“South of the James”

We explored south of the James River today. I picked up a pamphlet of the same and it lists 56 places to see. We have lots more to see on another trip but today was a good start.

We took the ferry from Jamestown to Scotland (both ways, the ferry arrived soon after we got in line so we never had a long wait).

First we went to ‘Smith’s Fort Plantation’ . The land was given to John Rolfe and Pocahontas as a dowry gift by Chief Powhatan. From ‘Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail’(www.johnsmithtrail.org) we learned John Smith wanted to build a defensive position on the southern shore of the James River- it was never completed. Two foot high earthworks remain and are considered to be the oldest structure of English origin in Virginia.- What we saw- The brick house built in 1765- was closed. There was a sign to the fort that we started to follow- we ended up next to a cow pasture- and the cows didn’t seem happy to have us there and there were a lot of large farm machines ahead of us. As we turned around one calf, who had been by the fence moved around so it was behind it’s mama- maybe we’ll go back some summer when everything is open.

Next we saw (from a distance because it was also closed) ‘Bacon’s Castle’ – the oldest documented brick house in English North America.

After that we headed for Smithfield, VA- there we found some places that were open.

We went to ‘Historic St. Luke’s Church’ (www.historicstlukes.org) It is the oldest (1632) surviving original Gothic Church in the US. We looked around the outside and at some of the gravestones. A lady came from the gift shop/meeting rooms building and said she had a key and would be glad to show us inside the church. She pointed out the structural items outside that made it a gothic building- and she pointed out the original board with wooden pegs in the entryway. Inside the church, the sounding board (a large round piece of wood hanging horizontally above the pulpit), the ‘in memory of Pocahontas /her Indian name/Rebeca’ stained glass window, and one spindle were all original. There is a pipe organ, a gift from Germany, about 1630,- the panels were painted to look like the inside of a church and the pipes looked like structural pillars (giving a 3-d effect)- really something to see. Also a gift from Germany- were the windows in the front of the church- a combination of stained glass and painted- beautiful and bright colors. In addition to lots of little facts about the church we talked about teaching and how she could get more subbing calls. Then she showed us the oldest stone in the graveyard and pointed out several more things about the grounds. We then went to the gift shop where more time was spent finding the boxes then in choosing the items (and we did look at everything in the shop before choosing the gifts). (We were there for a bit longer than we planned ;)) We then went to the historic area of Smithfield. We saw the ‘Old Isle of Wight County Courthouse’ and the Isle of Wight County museum. Both were interesting and again we were the only ones there.
It was a good day and we got to see some Christmas lights on the way back.

Assateague Island

We’ve done a lot of driving around. Like a lot of the other places we drove through, half the places are closed. But, there’s only a little traffic and we have a great campsite.

Today we drove around the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. It’s been a long time since we were there but they’ve closed one of the roads, the nature loop where you could drive all around the various habitats, so the only road is to the lighthouse and then it continues on to the beach. We saw the lighthouse, horses (from a little closer than across the bay), lots of different kinds of birds, two painters (both pretty good), had lunch on the beach (never thought we’d drive Bob’s car on the beach!), and on one of the trails we took saw lots of horsesh**(some old, some fresh)- but no close views of horses.
I think this has been the most peaceful part of the trip. Bob has had time to make some great meals. When we registered here we asked about several things including where to get fresh seafood. They sent us to ‘Ricky’s’ seafood and fresh produce- it looks like a small produce stand but he also had lots of seafood. Bob made crabcakes and fried scallops, and tonight we’re having a seafood soup he just made.

Tomorrow is supposed to be rain so we’re staying here one more day before we head for home.

The Ferry Ride, Delaware and Virginia!

Two campgrounds in a row without internet access. We knew the last place didn’t have internet but the AAA book said this one did- oh well.

Monday morning we took the Cape May- Lewes Ferry, It was pretty strange driving on board in the camper (we were the largest vehicle for that trip) We saw three harbor light houses on the ‘cruise’.


From there we went to the Delaware Seashore State Park. From our campsite we could see the Rehoboth Beach Bay in front of us and to the side. The park is right next to the Inlet from the ocean to the bay and most people come there (this time of year) to fish. It was fun to watch the boats try to fish and fight the tide and the wind. It was very windy the two nights we were there. The nights were clear and cold, but the sky was beautiful- lots of stars and we had gorgeous sunsets out the ‘dining room’ window.

While there, we drove down to Fenwick Island. We found the lighthouse – it wasn’t open- but there’s a marker on the sidewalk in front of the lighthouse marking the border between Delaware and Maryland. In Maryland it became Ocean City. (So we went to Ocean City, NJ and Ocean City, Md. We also spent some time wandering around Rehoboth Beach. We walked on the beach and the boardwalk and went to lunch at the Dogfish Head Brewery and Eatery.











Today, Wednesday, we drove south to Chincoteague, Va. What a difference traveling off season! We are camped right next to the bay and can see the Assateague Lighthouse from our camper! And, drum roll please….. with binoculars I can see wild horses in front of (bay side) the lighthouse!!!!! I spent the afternoon doing laundry while Bob finished setting up. I did find out where there is free internet so tomorrow we’ll go have ice cream and I’ll post this.
Today is really cold so we're having coffee and I'm having a milky way latte while we update this.
Maybe tomorrow or the next day we'll have ice crem while we do our updates.

New Jersey Lighthouse Challenge Day 2

We saw 3 more lighthouses today.

The East Point lighthouse is on the Delaware River. It’s way out a narrow road that has plank bridges. On the way back there was water in the road (1st time today- it happened a few more times) It was almost high tide. From the shore we could see three shoal lights.

It was almost an hour back to the Cape May Lighthouse. It was a nice day for a drive and we were on roads we’d never before traveled.


The lighthouse is part of the state park. From the Cape May ligthouse we could see the concrete boat I'd read about. Also on the beach at Cape May there is a cement building (top right of



picture). Bob asked, and he was right, it was a WW2 bunker. At that time it was totally covered in sand and they had to keep the entrances from either side shoveled out..

Our third and final light of the day was on Wildwood Island. There was lots of minor flooding covering a couple parking lots and parts of the road onto the island – we had just crossed the drawbridge and had no choice but to drive through it. We then headed north and drove through a fairly deserted Wildwood and North Wildwood. The Hereford Inlet Lighthouse looks like another Victorian House at first. There are beautiful gardens both in front and Oceanside.



I had only planned on three lighthouses for this part of the trip (I have such a nice husband and driver ;) ). And we have buttons from each lighthouse we visited.

Lighthouses Day 1

Great Day!

1st we went to Barnegat lighthouse . I hadn’t originally planned on this one, it was too far north. It was about an hour north and we drove through Harvey Cedars and Loveladies to get there. This island makes the Outer Banks look huge. Through most of the drive we were on the only North- South road. Lots of side roads and driveways, but as I looked down the ‘streets’ it was 3-6 rows of houses on each side of the ‘street’ and then a dead end. At one point the road, the island most of been wider there, we were on split into 2 two way roads- gave room for parking at some of the stores. Smooth traveling today but I can imagine it’s different in the summer. We got to the parking lot for the lighthouse and there were people with winter coats and gloves! It was cold and very windy by the ocean but not that bad. There used to be a keepers house but it’s been washed away. We were also introduced to all the ‘challenge’ stuff there- posters, lighthouses, t-shirts, hats, etc. (available at every place we went). It was the only one we did not climb.

Next we went to the Tucker’s Island Lighthouse www.TuckertonSeaport.org
This one is a re-creation and know holds information on the coast guard, pirates, and food of the area.
Our last Ligthouse of the day was the Absecon Lighthouse. www.abseconlighthouse.org
This one is located in Atlantic City. Bob did a great job driving in Atlantic City. We made it from the parkway to the lighthouse (North end of the city) without a single wrong turn! This was also the tallest lighthouse in New Jersey and the second one we climbed. There was lots of interesting history at each lighthouse.

After leaving the lighthouse we tried to find a way to get to the boardwalk near the places I wanted to stop. The only public parking lot we found was full. So we saw a little of the new Korean War Memorial from the car- what we saw was very nice. And we saw lots of cool buildings and still didn’t get lost! (And we didn’t use the GPS) None of my many maps showed public parking, only public transportation lines. Maybe next time. It was a great day and now we have to plan which lighthouses in what order for tomorrow.
Please check later for pictures

Cape May

Cape May is about 30 minutes south of here. The woman at the desk at the campground told us about the restaurant ‘The Lobsterhouse’; she also told us to go to the takeout fish market not the restaurant. We found it- right on the wharf. It was great. There were seats available on the outside back deck- waterside- but not many.

After lunch we drove around Cape May. WOW! The money people must have had to build the huge fancy homes and hotels! The money people must have to keep those places looking so good!

Then we found our way to the Cape May –Lewes ferry terminal and made reservations for Monday morning. It’s an 80 minute crossing- across the mouth of the Delaware Bay- should be interesting!


One of the tourist newspapers had an ad for ‘Indoor and Outdoor Trains of Secluded Acres Garden Center. It was on our way back to the campground and I thought it sounded interesting. It wasn’t. As Bob said the had a building with trains and a building with garden stuff.

We decided to stay here through the weekend because this weekend is the Annual New Jersey Lighthouse Challenge http: www.njlhs.org . We won’t make it to all of them but we should manage quite a few. Time will tell.

Lucy the Elephant

AAA triptiks have points of interest; I almost always click on them. When I saw ‘Lucy the Elephant’ it was immediately added to the trip. It’s a National Historic Monument! It’s a very large wooden structure that looks like an elephant. Click here for more information about Lucy the Elephant. We declined the tour. But as we sat there, while Bob figured out how to send the picture to Anna, a woman about 10-15 years older than us came out of the gift shop and she was also wandering and looking up at it. We told her we were sending the picture to our granddaughter Lucy. She told us her brother was in the Shriner’s hospital nearby for 5 years when he was young. Their parents always brought them to see Lucy the Elephant when they visited. She has brought her children and grandchildren to see it also.

As we were told, we found it with no problem. It was right on Atlantic Avenue in Margate City- even the water tower has ‘Lucy’ on it.

I didn’t know all the places on the Monopoly board were real places- looking at the map it’s strange to see Ventnor Ave, Pacific Ave, Reading….

We’re at the Whippoorwill Campground. It’s closing soon but it appears to be a busy place during the summer- pool, crafts, activities. Internet is at the picnic tables outside the office.(And was faster after the office closed). There are a lot of permanent sites – people have not only decks and or porches but rooms added on to their campers.

Tomorrow we’re headed south to Cape May and we’ll make reservations for the ferry Monday and check out another Oceanside resort town.