Monday, October 13, 2008

TANGIER ISLAND VISIT

Description of our Tangier island trip. In a word - spectacular! I was almost born an Aquarian, because I love being on the water so much, and being on the Chesapeake Bay further proved the point. It was a gorgeous day, as you can see in the photos, and the one and a half hour trip to the island was great!



Main St., Tangier Island


Main St. at "rush hour"

A real "poser"




Our trusty craft

Beautiful bay homes




Heading out into the bay





Out in the open water, with a "friend"






Distant view of Tangier Island







Inner harbor at Tangier




Another "poser"





Pulling into Tangier docks








This says it all
Tangier Island itself has quite a history - it was discovered in 1608 by John Cook, and settled in about 1830 by members of the Crockett and Pruitt families. It presently has a population of about 600, with a cat population around 325! While we were there, we only spotted two of them! Go figure!

The island is only 4 feet above sea level, and floods quite often, but the islanders manage quite well , and evacuations are easily executed. There were several houses there that were being raised up on pilings, and it seems most of the dwellings there will follow suit in the future. They have a small fire dept, and a smaller hospital, although they have a mainland rescue squad that is always ready to respond. They have no jail, and perps are taken to the mainland ASAP. The crime rate is practically non -existant, but they did have a murder 10 years ago - a policeman shot a young man for not going to church one Sunday (so the story goes).

The people of Tangier are down-to-earth, hard-working types who are getting along just fine without all the "amenities" of mainland "big city" life. They have a microwave dish for phone service, and they do have cable, but the main mode of transportation is either golf cart, or bike.

If I had the means to do so, I could very easily exist there! It's my kind of place.

I might have a few more pictures for you at a later date, but I'm working on the shots that I got on our trip last weekend to the Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal. It's the Center that is operated by the Washington National Zoo, and is open to the public only one weekend during the year. Last year, it rained buckets, so we couldn't make it . This year the weather was perfect - lots of sun, but with a cool breeze. More on that trip later!

Hope you enjoy the Tangier pics!
DaveKay
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Images and history courtesy of DaveKay
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Thanks for sharing. Sounds like a very laid back, relaxed place to live, which right now sounds very good.
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Looking forward to our next 'trip'.
SAFE TRAVELS EVERYONE !!

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