Onancock, VA to Cambridge, MD

We left Cape Charles about 7:15 AM Monday and cruised north up the “Bay”.  We turned into the Onancock Creek and into the small town of Onancock, VA.  This is a small somewhat sleepy town.  It sits about 4 ½ miles off the Chesapeake Bay up Onancock Creek.   At the town docks there is a restaurant called Mallard’s.  The building was once a store and then a bank.  It dates back to the 1800s.  The small building beside the restaurant was once the main ferry terminal between Onancock and Tangier Island.  It is now a kayak rental place.

Mallard's

Crab baskets outside the restaurant (guess who is inside)

Old Ferry Terminal

In town the most notable site is the Ker Place.  This is a Federal style house built by John and Agnes Ker in 1799.  It was brought into their marriage by Agnes along with 365 acres of land.  John increased the size of the property to about 1500 acres over his life.  The grounds were a typical working plantation at the time.  John Ker was very involved in Virginia politics and served in the Virginia General Assembly.  He unfortunately had a very short life and died only 9 years after building Ker Place.  The house is now the site of the Eastern Shore of Virginia Historical Society and open for tours. 

Ker Place

While I was exploring town, Captain Keith got on the bike to peddle to the nearby bank to take care of some banking.  Unfortunately, he had a blowout and never made it to the bank.  He had to push the bike back to the boat.  AAA does not come out for bike tire flats (Bummer).

Keith's flat (very sad)

We also had some entertainment when a local brought his Labrador retriever down to the docks for some “fetch”.  I took the pictures through the back door so as not to interrupt the activity.

Accelerated shutter speed caught the action

Set Up

Execution

Landing

Completion

We left Onancock about 8 AM Tuesday and cruised northward up the bay and into the Hango River about 40 miles north.  Here we set the anchor to overnight since we could not get all the way to Camridge, MD in one day.  Nice spot, very quiet and great for star gazing once the sun went down.

If you look real close you can see the mud stirred up where we just dropped our anchor

Sunset at anchor in Hango River 

Wednesday morning, we pulled anchor at 6:30 AM and headed for Cambridge, MD. 

Leaving anchorage Wednesday morning

It was a little foggy to start but cleared quickly to bright blue skies and perfect temperature.  Light winds made for a smooth ride up the “Bay”.