Pandemic Road Trip 2: 2020 Virginia and Maryland

Pandemic Road Trip 2: Virginia and Maryland (November 2020)

In November 2020, we took our second road trip, this time to the Atlantic Coast of Virginia and Maryland. Again we stuck to our "protocol", that is, we mostly stayed in state parks and cooked our own food to avoid exposure to other people and facilities. But we also stayed one night in a hotel -- this would be, sadly, the only time we stayed at a hotel in all of 2020! (Click on each image to see the high-resolution version)

Virginia Beach

Our first stop was at Stumpy Lake in Virginia Beach.

Stumpy Lake

I had heard about this place, but this was the first time I visited it. I was impressed -- the lake is not large, but it harbors a quite diverse assortment of wildlife, especially water birds.

Great Egret

Kiptopeke State Park

Our next stop was Kiptopeke State Park at Cape Charles in Virginia's Eastern Shore. We stayed in one the yurts there for a couple of nights. The yurts are primitive (no electricity, no heating, no running water), but spacious. This was supposed to be a peaceful retreat for us, which it was as far as exploring nature went; but we also spent the 2020 election night there, not knowing what kind of country would be left after the turmoil. It was a nerve-wracking time.

Yurt

Kiptopeke is on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake, so it has a clear view of the western horizon. With the Ghost Ships of Kiptopeke conveniently placed in the foreground, it offers excellent sunset views. We enjoyed such views for several evenings.

Kiptopeke Sunset

The beaches at Kiptopeke are not very wide, but they offered pleasant walking. Ghost Crabs scurry in the sands, and one day we found a barnacle-encrusted Horseshoe Crab shell.

Crab

Barnacle-encrusted Horseshoe Crab Shell

By this time, fall migration was mostly over, but the woods in Kiptopeke were teeming with overwintering Yellow-rumped Warblers. Hermit Thrushes also arrived in these woods for the winter.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Hermit Thrush

A straggling Monarch butterfly also added colors to the fields.

Monarch butterfly

Kiptopeke is a very small state park, but because of the open waters of the Chesapeake Bay, it feels much more expansive. And whenever you go near the water, the storied Ghost Ships of Kiptopeke are the predominant landmarks in the water. They make a good study of the changing light throughout the day.

Ghost Ships of Kiptopeke

Of course, there is also the Chesapeake Bay itself, an ever-present entity that binds everything around it.

Chesapeake Bay

Chincoteague / Assateague

With great uncertainty -- about the pandemic, about the republic -- we left Kiptopeke and headed toward Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. The name of the refuge is somewhat misleading -- its entrances is on Chincoteague Island, but most of it is actually on Assateague Island. In fact, the refuge encompasses the southern end of Assateague Island. Assateague Light is a prominent landmark that can be seen in most of the refuge.

Assateague Light

Chincoteague is famous for its "wild ponies", actually feral horses. When we were at the "Pony Overlook", suddenly we heard distant hoof beats, and a small procession of wild horses galloped into view. The wild scene made us forget the turmoil gripped the country, if only temporarily.

Wild Horses

Wild Horse

On the Atlantic seashore of Assateague Island, a group of Royal Terns were resting. Apparently this year's young had fully fledged, but they seemed to still beg their parents for easy meals.

Royal Terns

Royal Tern

In the marshes, other shorebirds, waders and waterfowl were abound.

Sandpiper

Double-crested Cormorant

We also saw a Merlin perched in a pine tree overlooking the marsh.

Merlin

We proceeded north to the Maryland side of Assateague Island, to Assateague National Seashore. There were wild horses on this end of the island as well, which are apparently unafraid of visitors.

Wild Horse

Other wildlife are a little more skittish, such as this White-tailed Deer.

White-tailed Deer

Ocean City

We eventually wound our way to Ocean City, Maryland. I typically do not like tourist traps such as this, but this was at the height of the pandemic, and it was at the onset of winter, the town wasn't crowded as in the summer. We spent our first and only night of the entire year of 2020 at a hotel overlooking the Isle of Wight Bay. A spectacular sunset was our reward for this adventure.

Ocean City Sunset

Cambridge and Blackwater

On our last day, we passed through the town of Cambridge on Maryland's Eastern Shore. We paid a visit to the Harriet Tubman Mural in town. It was an appropriate visit during an uncertain time such as this, and probably more portentous than we realized.

Harriet Tubman Mural

We spend the late afternoon of our 4-day road trip at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Yet another beautiful sunset greeted us (we saw 4 beautiful sunsets in a row on this trip).

Blackwater Sunset

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

It was late when we got home. Thus we concluded another successful "pandemic road trip". It was still a pretty modest trip, but longer both in duration and distance traveled than our first trip. We felt fortunate that even during a pandemic and a politically tumultuous time, we could still find solace in natural places not too far from home.

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