Nature calls its suitors to an
exquisite 75-mile-long prong of land and a smattering of
islands off Virginia's east coast, where wildlife and wild
beauty are your constant companions.
We got a sayin' here that God made the Eastern Shore of Virginia,
and with what he had left he made the rest of the country," drawls
Randolph Widgeon, who was born and raised in Oyster and now lives
in Willis Wharf.
If you haven't heard much about these handsome hamlets on
Virginia's Eastern Shore, it's no wonder. Maryland's
easier-to-get-to coastline steals most of the ink, which suits its
Virginia neighbors and sage, nature-loving visitors just fine.
Plus, it's not a place you just happen upon casually. After
crossing the
Chesapeake Bay Bridge onto this narrow, 75-mile-long
jut of land, you'd most likely speed north on Route 13, focused on
your destination. But turn off that antiseptic artery and you'll
find yourself on country roads lined by wood and furrowed field,
interrupted by brick chimney homes, clapboard churches, and
restaurants with simple signs like "Just Seafood," which, on the
Eastern Shore, is all you need to know.
Virtually year-round along Virginia's Eastern Shore - but
especially in the midwinter off-season - the thin prong of mainland
and its barrier islands ring with emptiness, friendliness, and
singsong names. Metompkin, Mockhorn, Parramore, and Ship Shoal
islands, and, on the mainland that thrusts between the Chesapeake
Bay and the Atlantic, the towns of Wachapreague, Machipongo,
Quinby, and Exmore. To the west and north lie, by drive time,
Washington, D.C. (four hours),
Baltimore (four hours), and New York
City (five hours), but, frankly, no one around here cares.