If you follow my blog, you know I am all about spontaneous trips and De Tours. This trip started as a neatly planned vacation with some friends and became a lot of other unexpected things.
Getting campsites at Assateague Island is nearly impossible during peak Seasons and can vary in difficulty off Season. Therefore, when friends of our wanted to visit Assateague with us, staying in nearby Ocean City, Maryland, we booked our campsites well in advance. They also wanted to visit Lancaster County, Pennsylvania before returning to their New England homes.
There were a few quirks in the plan, as not only was Lancaster backtracking for us, but after spending a day there, Steve and I would have needed to get back to Delaware to camp and help our daughter with a Saturday morning event. Even with all that, it was planned and we were ready for the adventure.
Then, the night before our friends were supposed to arrive at our house to set out with us, there started to be gale warnings and information about a predicted Nor’easter. In the morning, before heading to work, I checked the forecast again and there were predictions for coastal flooding. In the end our friends decided not to make the trip due to the uncertainties of the weather and how it would affect them on the trip and getting back to their homes.
Now, in my office and Steve at his, trying to navigate all these conversations and plans, I called the campground at the State Park in Assateague where we were planning to stay. They said there was no flooding yet and it wasn’t expected to have issues getting on and off the Island. They said, some of the tent campers had packed up but there were still plenty of RVs there. I really didn’t want to pass up our time there and now we wouldn’t need to fit Lancaster in, so we decided to talk in the evening and decide if/when to leave.
Skipping all the details, we decided to leave early in the morning, stop on the way down so we could both work on the road. We moved again at lunch to get us closer to Assateague. As we were told, there was no problem getting there. When we checked in I asked the ranger about the Maryland Golden Age Pass. I had only read about a few days before when confirming our reservation. He said he could sell me one for $10, good for the rest of my life. It would take $28 dollars off of our camping this trip and give us free day admission to all Maryland State Parks and half price camping at all Maryland State Parks from Sundays to Thursdays. Umm…yes, please.
We then proceeded to our campsite, there was no flooding, but the winds were over 40 m.p.h. then and the whole time we were there. They were noticeable but not as much until we went to bed and the van was rocking, the bed felt like it was moving and the noise was loud. Still we slept and by the second night we barely noticed it. It was nice that our site was right next to the bath house and there were a few people around, but not many.
In the morning there was still lot of wind, but no rain. We decided to drive over to the National Park section of the Island, where there was more chance of seeing horses, like the few we had seen on arrival the night before. We passed the horses again as we drove around. The wind was also a bit less on the sheltered areas on the other side of the Island, so while Steve was working I was able to walk and see herons. Later I tried to walk on the beach, but that didn’t last long as I was getting sand blasted. It was impressive to see the waves. I was far from the only person on the beach, but I felt like one of those weather persons you see on the news reporting on storms with the weather roaring around them.
Our plan for the night, one of the few that didn’t change was to go into Ocean City, Maryland to one of our favorite restaurants, Mother’s Cantina. We had no problems getting there, but noticed a lot of flooding on bayside streets, we later heard the flooding the next day was even worse.
The restaurant was dry and the food tasty and plentiful as usual. The only drowning was in one of their house margatritas. They offer in addition to salt or sugar for the glass rim, a chili – lime mixture, which was delicouls. They have vegan cheese and many options for gluten free. The left overs also made a great breakfast the next morning.
Steve had taken Friday off of work, for the original plans but decided to keep it, with our uncertain plans for that day and the following as the storm continued to increase. A friend from the West Coast, messaged us on Thursday and asked if we were at home as she was passing through our area on a road trip from New York to North Carolina. We told her where we were and tried to make a plan to meet up, but with the uncertainty of her plans and ours, we just couldn’t seem to get together. The event our daughter was supposed to do Saturday was postponed, so now we had another free day and Sunday if we decided to stay out. We did head toward the Annapolis bridge on Friday, in case we could make a meet up with our friend work and when it was obvious it woudn’t, started to head North in Maryland, but before that, there were a few more Assateuge things to do..
First thing we did after breakfast and packing up was to take one more drive along the road where the horses had been hanging out. We were not disappointed.
Then we stopped at the visitor center for the National Park, so I could get a picture and add some stamps to my National Park’s book.
Last planned stop for the morning was gluten free bakery,Boulangerie at a gluten free B&B in the town of Berlin. We picked up a few breads and treats for a later time and then headed back to the van to make a plan. As I mentioned we headed toward the Eastern Shore of Maryland with no real route in mind. A lot of driving and research along the road lead us to Easton, Maryland. We considered doing ice cream for lunch, but the ice cream spot in town only had one vegan flavor and a few sorbets, so we decided on a more traditional lunch instead. We went to Eat Sprout, which is a café with a large refrigerated section of sandwiches, salads, bowls and more. Everything is labeled with ingredients and allergen and we picked a noodle bowl and a kale slaw to share. Both were very tasty.
Steve was interested in a nap, so a great opportunity for me to explore one of the two record stores in town. I never did get to the second, as the owner at Spin Groove Records, kept me busy with different things to look at and send pictures to our daughter for choosing for HillarysHandmade. Around that time also, I decided to try and book a Harvest Host stay for that night, further up the Eastern Shore. We had never done a request on such short notice but thankfully, the host responded rapidly, so Pondview Farm near Chestertown, Maryland was our next stop.
The Harvest Host was a very large farm. They had a lovely secluded secluded area for Harvest Host guest, even a small self serve store with snacks, RV supplies and firewood. We got firewood and had our first campfire / campfire dinner in a while. Then we just sat by the fire and relaxed until the wind started to pick up.
We did wake to some rain in the morning but by the time we headed into Chestertown for their Saturday morning farm market, the weather was mostly clear. They had a large number of vendors for a small town and we were able to stock up on veggies and dips for the coming week.
As we were walking to the farm market, we saw a sign for the record store in town, which opened about 15 minutes after we finished shopping. We stored our purchases and took out some leftovers and things from the fridge for an impromptu breakfast. By the time we finished we went to check out the store where they had a number of dollar bins for albums and empty covers. With pictures, Hillary made some selections and we were on to figure out the rest of our day.
I saw that there was another Farmer’s Market about 20 minutes North, so we headed that way. We got to the property of Bohemia Manor Farm, which was winery with lovely grounds but saw no tents. Going in to ask, we found out they had cancelled the market due to the weather. We thought about staying for a wine tasting that would have started shortly after, but neither of us wanted wine that early. The restaurant which was a bit later, had a Brussel sprout appetizer that was right up our alley, but we were still full from breakfast, so decided to move on and explore there on a future trip.
Just up the road was Chesapeake City. We almost missed the turn off for the historic part of the city, as we didn’t realize it was one side of the river and the newer city on the other. Once we made the turn we found there was lot of traffic and very little parking. There was an “extreme boat docking” event going on and we decided exploring the quaint area would also have to wait for another time.
At that point we made a decision, we were just about an hour from Lancaster, so we would go there after all. We could still make it in time to visit the Central Market, have lunch and check out some shoes at the SAS store, which has been on my list. Then we would most likely go home, since the weather was predicted to be very rainy on Sunday too.
We did those things, having lunch at our old standard for Lancaster, The Southern Market food court. After checking out the shoes we visited Rold Cold, an ice cream store that makes rolls with traditional or vegan ice cream, giving us lots of choices. It was good and a bit different, so fun.
We headed home, stopping for cheaper gas in Delaware and then the free dump station on our way. We got unpacked and used some of our leftovers for dinner while catching up with Hillary. Sunday’s weather was pretty miserable as predicted but Hillary and I made the best of it by visiting some record stores, as one was having a going out of business sale and it was between two others we visit occasionally. So although the adventure was far from the one we planned, we still had an enjoyable time.
Now, as I finished editing this post earlier today, I wound up needing to get my car towed, so Spud is going with us to the rescheduled craft fair in Delaware. If Sunday’s event near home gets cancelled, as the weather looks bad, we might be taking another unplanned night out. Either way, more planned and unplanned adventures soon.