This SpudVenture started like many, we needed to assist Hillary at a craft fair. The fair was Art on the Green in Newcastle, Delaware. Did someone say Newcastle? I had it in my head that this event was in Dover, Delaware when I went to make our two night camp ground reservations, so I booked at Killens Pond State Park in Fenton, Delaware, much closer to Dover than Newcastle. When I realized my mistake a week or so later, I called the Delaware Park Reservation line to see if I could switch, but unfortunately the closer campground was fully booked. So, a little extra driving, but Spud never minds.
Friday night we left right after work and drove to the park, hoping to cook over an open fire as the next night was predicted to be rainy. With Friday night traffic and wood that wasn’t the driest, it became a very late dinner, but still good and we noshed until the veggie burgers and corn were ready.
In the morning we headed to New Castle and spent an enjoyable day at the event, which was right along the river, so when we weren’t helping there were things to see, places to walk, I even got a nap in Spud. Rain had been threatened for the day, which was later moved to the evening and just as we started to pack up the sky broke open. We did some creative packing and maneuvering of vehicles to keep things as dry as possible and made it work.
Being sweaty and tired, Steve and I stopped at a rest stop and used the shower in the van to get cleaned up. We were going to have dinner out but the place we picked didn’t work out and we decided to go to the campsite instead and use packed food for a simple meal.
The next day our final destination was Assateague Island, but we had plenty of time to get there, so we drove down the coastal route, stopping in Bethany Beach for a stroll. There was only a short boardwalk there and a few blocks of shops, so we moved on pretty quickly. Next we stopped in Ocean City, Maryland, our planned destination for “lupper”. It was early to eat and a beautiful day, so we walked the much more substantial boardwalk there. Despite the distance from our home, we have a favorite restaurant in town you can read more about in some other posts, but Mother’s Cantina again did not disappoint for flavor, offering vegan and gluten free and at a very reasonable price. I even had points to reduce the bill from their loyalty program.
From there we went on the short distance to Assateague Island. I had made reservations over the phone, hoping to get a site with water and electric hookups, but although those were not available (it’s a really popular place), the reservation agent was excited to find me a beach front spot. I thought that would mean we could see the ocean from the van and was a little worried as there were a few storms brewing during the week in the Atlantic. Not only did the storms turn out, but ocean front meant there was a big dune between us and the beach, but it was just a short walk over and we could hear the waves from the van when the refrigerator motor wasn’t running. We spent some time sitting on the beach enjoying the views and relaxing with our feet in the sand. The sunset from the other side of the island was lovely/ Excited to have a fire at the beach area, we got some more wood, which wasn’t much dryer than that left from the night before. We got a fire going and going out, and going and going out, etc. until we gave up for the night and went to enjoy a nice showers. Although we didn’t have hook ups the facilities were very nice and besides showers and bathrooms there was a big utility sink, always a plus for cleaning pans and such.
In the morning Steve rose early and made some coffee and took it and his chair onto the beach to watch the sunrise. Not being a morning person, I went back to bed and was dozing off when my phone rang next to my head. It was Steve calling to say, “you have to come to the beach, the horses are here!”. So now you understand the title here, I might be miserable most mornings, especially if woken, but wild horses dragged me easily from my bed. The reason I wanted to camp at Assateague had been that I heard the horses often showed up at the camp ground and there they were. With miles of beach and camp loops, they had chosen ours.
Steve told the story about how he had been facing the ocean, looking out when al of the sudden there was a nudge at his shoulder and a horse trying to take the phone from his hand, he hadn’t heard him approach. He was joined quickly by several other horses and we and slowly others spent a long time admiring and photographing them. Eventually I went for a walk up the beach to where the surfers were out. When I turned around I noticed the horses where heading over the dune to our camping area, since I wasn’t sure I could get through without getting to close, I cut through another area and came back to Spud as they were arriving. They hung around for a while and then moved on. It was worth the whole trip for this experience. It’s also a place I would love to camp and stay for multiple days, the setting, facilities and opportunities to explore are great. It’s also convenient to Ocean City and all kind of resources for shopping, dining and whatever.
After the horses moved on we were able to cook breakfast over the fire using the wood now dried out from the past night. We took our time relaxing and eventually packed up and drove over to the National Refuge on the other side of the island. We saw a few more horses and a few interesting birds, but nothing to top the mornings experience.
We drove west toward our next Harvest Host. We stopped at the zoo in Salisbury, Maryland. It was small with a few a limited number of interesting occupants but nice to walk around.
We wanted to get to our host during the check in time, but it winds up we really didn’t need to in this case. The biggest draw back to that was when we later wanted to cook dinner we had to drive all the way back to Salisbury from their remote farm because we needed to buy extra water for use in the dinner and to have some for the night and morning. The host was very nice and their farm, Eden Farm in Eden, Maryland doesn’t sell any products. We found a common interest and I plan to send them a gift soon. They offer the hosting so they get a free membership in Harvest Hosts. We were able to walk through their woods down by a stream and were visited by their goats several times. In fact we had to close the door to Spud while we were cooking and eating to keep them from trying to share our food. Later they tried to join us in a game of Phase 10, but their counting skills were lacking.
The final day of our trip we headed a little further west and south, stopping for breakfast at the Black Water Bakery and eatery in Cambridge, Maryland. Then on to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. We drove through the refuge and saw a few egrets and a heron and some lovely landscape. When we got to the visitors center after the drive through the volunteer told us they will have a lot of migratory birds in a month, but don’t have a lot of resident birds. He did direct to a short marsh trail where we walked before getting back on the road. We also spotted a gorgeous eagle in a tree.
Next we drove up to St. Michaels, a small town on the Eastern Shore. We were there many years ago and visited the interesting Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and lighthouse. This time we just walked though the town, along some of the waterfront and stopped at St. Michaels Winery where we tasted the local wines and choose a bottle for a later trip.
We had one more long stretch to drive, but broke it up by visiting a Peruvian Restaurant, The Chicken House we had been to before in Newark, Delaware for ceviche and tostones.
A stop at the free dump station just over the bridge to New Jersey and then homeward bound. Spud is now cleaned out, getting some more minor fixes and will patiently wait for upcoming SpudVentures.