NYC -2- ATL

We woke up this morning in Ocean City, ate our hotel grab bag breakfasts and hit the road. We changed our plans overnight, deciding that it would be more fun to cut across to the Chesapeake Bay side of the Delmarva peninsula. My dad has these old maps of the area from an organization he says no longer exists, the D-LITE: Delmarva Low Impact Tourism Experiences. These old tattered relics mark two levels of very good roads for bicycling into a webbed network across the entire area.

It was fun comparing the physical charts to our modern GPS equivalents. We’re mostly using Ride with GPS and their bicycle heat maps to see where other cyclists ride, combined with Google Maps to look for and navigate to hotels and food. While the D-LITE website is long defunct, the roads don’t change so quickly and our route took us through the scenic country and farm roads of the heart of the peninsula.

We stopped in Snow Hill at the Pokomoke River Canoe Company where the owner offered to let us use the restroom and showed us some routes on another giant map. I liked their shirts, but didn’t want to carry one, so I bought a sticker instead to put on my battery. He recommended a sandwich shop and told us a nice spot to eat in Pocomoke River State Park. When we arrived at the isolated dock, we met three guys from Ocean City out wake surfing on the river that asked about the bikes and our journey.

I saw a lot of interesting animals today. There were a pair of young, freshly sheared llamas, eagerly showing off their new hairdos. I saw two beautiful bald eagles and realized we’ve passed south of Washington, D.C. by now. There was a herd of young cows that seemed delighted and interested in our bike bells. I saw miniature horses, baby goats, a gentle donkey, two young ostriches, two wild turkeys, and two caged peacocks.

The entire day we passed by and through all sorts of farms. I think that many were unplanted corn fields that had been cut but not plowed under for this year’s seeds yet. We also saw strawberry farms, but they were just beginning to sprout. As the day progressed, we saw more and more farms actively plowing their fields. The tractors pulled giant machines that tore through the earth and kicked up huge clouds of dust in the distance. I think they were seagulls that seemed to love the dust clouds and whatever worms or insects that the plowing exhumed.

At the tail end of our longest day yet, we made our way into Crisfield, the crab capitol of Maryland. We found a room at the meager but acceptable Captain Tyler Motel where the innkeeper has been very hospitable and excited to have some visitors “after COVID.” There were very few options for dinner on Tuesday nights here in town, but From Scratch Restaurant was very good. We heard gas prices went from ~ $3 to ~$5 per gallon here today, and they declared a state of emergency in Virginia. I’m glad we’re traveling all electric!

On the ride home we stopped by the Food Lion and procured a danish that has and will serve as both dessert and breakfast. I grabbed a beer at the store across the street and called my family as I toasted the beautiful sunset.