On the Road Day 6 to Day 23

It is time to bring you up to date with our trip so far - it has been quite a ride!

Day 6 to 8 Cape May, New Jersey
Once we were moved to a quiet spot in the campground we really enjoyed Cape May. It was very touristy but our first opportunity to get out on the beach and that was fun - cold but fun.

Tara was anxious to get in the water but it was way too cold wade in with her.

Day 9 to Day 12 - Jane's Island State Park in Maryland
We took the ferry from Cape May to Lewes, Delaware then a short drive to Jane's Island State Park on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.

This was Arch's first experience getting The Adventure Bus on a ferry. He did great. After the Tappan Zee Bridge any narrow spot is possible!!

We loved Jane's Island State Park. It is a very under-used park in an out-of-the-way location and the area was fascinating. We enjoyed many opportunities to meet local people and learn about the area. The town of Crisfield was next to the park and has been really impacted by the US recession. Many closed businesses, unfinished condo developments, etc. Additionally, at one time there was a big plan to run a ferry across the Chesapeake to Crisfield, thus making it easier for visitors from Baltimore and Washington to get there. This didn't happen but resulted in much over-development of the area.

Farm stands still operate on the trust system here

While at Jane's Island we drove across the state to spend a day at Assateague National Seashore for a picnic and a walk on the beach.

Miles and miles of beautiful beach. This part was for people (and animals) only, but further south was a large area (miles) where you could take your vehicle on the sand - with a permit. A lot of surf fishers do this.

This horse was enjoying a swim at Assateague National Seashore

More on our visit to Jane's Island here

Day 13 and 14 - First Landing State Park, Virginia Beach

Our trip from Cape May to Virginia Beach started well -  another beautiful day. We were motoring along, then bang! A blow-out! Arch drove slowly along the side of the road until we found a place to pull off. We thought the day was lost. Road side assistance was a couple of hours away. Then along came Sammy.

He was on his way home from a medical appointment (kidney dialysis), noticed our flat tire and pulled in to offer his services. His business is changing truck tires and moving trucks around. And he had all the equipment to change our tire in the back of his truck. We decided to forego roadside assistance and hire Sammy. The tire was changed in a flash and in 30 minutes we were on our way.

Crossing the 17 mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel was like driving on the ocean. We crossed this before but high up in a motorhome you see so much more and the experience is really different..

Although at least 4 experts, including Sammy (he thinks we hit something on the road that caused the tire to blow-out), told us our tires are fine but, we knew they were old so decided to put 6 new ones on The Adventure Bus while in Virginia Beach. Expensive but worth it for peace of mind.

We did not enjoy Virginia Beach. The folks at the state park were more concerned about enforcing rules than supplying services and they charged $5 per night PER PET. We paid the $15 for Tara but did not tell them about Princess. So we were not sad to leave when they closed the park because of the approach of Hurricane Sandy

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Incidentally, Tara and Princess are doing great.

Waiting for the tire to be changed - she lies on the floor when we travel

Princess wants to know what is going on

We are calling her Princess Super Kitty now. She loves The Adventure Bus, mostly sleeps on the bed while we travel but occasional comes to sit with me and watch the world go by.

Day 15 and 16 - Falls Lake State Park, North Carolina

We went there to get out of Sandy's way. Falls Lake is a beautiful park just 10 miles from Raleigh-Durham area and proved to be a great spot to stop. The cities are beautiful and easy to get around. We used this stop to spend more money and get re-connected to the rest of the world via a Verizon MiFi device. We love it. We purchased the device and pay as we go for internet.

In avoiding Sandy we missed our stop on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The park we reserved a spot in was closed. This was a real disappointment as this is a beautiful area.

Day 16 to Day 18 - Wilmington, North Carolina

As they were closing Falls Lake State Park for the season on Oct 31 we left and headed back out to the coast. Wilmington barely escaped Sandy so we booked a night at the KOA there and off we went. We are not crazy about private campgrounds - they tend to be very crowded - but we did enjoy this one. It was quite a treat to have cable TV to follow Sandy, a really great laundromat and free internet - lets us save our Verizon time. When it became apparent that the campground at Cape Hatteras was not going to reopen anytime soon we decided to stay here for two more nights.

So we spent one day exploring Wilmington, a beautiful, historic city. Rebecca, you would love this vintage clothing shop:

The shop was closed. This is only the part of it that was out in a little art & antique market we stumbled upon:

I bought a scarf. It is very pretty but I think I bought it just so I could slip my money under the door:

This stop also gave us our first chance to play golf:

Because we leave Tara in The Adventure Bus we can only play 9 holes and finding courses where you can do this is not easy but we did find this funny little one between Wilmington and Kure Beach. It also operated on the trust system. We seem to be running into a lot of this. Wonder if it would work at Bay Hammocks.

Day 18 to 23 - Myrtle Beach State Park, North Carolina

We are back on track and really enjoying our stay in Myrtle Beach. The beach is gorgeous, of course, and it is warm enough to let Tara go out in the waves. Once again there are horses on the beach.

Lots of them. On Saturday, 1200! A fund-raiser of some sort for the Heart and Stroke Association.  Boy, did they make a mess of the beach - horse poop everywhere. But by Sunday the tide had washed it all away and the beach was usable again.

We found a great golf course to play - 27 holes divided into 3 nine hole segments. Short and fast. Perfect for us.

And the State Park in probably the nicest so far:

The 1/2 K entrance was second only to Fox Harb'r

It has a private beach and fishing pier

And we can walk along the beach to the commercial area - it is about 1 mile

We could easily spend another week here but leave tomorrow for Hunting Island State Park, also in North Carolina, and more adventures.

Incidentally, to enlarge the photos, simply right click on them.

Jane’s Island State Park and Crabbing in the Chesapeake Bay

Years ago, when we owned a seafood restaurant in London, ON, it was a big day when soft-shelled crabs arrived from the Chesapeake Bay. These crabs moult once a year and are considered a one or two week a year treat and a great delicacy as their new shell is very soft and you pan fry it and eat the whole thing.. Even the hard shelled Chesapeake blue crab is quite expensive and not often available in restaurants outside the Chesapeake area so we were anxious to have a feed while there. The experience of cooking and eating them is quite different from the soft-shell ones.

The crabs were not moulting last week when we were at Jane’s Island State Park outside Crisfield, MD  but the hard-shelled variety were readily available.

There was even a crab on the water tower

We were really excited to learn that we could go crabbing in the waterways in the camp ground.  So guess what we did for my 70^th birthday – we went crabbing. And had a ball.

Chesapeake Bay blue crab

First we needed to collect the tools we needed – a net, a ball of string and some turkey necks to use as bait.

This shop sold crabbing supplies and fresh, frozen crabs or steamed crabs which you could eat there or take home.

What you do is tie the turkey neck to the end of a string. Lower it into the water until it touches the bottom. Then tie the other end to the dock in some way. And wait. Didn't seem too complicated but it is always good to have an experts help. Phil and his girlfriend, Carol, were camping two sites down from us and spent their days crabbing. He offered to show us what to do and we gratefully accepted.

He showed us how to secure the turkey neck to the string so we don’t lose it.

We put about 6 lines in the water. Then we waited until the lines started to tighten and move. This indicated that we had a crab dining on the turkey neck. Then you must spring into action very carefully, pulling the string, crab and turkey neck up until you can get the net underneath and scoop up the crab without losing it.

Apparently the crab can see and hear very well and if spooked, will let go of the turkey neck and get away. We lost a lot that way J

Checking the lines

 Once caught, you shake the crab from the net, pick him up very carefully

 and put it in a container with a bit of water.  If the crab is less than 5.25’ wide (across the back shell) or a female you must throw it back in – we returned a lot to the bay.

Phil showed us how to rub the crab’s underside to put him to sleep, the same as you would do with a lobster.

While Arch tended the crab lines Carol showed me how to remove the meat from the cooked crab. It’s called “picking the crab”. Usually the table is covered with newspaper and everyone sits around picking crab and drinking beer. You need a lot of crab per person – at least 4 to 6.

It is important to discard the little pointy pieces of cartilage on the crabs underside. Called “the devil’s fingers”, they are said to be poisonous.

By the time evening fell Arch had 6 good size cabs so off we went to get some beer to use to cook them, and drink with them. Our first experience with a drive thru beer and soda shop – interesting.

 Most people told us to steam them with water but then we met another fellow on the dock who gave me this recipe:

Steamed Maryland Blue Crab

In a large pot put a couple of inches of water, ½ cup beer and ½ cup vinegar. Bring to a boil. Place the live crabs in a steamer basket and set in the pot. Do not let the crabs touch the liquid. The goal is to steam them not boil them.  Sprinkle with Old Bay Seasoning and steam 15 to 20 minutes until they turn red. You are also supposed to pour ½ cup melted butter over them. I did not do that but served the butter on the side, as we do for lobster.

Once cooked, dump from the steamer to a chopping board and let sit until cool enough to handle. Start picking.