Posts Tagged ‘Chincoteague VA’

HERALDING SPRING – – THE 39th ANNUAL CHINCOTEAGUE EASTER DECOY AND ART FESTIVAL

Thursday, April 5th, 2018

DSC_9302Saturday was such a beautiful and warm day, compared to most of what we have shivered through this March, that on the spur of the moment Saturday afternoon we decided to take a ride up to Chincoteague, VA to attend the Annual Chincoteague Decoy and Art Festival which is traditionally held the Friday and Saturday before Easter. The 2018 event was the 39th Annual, a real testament to the popularity of this delightful show which provides an important opportunity each Spring for local and national carvers, artists and photographers to exhibit and sell their works. And for art enthusiasts, it offers a wonderful chance to meet the artists and, in the case of some of the many carvers, observe them at work. It can be fascinating to watch someone with talent in the process of converting a plain old lump of wood into a work of art ! Attendees also have the opportunity to vote for the show’s “Best Carver” and “Best Artist” and to bid at two silent auctions.

Unfortunately, the show closed at 4pm, and we were running late, so we didn’t have as much time to tour the exhibits as I would’ve liked. DSC_9306But it was loads of fun nevertheless. We did stop and watch Russell Fish carve for a bit, I love his work and our decoy collection at the Machipongo office of Blue Heron Realty Co. includes one of his striking carvings, a tall pelican perched on a set of 3 pilings. My husband and grandson got to chatting with carver Bob Gray about his two horned grebes, one shown before molting where it presents with drab black and white feathers and one after molting where its white plumage becomes a riot of colorful orangish red. Nature is so amazing ! In the course of looking around, my husband found a walking stick he liked, my grandson discovered an interesting old poster depicting the off-shore Barrier Islands and at the “Silent Auction” table, I fell in love with a small framed print of a colorful waterfront scene painted by local artist, Grover Cantwell. So we each left with our own little treasure, icing on the cake.

DSC_9351After a quick bite at Bill’s, a favorite Chincoteague restaurant, we took a moment to admire a quiet garden spot across from Bill’s, complete with a colorful full-wall sea life mural, dedicated to “Miss Ruby Lee”. I’m not sure exactly who Miss Ruby Lee was, but clearly, as the dedication scroll proclaims, she was much beloved by the Islanders. From there, we were off to a leisurely drive through the Assateague Wildlife Refuge. There’s always something unique to see at the Refuge and, once again, we were not disappointed. But the most unique sighting Saturday was not some interesting wildlife or a wild pony come to town, no, it was a person sitting in chair, stock still.

Dressed in a camouflage jump suit covered completely by netting stuffed with twigs, leaves, pine needles, looking for all the world like a pileDSC_9417 of yard debris, this patient photographer was zeroing in on two great white egrets fishing in the shallow blue stream, using a camera sporting one of the longest lenses I have ever seen, also in camouflage colors. ( A treat to watch, quite interesting, maybe on assignment from National Geographic or some other Nature publication.) In Tom’s Cove, a flock of tiny ducks was out in full force, foraging away. Cearly something totally yummy to ducks was stirring about underfoot because they ducked and dived and dived and ducked, just munching away, ignoring us completely. The last stop on the way out was …. Island Creamery ! In Cape Charles, we are lucky to have the ever-delicious, ever-amazing flavor combinations offered at the now-famous Brown Dog Ice Cream Shop. And on Chincoteague they have Island Creamery, also home to some excellent ice cream, of which we quite enthusiastically partook, the sweet conclusion to our lovely Spring afternoon adventure.

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Antares Rocket Launch On Wallops Island VA Scrubbed But We Had A Great Time Anyway

Thursday, April 18th, 2013
NASA photo of aerial view wallops island va launch pad

NASA Photo of Rocket Launch Pad At Wallops Island VA

It’s still hard for me to believe that the Eastern Shore of Virginia has entered the Space Age in an important way at Wallops Island, located at the extreme northern portion of the  Virginia Eastern Shore just a few miles from the Maryland state line, nearly an hour and a half from  our stomping grounds in Cape Charles VA.  Wallops Island has long been home to what I have generally thought of as a rather remote NASA outpost for launching weather satellites, etc.,  but no longer, its entered the big time.   Now named the Mid Atlantic Regional Spaceport and an important part of a NASA program to commercialize space efforts, Wallops is about to begin a whole new life as the re-supply location  for the USA team’s efforts on the International Space Station. For reasons which I don’t entirely understand – it is rocket science after all –  the physical aspects of Wallops, latitude, longitude, something, make it one of the few places in the US perfect for launching  satelites and launching rockets with payloads into orbit  destined for the Space Station.  So now a  company by the name of Orbital Sciences Corporation  has  a contract with NASA to  fly 8 resupply missions to the Space  Station  from little ole Wallops Island and is in the process of test flights of  its Antares rocket and its companion  Cygnus cargo spacecraft there.  ( The Orbital Sciences story is pretty interesting in and of itself because it was the brainchild of  the folks behind Pay Pal.  Who could have guessed that all those little Pay Pal fees would be enough to launch a brand new space enterprise ? )

People leaving after Antares rocket launch scrubbed at Wallops Island June 17, 2013

Leaving after Antares rocket launch at Wallops Island scrubbed 4/17/13

Which brings us to  yesterday.  My husband,  who loves the concept of flying in outer space,  thought it would be interesting  for us to go watch the launch of  the Antares rocket and educational for the young  grandkids to see it too. Unfortunately, one was out of town, one was home  with a fever,  which left just one able to go with us.  So off we went,  Hubby, 11 year old grandson who is in the Rocket Club at school, and moi, a little bit on the late side,  surprise, surprise,  but we made good time, remembered to slow down at Temperanceville so as not to get caught in their 45 mph speed trap,  ( still looking for temperance in Temperanceville, which by the way is only a short distance from Modest town) .  We took a back road to a little neighborhood which we knew overlooked one of the small bays between the mainland and Wallops which we thought would offer a great view and not be too crowded, arriving a mere 10 minutes before launch time. No sooner had we pulled into the only parking spot left on the whole road and begun walking  across the grass to where about  50 other folks had lined up folding chairs to watch the event, when somebody shouted out, Mission Scrubbed  and everyone began to leave.  We waited around a bit,  from our vantage point we could see everything perfectly,  the rocket standing tall on the launch pad and then puff, a huge cloud  of smoke, apparently from oxygen being released because of mission  cancellation,  still exciting to witness even without the liftoff.

Assateague wild pony standing in marsh

Chincoteague Ponies Have Distinctive Markings

With  a couple of hours of daylight left,  we decided to drive to the nearby Assateague Wildlife Refuge,  home of the well-known Chincoteague wild ponies.  The ponies, made famous by the book Misty of Chincoteague,  are part of the annual Chincoteague Pony Swim conducted in July each year by the volunteers of the Chincoteague Fire Dept. who care for this little herd of  distinctively marked wild horses, compact in size,  who live in the marshes, eating primarily salt  marsh grass and sweet hay that the firemen put out for them  in the  winter.  After swimming across the channel from Assateague to Chincoteague during the Roundup each year,  the young ponies are auctioned off,  the proceeds supporting the costs of maintaining the herd .  Pony Roundup Day is a huge tourist day, with literally hundreds of thousands of folks visiting Chincoteague for the Swim, which is the reason why  I’ve never  attended.  I just can’t imagine swiveling my neck 180 degrees around for a glimpse of a horse  with  200, 000 other folks crowded round trying to see the same thing.  But during the rest of the year it is not unusual to spot  a pony or two when driving through the Wildlife Refuge.  Didn’t see any ponies yesterday but we did decide to  stop along the oceanfront beach and watch the waves rolling in for a bit.  But even more fun was watching a fellow who was  getting into surf casting big time, three  extra fishing poles stuck in the sand  and  making some hefty casts into the rolling surf with the fourth.   Didn’t  catch anything while we were there but he seemed to be having a mighty fine time anyway.

DSC_0072By consensus,  Wright’s Seafood Restaurant just a few miles away was selected  as our dinner destination. Wright’s is located right on Watt’s  Bay and I do mean right on— the front pilings of its foundation are actually right in the water. So if you  want to enjoy  waterviews during dinner,  Wrights is a great option if  you’re near Assateague.  In business since 1971, Wright’s is famous for it’s Flounder Imperial, a  fillet of  juicy flounder layered with crab imperial and gently browned under the broiler.  The sun was low in the sky as we  pulled into Wright’s , the views were  lovely,  the three of us  had a great time discussing the rockets our grandson is helping build in his school’s Rocket Club and looking at some images from the the NASA app on the iPad while waiting for dinner to arrive.  A fine time was had by all even though the mission was scrubbed — and we still  have hopes of trying again when the launch is rescheduled.     ( Posted by Marlene Cree, licensed Virginia agent with Blue Heron Realty Co., 7134 Wilsonia Neck Dr., Machipongo, VA )

“Art & Music on the Farm”–The Barrier Islands Center’s 10th Anniversary Celebration

Thursday, May 31st, 2012

The Eastern Shore of Virginia’s Barrier Islands Center  marked its 10th  anniversary with a walloping big  day- long celebration billed as “Art & Music on the Farm”.   Kudos to all the planners, the festival  was beautifully executed and great fun for all who attended.  A little history is likely in order here for those not familiar with Virginia’s chain of pristine off-shore Barrier Islands,  given world class status by the United Nations who has named it as one of  its Biosphere Reserves.  Stretching along Virginia’s  Atlantic Ocean coast  from Chincoteague, VA  all the way south to Smith Island at the convergence of the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay,  these barrier islands have a rich history as homes to hearty watermen,  destinations for tourists and hunters, outposts for Coast Guard stations and locations for lighthouses  as well as sheltering a singular diversity of  plant and animal life.  Except for Cedar Island, which still has a few remaining summer homes accessible only by boat trip,  most  of the remaining Islands have been purchased by the Nature Conservancy, 14 islands in all, some with romantic names like  Parramore, Rogue and Revel.  Purchased to  preserve them from development, the Conservancy’s protection has allowed the wildlife to flourish, especially critical for the many species of shorebirds and waterfowl that are now able to safely nest there.  It was to protect  the unique heritage of these  unique Islands that the Barrier Island Museum was established in 2002.  Located in the little hamlet of  Machipongo, VA , it has truly met its mission statement.  In the last 10 years, over 7500 artifacts from those by-gone days  have been collected for preservation and display at the Museum and the adjacent Almshouse Farm but the Center has ventured well beyond that initial mission, establishing itself as a place for classes for all ages, a lecture series,as well as a hands-on resource for local schools to teach young  children about the history and culture of the Eastern Shore .  ( Visit them at   www.barrierislandscenter.com  )

So Saturday’s anniversary celebration brought together the important 3 “F“s– Fun, Food and Fiddling and the equally important  2 “S” s-  Shopping and Sipping.    Under the leafy shade provided by the  Center’s  huge broad oaks, tables were set up for rest, dining or just enjoying a glass of wine from the tents set up by two local vineyards,  a tall cold glass of freshly brewed  iced coffee from Eastern Shore Coastal  Roasting Co. booth or perhaps a frothy pint from  Wendell Brewery’s travel truck.   Lots and lots to see, do and hear– from 40 little tents filled with local artists,  several booths bursting with flowers and colorful shrubs from local nurseries  to a sound stage set  for the 4 different musical groups set to perform.  We arrived just as the  Carribean group, Ban Caribe,  was finishing  its toe-tapping opening number to much applause, “we”  being husband,  daughter-in-law and 2 grandsons.    Right off the bat,  the boys gravitated towards  the little sheep pen where a freshly shorn mama stood in the shade with her sweet-faced tiny  lamb, carefully people watching  the people sheep watching.   From there,  we made our way over to the  Kids Activity Tent staffed by patient volunteers who helped the kids get started on making  their creative picture project while I drifed towards the Appleseed Nursery area which was doing a brisk business from their  colorful display of cut sunflowers and blooming perennials, so winsome to the eye.

                      

But it was the incredible  artwork  that  was the main focus of the day– some of the most famous artists on the Eastern Shore of Virginia  were there, works displayed  in  individual little white tents,  so many different creations,  a myriad of  art mediums.  Local painters like Thelma Peterson,  Mary Ann Clarke, Marty Burgess and Jack Richardson,  potter Elizabeth Hunt, sculpter  Maurice Spector,  metal artists  Copper Creations and Buck Doughty,  fine furniture craftsmen   Windsor Chairs, ceramics wizzard David Crane  and so many, many other fine artists and artizans were on hand, showing and selling  their unique creations.  Pungo Mills was there with their stone ground cornmeal, Chatham Vineyards was offering samples of  its  fine wine,  Machipongo Trading Company was madly selling cones of  delicious “Marsh Mud”,  the  super-delicious,  ultra- chocolate ice cream made homestyle by The Creamery.  Inside the Museum,  in the blissfully air-conditioned lecture room,  a  “Blues Workshop”  featuring the Harris Brothers was scheduled from noon to 1pm, followed by “Recollections from the Bay: Lives and Lore of Menhaden Fishing”  offered by the Northern Neck Chantey Singers.  Later in the day the well-known old time string band, Whitetop Mountain Band, was scheduled to appear out in the bandstand, see a video of that band below.  Out in the parking  lot,  a  sweet little collection of vintage cars caught a lot of eyes,  including my husband’s,  who has a real nostolgia for yesteryear automobiles.  All said,   having  enjoyed the 3 “F” s   as well as the  2 “S“s,  we set off for home, a few treasures in hand,  the end of a lovely Eastern Shore Day.

                     
http://youtu.be/9XUPTKmGzUI

(Posted by Marlene Cree, licensed Virginia agent with Blue Heron Realty Co., 7134  Wilsonia Neck Dr., Machipongo, VA)