Horse Play Is Wild on Virginia’s Eastern Shore

Mention the Eastern Shore to folks along the Atlantic Coast and they will probably consign it to Maryland, since it has long been known as a social playground of choice for many well-to-do Easterners.

Yet Virginia has its own Eastern Shore, a slender peninsula that reaches down 70 miles from the Maryland border to create what many consider the major part of Chesapeake Bay. It may lack a measure of the social cachet of its northern neighbor, but there is a subtle beauty and rustic way of life on both the Chesapeake “Bayside” and Atlantic “Seaside” of this narrow spit that endears it to natives and visitors alike.

Until 1884, when the railway came down its center, the shore was watermen’s country. Everything moved by water on both coasts. Then the spectacular 17-mile bridge-tunnel replaced the old Norfolk-Cape Charles ferry in 1964, and the Eastern Shore was at last connected to mainland Virginia and opened as never before to up-country visitors.

From Cape Charles north to the Maryland border, the Eastern Shore is still predominantly rural, with a few remote villages clinging to their soft and soothing dialects. Tourism since the bridge has made an impact of sorts, yet Cape Charles can rightfully claim that it is 30 miles and 50 years from tumultuous and tacky Virginia Beach just south of the bridge.

Chincoteague (Shin-ko-teeg) Island at the shore’s northern end is the holiday destination of most visitors, thanks mainly to nearby Assateague Island, a completely unspoiled National Wildlife Refuge known for its herds of wild ponies that live in the marsh grasses.

These ponies, according to legend, are descendants of those that swam ashore from the wreck of a Spanish galleon in the 16th Century. They have achieved worldwide renown, inspired the children’s book “Misty of Chincoteague” and a Hollywood movie, in addition to drawing the young-at-heart to this end of the Eastern Shore throughout the year.

The first settlers arrived on Chincoteague Island in the early 1670s and made a meager living from farming, herding and, not incidentally, from salvaging shipwrecks off Assateague Island. Locals today mostly still live by the bounty of the sea and bay: fishing, crabbing, clamming and the like. But their livelihood is helped along mightily by welcoming and caring for visitors who flock here to enjoy these same pursuits as recreation, and to see firsthand the beloved wild ponies.

How long/how much? Give the islands of Chincoteague and Assateague a day or two, another for meandering the length of Route 13 that runs down the center of the shore, doglegging off to visit the towns of Onancock (founded 1680), Eastville, Accomack and any other of the quaint little villages that may strike your fancy. Lodging costs are very moderate, dining on great fresh seafood the same.

Getting settled in: The Sea Gate Bed and Breakfast, 10 miles from the bridge in Cape Charles, makes a good first stop for anyone driving north. It’s on a quiet residential street lined with crape myrtle and rose bushes, with morning glories climbing up the pillars of a large front porch. This large, cool and breezy house, built in the town’s heyday, has very comfortable bedrooms, some with their own screened porch. Owner Cris Bannon and his affable partner pride themselves on the glorious breakfasts (fluffy French toast of homemade bread) served on a sunny porch. They also know all there is to know about the Eastern Shore and its sights.

The Garden and the Sea Inn, an elegant Victorian in New Church that began life as Bloxom’s Tavern in 1802, has a dining room that has attracted visitors from all along the East Coast for its magnificent food. Owners Jack Betz and Victoria Olian kicked over their jobs (he an attorney, she an interior designer) to become innkeeper and Provence-trained chef par excellence, respectively.

The Refuge Motor Inn in Chincoteague has large and very comfortable bedrooms, all with private balcony or porch, a picnic table and barbecue set up just outside in the pines for each room. Decor in the rooms is either contemporary or Early American with a vengeance, and there’s an indoor-outdoor pool, sauna, exercise room, hot tubs and a pony corral just across the parking lot. The inn is practically at the entrance to the Assateague Island refuge.

Regional food and drink: Few meals can stand up to an Eastern Shore crab feast: crab stew, the marvelous crab cakes or crab just boiled and dumped on the picnic table to be attacked with pliers, hammer and bare hands. There are also Chesapeake Bay clams, oysters, shrimp and a galaxy of fish: bluefish, bass, flounder, croaker and on and on.

Fresh crab at $15 a bushel and shrimp for $2.88 a pound at roadside markets is a strong clue to their presence on most menus. Sweet-potato biscuits are a specialty hereabouts; they’re too heavenly to describe.

Virginia is making headway with its wines, and Accomack Vineyards on the shore bottles very acceptable Chardonnays and Rieslings.

Good local dining: The Trawler (Route 13, Exmoor) turns out the best she-crab soup we’ve had since our last visit to the South, and the sweet-potato biscuits and hush puppies were no less formidable. Right on the highway behind an old landlocked trawler, the restaurant has a menu that roils with fresh seafood. We had the crab cakes ($10.95) and stuffed flounder covered with crab meat and broiled ($14.95).

The Garden and the Sea Inn’s dining rooms carries out the lovely ambience of the bedrooms, showing a decorator’s touch. The menu leans heavily on the French, as tapenade provencal (a black olive and anchovy pate) starts a $24.50 set menu that follows with endive and lettuce salad with roasted walnuts and sun-dried tomatoes, then veal medallions in a Roquefort sauce, summer squash and choice of dessert.

The Beachway Restaurant in Chincoteague is a large and popular place right in town, with a glass-roof alcove, ceiling fans and three generations of locals working here. The owners’ frequent trips to Spain and Portugal are reflected in such specialties as a Portuguese supper of cod broiled with capers, pearl onions and potatoes for $11.95. The food is plentiful, and the wine list the town’s largest.

On your own: In addition to its wild ponies, Assateague Island has thousands of other animals and birds living in total protection. The Wildlife Loop is open only to walking and bicycling until 3 p.m., then cars may drive through slowly until dusk. Other trails where one is most likely to see fox squirrels, otters, whitetail deer, Sitka deer, foxes, raccoons, loggerhead turtles and numerous other species are laid out on a very good map of the refuge, available at the visitors center. Bring camera and binoculars.

There is also a 90-minute cruise by small boat through the refuge’s channels, coves and creeks, and guided walking tours, both with commentary that we found fascinating and informative. A $3 pass allows one to visit the refuge for a week (seniors free), and Assateague’s Atlantic-side beach is everyone’s favorite for swimming and surf fishing. Access by car to Chincoteague, Assateague and many other islands on the East Coast is on causeways through the marshlands.

In the middle of Chincoteague there’s the Refuge Waterfowl Museum, worth a visit before going into the refuge. And for those who haven’t seen enough water, there’s a day cruise to Tangier Island in the center of Chesapeake Bay, leaving from Onancock (10 a.m. until 3 p.m.). A visit to this remote fishing village is a step backward in time, where the streets are too narrow for cars and the natives still speak with a lingering Elizabethan accent. The cost is $17 for adults, $8.50 ages 6-12. Tangier claims to be the soft-shell crab capital of the nation, and has restaurants to back up the boast.

GUIDEBOOK

Virginia’s Eastern Shore

Getting there: Fly USAir, United, Delta, TWA or American to Norfolk, all with changes. An advance-purchase, round-trip ticket will cost about $338. From there, the best way to enjoy the beauty of Virginia’s Eastern Shore is definitely by rental car.

Where to stay: Sea Gate (9 Tazewell Ave., Cape Charles; $65-$75 double B&B;); The Garden and the Sea Inn (New Church; $75-$95 double B&B;); Refuge Motor Inn (Chincoteague; $40-$75 double, including free coffee all day).

For more information: Call the Eastern Shore of Virginia Tourism Commission at (804) 787-2460, or write (Box R, Melfa, Va. 23410) for the Eastern Shore Travel Guide, complete with map showing location of all the towns and sights.