tank which was attracting kids of all ages. Anyone who loves Nature would love the Birding Festival. So don’t forget– the first week of October each year signals the new term of the Supreme Court, the Eastern Shore of Virginia’s Harvest Festival and the Eastern Shore Birding Festival ! Hope you can make it next year.
Aquarium In A Truck -- Amazing !
Virginia Dept. Game & Inland Fisheries, An Important Festival Sponsor
Festival Central- New Information, New Ideas, New Efforts
Food, Music & Fun On The Beach At Virginia Eastern Shore's Harvest Festival
I’ve been dieting for about a week in anticipation of the annual Virginia’s Eastern Shore Harvest Festival held each year in early October. Where else can you find such an exciting array of traditional seafood dishes ( plus some land lubber foods as well) in an open air beachfront setting with music, an artist’s pavilion and inevitably, politicians. No where that I know of except at the Sunset Beach Resort located on the Chesapeake Bay near Cape Charles, Virginia , the traditional home of the Harvest Festival, held there on the first Wednesday in October since 1992.
We Used To Tent, Now We're Just Foodies
Entering the Festival grounds, it’s always fun to see all the little food tents with a few business tents interspersed. ( We used to have a tent to give out business cards and catalogues but everybody on staff really wanted to be out and about with friends and food so a few years ago we decided to consider the Harvest Festival strictly as a “Food and Friends” event and forget about a more formal business approach.) Once inside, my daughters usually head straight for the soft shell crab sandwich tent and my husband maneuvers towards the crabcake tent. But I head straight for the devils-on-horseback. ( If you’ve never had a “devil-on-horseback”, it is a shucked, seasoned oyster wrapped in bacon and roasted to pure perfection. Topped with a little hot sauce it is more like angel- on- horseback.) Harvest Fest is all about the various foods from our pristine Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean saltwaters including fish, shrimp and clams as well as oysters and crab. A perennial favorite is the “Eastern Shore style” clam chowder, made in huge kettles and thick with clams, onions, potatoes and salt pork, all cooked in a clear broth, served up steaming and fragrant. It’s quite different than the more traditional cream- based New England clam chowder or the tomato-based Manhattan clam chowder– very simple yet delicious.
Land-lubbers enjoy the country ham served on traditional sweet potato biscuits or thinly sliced roast beef on yeast rolls. And who can resist Sting Ray’s famous spicy chili, lots of heat and not too many beans. And those who are “all hat and no cattle” with regard to spicyness join in the stampede for the Buffalo but mild chicken wings. Add in the Carolina- style shredded BBQ and we-all have got us-all a really fine southern-style feast ! Last but not least is the scrumptious sweet potato pie from Kate’s Kupboard Bakery– it’s the best ever, with a just a hint of lemon and a little coconut, served with or without some smooth whipped cream, just melts in your mouth. So now it’s easy to see why it’s necessary for me to diet for a week before the Harvest Festival— too much great food to resist and too many calories to ignore. So — it’s rice cakes and cottage cheese for lunch on Thursday !
Every year the Virginia Association of Realtors (VAR) holds an annual convention and the 2010 event was held last week-end at the Virginia Beach Convention Center, a sleek modern facility which fortunately understands the value of comfortable chair seats for those who are going to be attending seminars held in 2 hour modules, i.e., the mind can only absorb what the derriere can endure. Since Virginia Beach is less than an hour from Virginia’s Eastern Shore it was an easy trip, a piece of cake really, and I slid into my first seminar with 10 minutes to spare. The convention is an annual opportunity for Virginia Realtors to network and to attend seminars on a variety of topics presented by top experts in their field brought in by VAR from around the country. This year I agents selected six seminars, each about using “Social Media”.
So for nearly 12 hours over two days, I immersed myself in Internet social media ideas and questions. Starting with a seminar entitled “Beyond Blogging” given by Jeff Davis from California (who apparently is one of the top 5 experts in the US on Word Press which happens to be the platform this blog is written on) to tips on “Risk Management in Social Media” also presented by another Californian, Ginger Wilcox and finishing with “Agent 2.0” offered by Brian Copeland, a funny, funny guy from Nashville, Tennessee, my derriere endured and my mind was stretcheeeeeed. I loved Brian’s witty aphorism, you can be smart or you can be pretty but this afternoon let’s try to be smart. ( Brian himself is both smart and pretty ! ) All three speakers were terrific, the rooms were fairly crackling with ideas and info, mostly new to me. I definitely was trying to be smart but I think I probably was mostly pretty. Yep, I know I was mostly pretty.
Brian Copeland...Smart and Pretty
Anyway, from “Engagement is the New Metric” and Dunbar’s Number (150) to websites with names like Cademus, TweetBeep and Ping, various rooms full of mostly middle age plus Realtors ( in my case, plus plus) grappled with new names, terms and concepts. We learned how to create an interactive web poll, we learned the program for doing voice-over on videos of our listings and we were urged to “move our off-line to on-line and our on-line to off-line” . My husband likes to call learning all this new technology “Coming out of the Cave.” ( For the record, I should note that he selected seminars on familiar subjects like ” Floating In A Sea of Short Sales” and “Understanding the Glue to Real Estate Agreements” and was not out there trying to understand the security issues of being or not being on Foursquare ! ) However, step by step, I do think I am coming out of the Cave but it is hard — the Cave feels safe and is so familiar. Also, much as I hate to admit it, I’m a person who looks back very nostalgically on the days when a cell phone was simply a device for placing and receiving phone calls. So, we’ll see if by this time next year I’m tweeting Tweets and friending on Facebook. The proof will be in the pudding, time will tell, not taking any bets just yet, etc., etc.
I’m a natural optimist and I do like to find the Silver Lining if I can. When I came down with a terrible cold last Tuesday and by Thursday still felt like a huge nose attached to a worn out body, I realized that I just could not subject the other three who would be in the car with me to a four hour ride to D.C. enclosed with Miss Sneezy. So I said, in my most pitiful voice , you-all just go to the Book Festival without me . (See Sept. 21st post about looking forward to the 2010 National Book Festival ( www.loc.gov/bookfest/ ) being held Saturday, Sept. 25th on the National Mall in Washington D.C. ) Don’t worry about me, poor, poor sick me, said I. Well OK, said they, we won’t worry about you, we’ll be on our way on Friday morning, really sorry you can’t come, we’ll try to get some of your books signed for you, watch the Book TV coverage.
But then, ironically, an important client of my daughter’s who was flying in from the mid-West to the Eastern Shore of Virginia to look at waterfront property on Thursday the 24th decided to stay over through Saturday to look at additional beachfront acreage. So that took her out of the trip as well. And then my friend’s son’s lasik surgery got bumped from Thursday afternoon to Friday afternoon, so another one bites the dust. That left only my husband in a position to make the trip, but loyalist that he is, he pledged to stay by my side, replenishing Kleenex and orange juice as necessary, commiserating with my loss of the opportunity to get the books I had purchased by Michelle Norris, Anchee Min, David Remnick and Scott Turow autographed by them, planned as special Christmas gifts for several people. ( I realize that it may not seem all that special. But trust me when I say that after you have stood in line about two hours per each author, in the hot sun, the only food all day being the trail mix and a PBJ you fortunately brought along but which got somewhat squished at the bottom of your rolling briefcase, washed down sparingly by a warm Desani, portapotties about 10 miles off but you are worried about leaving the line in case of a ruckus about getting back in, feet aching even though you’re wearing your most comfortable Birkenstocks, weary arms clutching the max- allowed- per- author three or four books, open to the title pages as ordered by the event staff, yellow post-it notes peeking over the edges of the title pages whereon you have, after much wracking of the brain, written the pithy phrases you want the admired author to inscribe for the recipient…… Well, after all that, I don’t care if it’s just an inscribed “Manual of Insurance Rates” instead of a John Grisham 1st edition — by golly, it is special !!!! ) Anyway, the 11th annual National Book Festival is coming up in just 361 more days, wonder who the authors will be ?
But back to the Silver Lining. In order to go to the Book Festival, I would have had to miss the 3rd annual Cape Charles Tomato Festival. So now, if I felt up to it, we could attend. Possible Silver Lining. Mid- afternoon, pocket full of cough drops, I summoned up the energy to slip down to Cape Charles with my husband. It was a pretty day, blue skies, warm, breezes blowing in from the Chesapeake Bay. My husband and I both always like the ArtWalk and this year was no exception — lots of mediums exhibited, sidewalk tables plus snow white individual tents featuring watercolors, sculpture, glasswork, oils, stained glass, decoy carvings, etc., up and down Mason Avenue as far as the eye could see. On one of the next- to- last sidewalk tables, I came across my art purchase of the day……. a whimisical watercolor, original and framed, a pair of charming orange seahorses, outlined in red, with large aquamarine eyes, set against a vivid backgound of various blues, white bubbles and little red hearts floating upwards as the seahorses shyly peek at each other. The whole painting was so vibrant, I love seahorses, I have a perfect place to hang it, I could not resist.
Continuing on down the sidewalk, past those last lucky diners to be able to enjoy a bowl of the ambrosial tomato basil bisque being served at Cape Charles Coffee House, we crossed the street to see the antique cars exhibit. Arriving just after the judging was completed, we watched as the trophies were being awarded. Although I am not that into cars, I was impressed with the 1930 Model A, black of course, which looked like it just rolled off the assembly line. ( You’ll remember that Henry Ford famously said that his customers could have the Model A in any color they wanted—- just as long as they wanted black ! ) Among others, a trophy was awarded to a 1955 mint condition Chevy painted in beautiful tones of cream and deep burgandy, owned by MaryLou and John Thornton, whose cute-as-a-button two year old grandaughter, Andrea, stole the awards ceremony as she presented the trophies. And that pretty much did it for me, tired, still not fully recovered, ready to go home and flip on the television. And so, a Silver Lining after all — I got a fun painting at the Cape Charles Tomato Festival and then spent the rest of the afternoon in comfy air conditioning, enjoying Book TV’s ( www.booktv.org ) live coverage of the National Book Festival direct from C-Span’s little studio set up in the huge History and Biography pavilion, temperature in D.C. estimated at a hefty 90 + degrees and no Chesapeake Bay breezes. Hi, ho Silver Lining.
Looking to buy a historic property in Virginia ? Consider purchasing real estate on Virginia’s Eastern Shore in the quaint historic town of Cape Charles, perched along the sandy shores of the Chesapeake Bay. Cape Charles today continues in its historic coastal traditions and many of the town’s activities center around its deep water harbor, marinas and its beautiful sand beach. Most of the 500 buildings in the original part of town date back to the late 1890’s and this section of town has been designed as a “Historic District” . In addition, about 10 years ago, the acreage which now comprises the golf resort were annexed by the town and now form its northern and southern boundaries. Most of the new homes built there are of a traditional style and blend well with the homes in the Historic District, creating a harmonious whole from the sum of several parts.
Cape Charles has an interesting history– it was actually created from scratch by a Pennsylvania Congressman, Wm. Scott, who purchased the land which is now Cape Charles after learning that its deepwater harbor was to become the southern terminus of the railroad. ( Obviously, insider trading is not a new phenomena ! ) In 1883, Scott began the process of development, laying out the town as a square, creating a five acre space for a future central park (see the Sept. 11th post on the dedication of the beautiful new Cape Charles Central Park), naming the avenues for famous Virginians (Washington, Jefferson, Madison, etc., ) and the streets for what I’m assuming were his favorite fruits ( Fig, Strawberry, Peach, etc.) and then proceeded to sell building lots. Between the strong economy generated by the new railroad, which ran from Manhattan to the Eastern Shore, and the busy ferry service from the harbor ( which took both rail passengers and cars across the Chesapeake Bay, landing in Norfolk ), Cape Charles quickly became a busy and prosperous waterfront town. Grand homes were built along the beachfront and in the beach blocks, more modest homes further back. By the early 1900’s, most of the lots had been built out, in a potpourri of architectural styles ranging from Victorian, Queen Anne and Georgian to Sears Craftsman cottage style homes, with Gothic and American four square as well. Sadly for Cape Charles, by the mid-1950’s, the railroad retained freight service but terminated passenger service and postal service to Cape Charles. And in the cruelest cut of all, the ferry company moved to a new terminal at what is now part of Kiptopeake State Park, nearly five miles away. Adios, so long, sayonara to Cape Charles, which sank into a slow decline with the loss of its two economic engines.
Circa 1906 Georgian Revival Home For Sale In Cape Charles, Virginia
Fast forwarding to 2010…. With the completion of much of the golf resort and the revival of interest in buying and restoring historic homes in coastal towns, the renaissance of Cape Charles and restoration to its intended glory is nearly complete. And it’s exciting to see a variety of opportunities for people to be able to purchase real estate in the historic area of Cape Charles and to be able to enjoy the ambiance of yesterday in a home which has been restored to its original elegance. This post will feature a lovely restored historic home listed by Blue Heron Realty Co., a marvelous Georgian Revival. Interestingly enough, this home was previously a B&B so the restoration fortunately included adding a private bathroom to each bedroom, the acute shortage of bathrooms being to my mind one of the thorny issues that always has to be dealt with in restorations of historic homes.
Entry Foyer With Fireplace, Ceiling Medalion, Antique Chandelier and Columns
Built in 1906, this 4200 square foot Georgian Revival home has been fully restored to its former glory ! Located just two blocks from the beautiful Cape Charles town beach, this home reflects the best traditions of gracious Virginia living. With spacious formal rooms and seven bedrooms plus eight and a half baths, there is plenty of room for private entertaining or it could be returned to its B&B status. The stately entry foyer features the original ceiling medallion with light fixture and original leaded glass windows. Wood floors have been beautifully restored and the 12 inch baseboards have top and bottom shoe molding. The large dining room is light -filled and simply spectacular with four floor-to-ceiling windows, original ceiling medallion and gasolier chandelier. Original carved fireplace mantel adorns the gas-converted fireplace in the spacious living room which also features pocket doors. Warm and cheerful, the gourmet kitchen features Wolf range, Viking hood and side by side refrigerator– everything you would need to fix a fabulous crab au gratin with your fresh- from- the- Chesapeake- Bay lump blue crab. Large Butler’s Pantry, plenty of storage.
Go Green- Slip Over To The Marina Just Five Minutes Away In An Electric Golf Cart
Outside, a lovely wisteria-covered pergola and a hot tub as well as a detached office with a sleeping loft create private spaces for work and leisure. Located on a corner lot in the Cape Charles Historic District, this gracious, lovingly restored home is but a short stroll to the beach and a quick golf cart ride to the two marinas, Palmer or Nicklaus golf, little shops, art galleries, the Palace Theatre and fine and casual dining. Could it get any better ? So get ready to live the sweet beach life in the romantic ambience of yesteryear. Priced at $599,995. ( For more information on real estate and historic homes for sale on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, click on the “historic home listings” section of the Blue Heron Realty Co. website www.blueheronva.com .
Kayaking on Virginia’s Eastern Shore is a well-known passion of mine. But I’m not worried about my secret spot becoming overrun by kayakers because it’s getting mighty lonely paddling around out there all by myself. Save for the bald eagles, osprey, great blue heron, kingfisher, and assorted other shore birds that migrate through the area, that is, so actually it’s not lonely at all, just really wonderfully peaceful and relaxing ! Having paddled Westerhouse Creek almost daily now, going on 9 years, the number of times I have encountered another soul I could count on both hands. This small saltwater inlet from the Chesapeake Bay near Machipongo, Virginia in Northampton County has an absolutely pristine shoreline and is edged in the softest way by thick stands of tall green spartina grass. I have yet to become jaded to the sublime beauty of this place, and especially its lack of disturbance by human encroachment. Although others live along the shores of this beautiful channel, near sunset or sunrise it seems to be mine alone.
Launching my 17 foot long sea kayak into Westerhouse Creek from my backyard finger pier is a breeze. I climb down a short ladder to balance before scooting into the cockpit, sitting as comfortably as if I was lounging in my living room. All is quiet, the sun is starting to set and shortly a full moon is due to rise in the east. The beauty of paddling a kayak lies in its unobtrusiveness in the natural surroundings and ease of movement through the water. I feel at one with nature as I glide upon the fluid surface. This little salt water estuary is really a miniature Eastern Shore creek, with all the features shrunk down so that an hour’s paddle takes you through the various topographical features that comprise an entire healthy ecosystem. The headwaters of the creek are wetlands that capture the drainage of fresh water from as far away as Lankford Highway (Rt. 13) which runs along the spine of the Delmarva Penninsula. The marsh soon gives way to open water as the opposite banks of the stream open wider and wider apart. Behind the spartina grow thick stands of long and short needle pines and hardwood trees. In the fall, the change of color of foliage creates a rainbow along the both shores, pine greens contrasting with the brilliant hues of reds, orange, pinks and yellows of the hardwoods. In the early spring, the white dogwood blossoms are the first flowers to appear through the leafless branches, a welcoming sight.
My goal each trip is to paddle the length of the entire creek, passing out between the sandy shores of the mouth where the creek empties into the Chesapeake Bay. There, when the wind is blowing strong from the northwest, I love to catch the waves and virtually surf the kayak back homewards into the mouth of the creek, almost California style.
One evening in early May, in a fairly stiff breeze, I paddled out through the breaking 2-3′ waves and turned to catch one back to shore, but a rogue wave hit me sideways and and for the first time ever, tumbled my boat upside down so fast I hardly knew which direction was up. I found myself suddenly immersed in an inverted position and I literally fell out of my kayak and rose to the surface sputtering water from my mouth. It was cold water, too, and the waves were breaking all over, and I was a little worried about being slowly pulled out into the Bay by the falling tide. Luckily, a couple of weeks earlier I had finished a series of four classes in a YMCA pool in Virginia Beach to train on how to perform a kayak self-rescue and of course, as always, I was wearing a life vest. The cold water was starting to sap my strength but I stripped off my waterlogged sweatpants, gathered my thoughts and planned my every move. Relying on an inflated bag fitted over one end of my paddle to steady the tippy craft, I climbed aboard in the breaking surf and rolled inside the boat. Using the bilge pump, I emptied the water from my kayak and steadily started paddling back towards the mouth of the Creek. Whew! What a relief to be afloat again and heading for home! Maybe, I thought, on the next windy day I will just turn around in the Creek and not head out into the Bay to surf back on a wave. Or……… maybe I’ll just keep on being adventurous !
This evening, however, the water was quite calm so my paddling was as peaceful and easy as could be, total relaxation. The sun began painting the waters in vivid shades of purples and pinks. And out in the Bay, I gazed up and down that beautiful shoreline, then turned my kayak for home, spotting the white disk of moon peeking above the distant treeline.
My Westerhouse Creek finger pier perfect for launching kayaks.
Sun setting into the Chesapeake Bay
Entrance to Westerhouse Creek from the Chesapeake Bay
Virginia's Eastern Shore's Location On The Eastern Seaboard
One of the nice things about living on the Eastern Shore of Virginia is how easy it is to go elsewhere. Sort of an oxymoron thought process– it’s good to be here so I can go elsewhere. But it’s true ! Virginia’s Eastern Shore is actually within a half day’s drive of many of the great spots on the East Coast, it’s the perfect place to buy a property which is a home base for get-a-way trips to lots of exciting events and places. About six hours from my office door to emerging from the Holland Tunnel onto Canal Street in Manhattan.. .. dim sum in Chinatown is calling to us. ( And we love the roast pork buns and coconut buns at Maria’s Bakery on Mott Street. ) About three hours to Charlottesville and the beautiful vistas of the Blue Ridge mountains and some of Virginia’s finest wineries ( www.monticellowinetrail.com ). About four hours to Baltimore, site of Inner Harbor and its fabulous aquarium and of course, Annapolis is nearby. And let’s not forget about Virginia’s Golden Triangle, the historic towns of Jamestown, Yorktown and Williamsburg, so close, only an hour and a half away ( www.historictriangle.com ), always lots of interesting things going on there. Over the Christmas holidays we nearly always visit Colonial Williamsburg ( www.history.org ) to enjoy the bonfires, fife and bugle corps , the nightly Illumination of the Christmas Tree, the stunning all -natural decorations, topping it off with a fabulous dinner at the Regency Room at the Williamsburg Inn.
Moonlight Illuminates The U.S. Capitol and The Festival Tents
I could wax on and on about places to visit within a half day’s drive but this post is supposed to be about going to the 2010 National Book Festival. www.loc.gov/bookfest/ This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Festival, held annually in Washington D.C., sited out on the National Mall, organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress. It will be the second time we have attended, having had a marvelous time at last year’s Festival we are really looking forward to going again. I had learned about the Festival some years ago but as September is a busy month in real estate, it’s really a difficult time to get away for several days. But last summer when I read about the 2009 Festival, so many authors, fiction and non-fiction, that I truly love and admire were scheduled to appear that it was simply impossible not to go ! ( Actually, once I discovered that Ken Burns, John Irving and John Grisham would be there, speaking and autographing their books, I can assure you that wild horses couldn’t have dragged me away. ) Irving’s novels, especially Garp, Owen Meany and Cider House, have long been favorites. ( Couldn’t really get into Son of the Circus but I met a fellow while standing in the long, long Irving book signing line who thought it was his best work and had re-read it six times. So I’m going to give it another shot this winter.) And who doesn’t like John Grisham — his work is so popular that he must be a multi- billionaire by now ! My husband and I both admire Ken Burns and so I toted four copies ( one for us, three for gifts ) of Burns’ then brand new National Parks book to be autographed — trust me when I say that after standing for almost two hours in his book signing line, ( in a light drizzle, no less, thank Heaven I brought those little yellow rain ponchos ), those four copies of National Parks seemed to weigh four hundred pounds and my arms had stretched four feet. ( I know it is better to give than to receive but the three people who got a signed Ken Burns book for Christmas owe me a new arm. )
The 2010 National Book Festival Poster
At any rate, the 2009 Festival, which was a two day event, also featured acclaimed authors Nicholas Sparks, Lee Childs and Daniel Silva (both of whom I particularly enjoy ), Michael Connelly, James Patterson, Judy Blume, Sue Monk Kidd, Jon Meachum ( whose book American Lion I had just finished reading ) and Gwen Ifill, the excellent moderator of PBS’ Washington Week, plus many other novelists, poets and non-fiction writers. About a thirty-fecta of literary talent, all in the very same place on the very same week-end. Can you believe it ??? Thank-you, Library of Congress !! Anyone who truly loves books and reading can appreciate the real thrill of attending the 2009 National Book Festival and seeing, hearing speeches by and getting books autographed by some of ones favorite authors . So although, for me, the 2010 Festival doesn’t have the same star power, my husband and I, a daughter and a friend are all looking forward to leaving the Eastern Shore, making that easy trip to spend the week-end in Washington DC and hearing Ken Follett, Scott Turow, Anchee Min, Michelle Norris of NPR and David Remnick speak and getting them to autograph their books for us — and yes, I’m thinking Christmas as well. ( A signed, first edition copy of a book by the giftee’s favorite author makes a great Christmas present, especially when it comes with the story of how the giftor stood in line forever in the sun/rain/dark of night, feet aching, just to get it autographed especially for them. ) So let’s hear it for books, authors and the brick and mortar book stores like Barnes and Nobles and Borders who hold the world within their four walls ! And let’s hear it for living on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, so centrally located that a whole other lifestyle dimension is opened by the ease with which you can get away to so many other places ! Applause, applause, applause, ad infinitum !
The Eastern Shore of Virginia Master Gardeners donated 500 hours of volunteer labor and the plants necessary to establish a demonstration garden of native plant species, the perfect compliment to the James Taylor bird habitat. I joined the Master Gardeners two years ago and have gained quite a bit of knowledge and experience in gardening, landscaping, plant diseases, and maintenance. The best part is making new friends and contributing to our wonderful community. Each new class that graduates has installed a garden in a public place and maintains it. The Virginia Eastern Shore community benefits also by the thousands of hours of volunteer work that the Master Gardeners donate each year in support of education and maintenance of public gardens.
