Don
Well Known Member
My wife runs a retreat center and most weekends finds her working with guests to serve. The good news is she generally gets a couple of days off during the week. My work schedule is flexible and occasionally, her schedule, my schedule, the weather, and having no other obligations all conspire to give us a great day to go somewhere in the RV for lunch. Wednesday, September 18 was just such a day.
I?ve lived in Virginia most of my life and I?ve seen just about all of it at one time or another, from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Eastern Shore. One place I had never visited was Tangier Island. Tangier in an island in the Chesapeake Bay that was settled (not just explored) in 1686. It has a small (population <1,000), and is an isolated community of mostly waterman who make their living off the fish and shellfish in the Bay. The community has been sufficiently isolated that the English accent of the original settlers can still be heard in the Tangier Island natives.
So Wednesday morning broke with blue skies and gentle winds. A rocket was set to launch from Wallops Island just before noon, so I called Flight Service to find out what the flight restrictions were. That was an interesting conversation. The FS Specialist didn?t have a graphical representation of the restricted area, only ?a bunch of lats and longs?. I think I was put on hold about three times before I decided to ask for the western most longitude, at which point I realized there wasn?t an issue.
We launched a bit later than I wanted but in plenty of time for lunch at Lorraine?s. The crab cakes were awesome (but not cheap). We strolled around most of the island, watched a few boats coming and going, and then flew home. The island is tiny, most folks get around on foot or with a golf cart. There are no chain stores of any kind - a few local restaurants, two B&Bs, one grocery store, and a couple more gift shops than they need. It is certainly an interesting place to visit.
Round trip hobbs time was 1.3 hours. The cost of fuel, lunch, and the $10 landing fee (honor system) was just over $100.
Long final to Tangier.
After landing you need to cross a bridge to get into "town" and this is a view looking back toward the airport. There sure were a lot of Beechcraft's there...I was the only RV.
Main Street Tangier Island. Too narrow for two cars. And believe it or not, there's a sign that says "Speed Checked by Radar".
This is the view from one of the restaurants with outdoor seating.
And this is departing Tangier runway 02. This gives a good perspective on the size of the place.
I?ve lived in Virginia most of my life and I?ve seen just about all of it at one time or another, from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Eastern Shore. One place I had never visited was Tangier Island. Tangier in an island in the Chesapeake Bay that was settled (not just explored) in 1686. It has a small (population <1,000), and is an isolated community of mostly waterman who make their living off the fish and shellfish in the Bay. The community has been sufficiently isolated that the English accent of the original settlers can still be heard in the Tangier Island natives.
So Wednesday morning broke with blue skies and gentle winds. A rocket was set to launch from Wallops Island just before noon, so I called Flight Service to find out what the flight restrictions were. That was an interesting conversation. The FS Specialist didn?t have a graphical representation of the restricted area, only ?a bunch of lats and longs?. I think I was put on hold about three times before I decided to ask for the western most longitude, at which point I realized there wasn?t an issue.
We launched a bit later than I wanted but in plenty of time for lunch at Lorraine?s. The crab cakes were awesome (but not cheap). We strolled around most of the island, watched a few boats coming and going, and then flew home. The island is tiny, most folks get around on foot or with a golf cart. There are no chain stores of any kind - a few local restaurants, two B&Bs, one grocery store, and a couple more gift shops than they need. It is certainly an interesting place to visit.
Round trip hobbs time was 1.3 hours. The cost of fuel, lunch, and the $10 landing fee (honor system) was just over $100.
Long final to Tangier.
After landing you need to cross a bridge to get into "town" and this is a view looking back toward the airport. There sure were a lot of Beechcraft's there...I was the only RV.
Main Street Tangier Island. Too narrow for two cars. And believe it or not, there's a sign that says "Speed Checked by Radar".
This is the view from one of the restaurants with outdoor seating.
And this is departing Tangier runway 02. This gives a good perspective on the size of the place.
