Eastern Shore Ride Day 8 - Georgetown to Cambridge

 The last day of our Eastern Shore adventure was pretty uneventful. We rode back to where Jim's car was parked in Cambridge, through the Land of Industrial Chicken Production. 

This is a Purdue feed mill in Hurlock, MD.

There are vast expanses of flat agricultural fields around here. We rode through them all day, which was especially miserable because there was a strong headwind. And no forests or trees or anything to block the wind and give us a break. It was a 44 mile grind. It took over 5 hours.

We had lunch halfway at a rural market/gas station in Reliance, which is on the Delaware/Maryland state line. We are winning and winning some more with gas station fried chicken this tour.

All in all, this was a really fun and interesting week of bike riding. In eight days, I rode 420 miles.

Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/16575670598

Eastern Shore Ride Day 7 - Berlin to Georgetown

 It was the easiest ride ever today. Flat, 60 degrees out, strong tailwind, and only 36 miles. Why can't the tailwind be on the 60 mile day and the headwind on the 36 mile day?

We slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, stopped for snacks at a gas station, and got in at 3, when Quality Inn check in starts.

This is a really nice and really cheap Quality Inn. It's next to a huge shopping strip with a Walmart and a beer store. There is a Fins Oyster Bar for dinner too. Not scenic, and not glamorous, but way, way cheaper than Berlin.

Berlin was so fun though.

We are in Delaware now, and most of the day was spent riding in Delaware.

Delaware is the same as Maryland when you are away from beach towns. There are lots of stinky chicken houses, and farm fields where they grow food for chickens. And forests in swamps. Today was mostly about the chickens.

One weird thing here is the fields are all planted with radishes.

I've ridden by many fields so planted, and I was puzzled by what was planted, because it sure looked like radishes and I was mystified about why anyone needs so many radishes. Do chickens eat radishes? Today, I pulled one up, and it sure enough was a radish. The picture this app says it's a radish.

So I asked perplexity.ai "Why do farmers in the Delmarva peninsula plant radishes in the fall?" The answer is that it's a cover crop to improve the soil and to take up and stabilize excess nutrients so they don't end up in the bay. The radishes are left in the fields to decay.

Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/16565698319

Eastern Shore Ride Day 6 - Crisfield to Berlin

 Time to say goodbye to bleak and sad Crisfield. The view over the bay from the condo is amazing though. That's Smith Island in the distance.

Monday morning in Crisfield has even more limited dining options than Sundays, so we made do with the First National Bank of McDonalds.

A crazy person was ranting and raving inside Micky D's, and he struck up a conversation with us about our bike tour. 

Turns out he had a great tip about the ruins of a very old church just off our route, in the tiny but ancient town of Rehobeth, MD.

The church in ruins was built in the 1780s, on the site of an earlier church from the 1680s. I can only imagine what it was like here in the 1600s. There probably wasn't a giant chicken house behind the church then.

Since we are riding back roads as much as possible, the only place for lunch was Pokomoke City, where we chose gas station fried chicken over McDonalds again. 

Turns out the Krispy Krunchy chicken was fantastic, and the sides were made there and fantastic too. This could be the next R&R Taqueria, which also started in a Sunoco station.

There are a surprising number of old churches back in the woods here in the lower Eastern Shore. I think there are almost as many churches as houses.

Today was a long day. It was sunny and nice out, but it was 60 miles with plenty of headwinds. We made it into Berlin right when it was getting dark.

Berlin is quite a nice town. It's just inland from Ocean City, and there are lots of restaurants and a fancy historic hotel. It's a town for romantic getaways for couples with a lot of money. For people like us who are cheap bike tourists, well there are a lot of cheap motels 20 miles farther along the way to the beach with McDonalds next door.

Since the Atlantic Hotel is near brewpubs and breakfast options, we booked two expensive rooms, because this is still the best option. The room is so small the bike barely fits inside.

We had a lot of fun at dinner last night, first at the Berlin Brewing Company two blocks over, then at the hotel bar. At the bar we were sitting next to a couple where the woman was trying to set the guy up with one of her friends. She said she was a turtle and he was a Nittany Lion. Jim said his wife went to Penn State, and I asked her if she had ever been to the 'Vous. Which got her going ("Of course! I was in a sorority practically next door!") and now we are best friends for life, until she had to get a ride home so as to leave her friends she was setting up with no escape. They were still talking when we went up to our rooms.

Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/16556480698

Eastern Shore Ride Day 5 - Chincoteague to Crisfield

 It's Day 5, and for the first time the sun has come out. Sunshine is so nice.

And it was a very scenic day, featuring salt marshes and forests.

Sometime there were chicken houses hiding in the forest. There were a lot of chicken houses not hiding in the forest too.

And sometimes there were bald eagles hiding in the forest.

Bald eagles are abundant on the Eastern Shore. I've seen dozens on this trip. They eat dead animals on the side of the road with the turkey vultures.

Our end town today was Crisfield, "Seafood Capital of the World". Every soft shell crab comes from Crisfield, I hear. It's a big seafood processing place, and it used to be even bigger. At one time, Jim says, there was an overnight direct train from Crisfield to New York City to deliver fresh seafood to fancy restaurants.

But these days, it is very beat down. Population is 2500, and vacant buildings abound.

My goal was to get in to Crisfield before the Ravens game started at 1:00, and find a bar or restaurant where I can get food and watch the game. The challenge was the big headwinds on the last 20 miles of the ride. With a major effort, and by abandoning Jim, I made it. To discover that there are no bars in Crisfield, and only two restaurants open, neither of which have a TV at all. 

We are staying at Jim's sister's condo in Crisfield, which would be the only place possible to watch the Ravens. Why on earth would anyone buy a condo in Crisfield? Because it was really cheap, Jim says. Apparently, right before the financial collapse in 2009, some foolish developers thought Crisfield would be the next big boating resort, and they built a bunch of condo towers on the waterfront. Crisfield is clearly not the next big thing, and so we are here in a very nice condo with a spectacular view in the saddest waterfront town ever.

So I wound up riding around Crisfield for a half hour waiting for Jim to catch up, because the only place we are going to watch the Ravens is in the condo. My mission became "where can we find beer and takeout food that we can bring to the condo on our bikes?"

There is a beer store that was open, and where the is a will there is a way.

And there was a tasty takeout BBQ stand, which was open because the owner did not want to be home helping his wife put up Christmas decorations, he said.

We got to watch the second half, where the Ravens (who do not look good) pound on the Jets (who are bad beyond belief). In the comfort of the fancy condo.

We ventured forth for dinner at the only restaurant in town, the Waters Edge Cafe, a couple blocks away. It was busy at lunch, but it was empty at 7:00. 

Here is a picture of me, accepting that I have missed the first half of the Ravens game, but at least I have a bunch of BBQ and beer in the panniers.

The Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/16546761233

Eastern Shore Ride Day 4 - Salisbury to Chincoteague

 No stinky chicken houses today! Instead it was a beautiful ride through forests and wildlife refuges.

There was light rain all day, which was actually no big deal, and a nice tailwind. We knocked out 55 miles and we were done by 4:00. All in all, a terrific day of riding.

We rode by the Nassawango Iron Furnace, which is a historical landmark. They made bog iron here in the 1830s. There used to be several furnaces in Elkridge where I live in that time period, but they are gone now. likely because their bricks were valuable and were reused.  Also because they exploded when the river flooded while they were in blast. The Nassawango furnace is intact and preserved. Probably because it's in the middle of a swamp far from anything and it was never worth salvaging the bricks.

The whole site is a museum, with various support buildings still there that were part of the iron-making operation.

It's all run by the Nature Conservancy.

Lunch was at the scenic town of Snow Hill.

And just a bit later, we crossed into Virginia. We had a lot of quiet back roads today.

We are in Chincoteague tonight.

Chincoteague is an island between the mainland and Assateague Island, which is a long barrier island next to the ocean. Assateague is famously home to wild ponies, which possibly descend from the survivors of a shipwreck in the 1500s. The herd is managed by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department, who round them up every year and auction some off to keep the herd at a sustainable level. Sure beats running a Bingo game.

To get to Chincoteague, you have to ride down a 5 mile causeway, which mostly has no shoulder and is pretty much no fun. One side of the causeway has billboard after ugly billboard.

Chincoteague is a popular low-key vacation spot in the summer. There is a nice undeveloped beach on Assateague, which is a wildlife refuge with fantastic birding. This time of year, it's pretty dead.

There are a couple restaurants open, and I had a ton of oysters for dinner at Danny's.

There are two big motels right at the bridge, a Comfort Inn and a Hampton Inn. The Comfort Inn is cheaper, and humorously, the Comfort Inn's parking lot is jam-packed with work trucks, while the Hampton Inn is deserted. You know you have the right place when all the highway crews are staying there. 

The Comfort Inn is really nice, especially for a Comfort Inns.

Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/16537298385

Eastern Shore Ride Day 3 - Cambridge to Salisbury

 Today, Jim and I had a typical day of riding across the Eastern Shore, to the quaint town of Salisbury, where there are interesting local businesses.

You may have heard of these guys.

Back in the 80s when I would drive to the beach, I would always stop at the McDonalds across from the Purdue plant and eat some McNuggets as one semi truck after another carrying chickens would drive in.

Today we road through classic Delmarva Peninsula scenery. It's flat, there are endless fields where they raise chicken food, and many chicken houses.

The chicken houses are very stinky ("The Smell of Money!" per the locals) and all the chicken poop produced is an ongoing environmental nightmare which is directly related to the poor health of the Chesapeake Bay. You can have tasty chickens or tasty oysters. Pick one.

Jim spent the morning in Cambridge working, so we didn't get going until 1:00 after lunch at the tasty Cambridge Diner. You know you have a winner when the unassuming looking restaurant's parking lot is overflowing with pickup trucks.

We knocked out 40 miles to Salisbury, and were in right before dark. There was almost no US 50 today, we had to do a circuitous route because no bikes are allowed on the US 50 bridge over the Nanticoke River. The bridge over the Nanticoke in Sharpstown was the highest elevation of the day at 60 feet.

The Jim and Drew Bike Tour Lodging Plan is always "Find the Cheapest Motel where you can walk to the Brewpub". Tonight it was a LaQuinta, for $100, which is two blocks from EVO Brewing  according to Google Maps. Which I booked yesterday. So we ride to where the LaQuinta was supposed to be and see no motel. Jim was saying he knows there is a motel around here because he has stayed at a Holiday Inn here many times. I check my confirmation email and see I have booked a room at a Doubletree. 

Turns out, the LaQuinta only became a Hilton Doubletree the day before. Which is why there are no signs on the building. I was apparently the first person the desk clerk had ever checked in. The manager was looking over her shoulder guiding her through the process. "But he doesn't have a car. What do I do?"

This is a very weird place. The hotel is halfway through a transformation from a very horrible LaQuinta to a fancy Doubletree. Our room is very nice and new, but the door handle jams and you have to beat on it to make it open. The lobby is under construction, but there is a fancy restaurant open for business. There is still plenty of LaQuinta to be removed, like all the names carved into the wood inside the elevator, likely from past (and possibly present) long-term residents on public assistance. 

But the Brewpub was very close and very delicious.

I know that crab cake is tiny, I got a small one on purpose because I wanted to try the calamari. It was a good crab cake though.

Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/16527555308

Eastern Shore Ride Day 2 - Tilghman Island to Cambridge.

 Today I rode 20 miles the other direction on the dead end road to Tilghman Island, with 15 or 20 more detours to the ends of other dead end roads. Because scenery.

 And filling in squares in Veloviewer, that's why.

I came up on this huge estate at the end of one of these roads. It appears to be a hunting lodge (presumably for ducks) and a shooting range.

The sound of gunfire off in the distance, I've grown so used to it now.

I went by another huge estate south of St. Michaels. There was a McLaren supercar pulling out of the long lane that leads back to the mansion.

There are tiny old towns at the crossroads when you are off the main roads. Here is the post office in Wittman, MD, population 315. 

All of this land is at very, very low elevation. It won't take much sea level rise to wipe it all away.

I had a pizza at a place in St. Michaels recommended by Mary. It was a Wine Bar.

I shared my concerns about sweaty bike riding me degrading the wine bars in St. Michaels, and Mary informed me that this wine bar has an enclosed patio in the back, where they allow dogs. "It Will Be OK".

This wine bar has "Detroit Style" pizza. Here is my chef's special, with fresh mozzarella, prosciutto and arugula, with balsamic vinegar drizzled on it. It was very tasty.

It seems my bike riding buddy Jim has had a thing for Detroit style pizza lately, so I showed him this pizza. He was aghast.

He says real Detroit style pizza is cooked in steel pans that once held nuts and bolts on the assembly line in a GM plant. And does not involve arugula in any way, shape, or form.

Today's ride was 73 miles of wandering around. No wind, temperatures in the 40s. I only had to ride 6 miles to get to Cambridge, which included the horrible, terrifying Choptank River Bridge. Which is the only way to cross the Choptank River, of course.

Here I am at the end of it, grateful to have survived.

This bridge is nearly two miles long, with debris all over the shoulder and heavy high speed traffic right next to me the whole way.

But now I've met up with Jim, in our fine room at the Holiday Inn Express.

Which is right next door to a very old school and very deserted Chinese restaurant. Like all old school Chinese restaurants, it has tropical drinks. I had Mai Tais.

There was traffic backed up down the highway for chicken fingers at the new Zaxby's next door though. What is wrong with people?

Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/16518895252

Eastern Shore Ride Day 1 - Kent Island to Tilghman Island

 My friend Jim and I are going to ride around the Eastern Shore this week. He's going to be in Cambridge for his job on Friday, and we are starting from there. 

I decided to ride to Cambridge from the end of the Bay Bridge, and visit my friends Jim and Mary in Tilghman Island. So today. Debra drove me across the bridge and dropped me off at the Valero in Stevensville,  and I rode to Tilghman. 

I rode 70 miles. Temperatures were in the 40s, It's totally flat, and there was a tailwind much of the way. I meandered around a lot exploring, which meant I only had to ride on the shoulder of US 50 for about 7 miles.

Tilghman Island is pretty remote. It's at the end of a 20 mile road, mostly through nothing. Here I am at the end of the road.



I confess I was befuddled about why Jim and Mary would choose to move to a remote island in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay, with the plan to eventually retire there. I had this vision of them living amongst corn fields and chicken houses. Turns out Tilghman Island is not like that, and it's actually pretty cool. It's basically a resort town for recreational boaters. They have a sailboat.

Historically, Tilghman was the home of watermen. (For folks not from Maryland, a "waterman" makes his living by harvesting seafood from the bay). Watermen have lived on the islands in the bay for centuries, they have a unique culture, and an unintelligible accent. According to Jim, Tilghman once had a much larger population, and had an oyster cannery. Which is now the clubhouse at their yacht club.

The waterman days are pretty much over. Maryland had a very unique approach to regulate the oyster harvest from overfishing. Basically the idea was to make harvesting oysters a complete pain in the butt by requiring that oyster harvesting could only be performed using a wooden sailing ship called a "skipjack". Only watermen are going to do this, because that's how they have harvested oysters since time immemorial. Tilghman was the home of the skipjack fleet. Nonetheless, the oyster population collapsed in the 1990s due to pollution. Jim says there are still a couple skipjacks in Tilghman, and if you want you can pay money to go work on one for a day. Which he did.

Jim sends this additional information about watermen and skipjacks:
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One correction regarding waterman and oystering. It is still a big business here and there are a lot of watermen and boats that go out every morning. They are allowed to harvest the oysters using dredge equipment from power boats, but they have lower quotas. They can (and do sometimes) still use the remaining skipjacks, which are allowed a larger quota. The oyster population has been increasing as of late, but nowhere near what it was back in the day. Here are three skipjacks rafted up at Sandy Point (L-R: Rosie Parks, Thomas Clyde and Rebecca T. Ruark; the last two are based in Tilghman):


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So Tilghman is a quaint small town, with lots of stuff going on all summer, and perfect if you own a sailboat. It's blissfully dark and quiet at night. This may actually be worth living 35 miles from the supermarket. 

To get to Tilghman Island, you have to go through the very fancy town of St. Michaels. There are many shops and restaurants there. There are at least three wine bars. I stopped for lunch at the Carpenter Street Saloon, and had a delicious shaved prime rib sandwich. I figured a "Saloon" would be more likely to tolerate a sweaty guy who rode in on a bike than a "wine bar".

Wandering around on back roads to get to Tilghman Island was really great, although it made the ride take much longer than necessary. This is not the land of chicken houses. It's mostly pine woods, with some farms and estates apparently about duck hunting. It's really beautiful.

Here's the Strava track: 

https://www.strava.com/activities/16508985730