Kiptopeke-ing: Three days of vanlife on the Eastern Shore of Virginia
Journal Entry #14
November 10, 2021
Day 1
Leaving good friends in Norfolk, we drive through nearly gale force wind across Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. The day before the road had been closed to wind and high seas. Though the route was reopened it was still precarious — wild winds, and mean seas with white caps blowing spray. This was a white knuckle drive! My coping mechanism as passenger was to look down at my phone to distract my eyes from the chaotic seas. Tom’s eyes, meanwhile, were scanning constantly, a like hawk-his hands constantly correcting the steering wheel. Neither of us spoke much. It felt good to manage those tough miles in one piece. When we arrived at Kiptopeke State Park campground on Virginia’s eastern shore, we pass the typical tightly packed RV slots and continued on to our tent site. We have learned that our van is small enough to sit on tent sites which generally allow one vehicle and don’t require you to use a tent- as long as your vehicle fits on the site, you can use it. Before we booked, we surveyed this campground on a satellite map (a regular part of our process of picking selecting sites) and chose the closest site to the bay with the possibility of direct access to the shore. Since we have our own water and power sources and don’t require hook ups, we have the ability to dry camp in this way. The great thing about primitive campsites in November? They are generally EMPTY. We had the whole area to ourselves— not another camper in any of the other 15 sites. Our site was set back in the woods; it was fragrant and soft with fallen pine needles and had a small clearing with a fire pit and picnic table.
We took an exploratory walk and found a gently winding “secret” path down to the empty beach. The winds were still high with gray but clearing skies. We had read about the “ghost ships” of Kiptopeke and wanted to take a closer look. The cement ships (yes cement floats!) were active and used during WWII. After they were decommissioned, the owners of the Kiptopeke Ferry acquired nine of them and partially sunk the ships to use as barrier breakwaters for the ferries. The ferry system is long gone but the ships remain and are home to hundreds of species of birds.
We wandered along the beach collecting shells then reentered the woodland trail hugging the shore and were lucky enough to spy a bald eagle in flight and several other smaller osprey. When we came to the jetty where the ferry used to be, the sun was setting. The clouds from the day made for a perfect glowing cotton candy colored sunset over the Chesapeake bay.
After we return to the van, we FaceTime my brother and sister in law. During the pandemic months the four of us started a “virtual wine tasting night” with them which became a weekly highlight and while cell signal hasn’t always cooperated with us on the road, we have done our best continue this video “date night” with them when we do have decent signal. We cooked dinner in the Insta-pot and tasted a Tempranillo we bought at Biltmore Estates. They mirrored us with their own bottle of the varietal at home. Conversation always starts with wine but usually wanders with lots of laughter. I love that we can continue to connect this way.
Day 2
One of the great joys of living on the road with no fixed agenda and plenty of time is the luxury of diving a little deeper and getting to know some of the nuances of our destinations. At fifty-three years of age we admit to having become our parents (in the best way possible!) We read every sign and historical plaque. Generally, we do a bit of “on the road research” before we arrive at a location. For all its ills, we do have a healthy gratitude for the vast internet as we make our way— it helps us on so many fronts; searching for places to stay, notable places to see, things to do, food and drink to try. We can supplement our travels with history and geography lessons. It helps us discover anything else interesting and obscure about our next destination. We totally geek out on the process of discovery; we enjoy these crash courses on “place” each time we move.
On day two we decide to take a bike ride. We check our maps and find a route that travels north from the campground about 5 miles and tees into a road called Custis Tomb Road. We dig a bit deeper and learn that Custis Tomb Road ends in a small town called Arlington and the actual tombs of John Custis II (1629-96) John Custis IV (1678-1749) are located there. As you might recall from early American history, the Custis family was one of the wealthy families that settled in then British colonies (the founding Father of the family, John Custis II traveled from Britain by ship to the colonies and was a supporter of the British backed Governor in the mid to late 1600’s.) His son, John Custis III, and grandson, John Custis IV, were tobacco plantation owners in this part of Eastern shore of Virginia in pre-revolutionary times. In 1750, young Martha Dandridge, then just 17, married Daniel Park Custis, who was the only surviving son of John Custis IV. After Daniel died, the widowed Martha Dandridge Custis, heiress of the Custis fortune met and married General George Washington. Some of the later Custis descendants married into the Lee family. But back to the tomb. The reason we decide make bike up to the tomb is the fascinating story of John Custis IV, whose tombstone is at the site. History notes that his long marriage to Frances Parke was legendarily acrimonious, enough so to be brought before the Northampton Virginia court in 1714 when Articles of Consent were drafted for their separation. Our favorite article of the agreement:
“It is mutually agreed between both parties that one shall not call the other any vile names or use any language of oath but behave themselves to each other as becomes a good husband and wife.
Frances will not interfere with John’s management of his business, John will not intermeddle with Frances’ domestic affairs.”
Read more of the history of the Custis Tombs, the Custis Family, the infamously messy marriage of John Custis IV and Frances Parke and the court decision here. Tom and I marveled at how divorce documents haven’t much changed! As it was, Custis IV had the last laugh. The epitaph on his tombstone (which he demanded his son inscribe on penalty of being left with only one shilling if he did not!) inscribed on his tomb: “Aged 71 years, and yet lived but several years, which was the space of time he kept a bachelor's house on the Eastern Shore of Virginia."
So, we were off to see the tomb. The bike ride was flat but we had strong and gusty headwinds as we cycled north (making for really good exercise). As we got closer to the site we expected to see a parking lot or some sort of official signage. We nearly missed the site altogether! In the middle of a quiet somewhat suburban neighborhood lane, there was a small clearing with a few low weathered signs noting the remains of the original Arlington mansion foundation. We were the only visitors, aside from a young buck making its way through the nearby meadow. About twenty yards from the clearing was a low brick wall surrounding the two tombstones. They were next door to a modest ranch home with a plastic rocker in the backyard. If you didn’t know better, you would think the brick wall was a part of this person’s backyard. In fact, when we walked around to take a look, a woman called out to us asking if we were okay. I guess they don’t get many visitors here. It was incongruous to see this very storied American founding family’s tomb in the middle of nowhere, really, with no pomp or fanfare at all.
The bike ride to back camp was FAST with the wind behind us. After our return, Tom headed out to bike some additional trails and I decide to stay back to do my “camp” workout. I find that campsites make a great place to pull out my jump rope, weights and yoga mat. I generally do two or three 7-minute HIIT workouts interspersed with jump roping and arm work. Camp picnic tables are the perfect size for the yoga mat making it convenient to do push-ups and sit ups in a flat surface. We are physically active most days. Even so, I am a creature of habit. In my “stationary” life I loved the gym and I do miss it. So my substitute is a 30-45 minute campsite workout every few days. It’s nice to listen to music and enjoy a bit of “me time” with a fresh air workout.
When Tom gets back from his ride we each shower in the van. The recirculating shower is one of the features of our van that we really love. Many campgrounds have showers but the convenience of a hot shower without having to pack toiletries and shower shoes and tramp outside is a treat. Being the only campers at this campground we did have the bath house to ourselves so we checked it out. Though it was clean, we tried running the shower water and as we suspected, now that it is November, the water never made it beyond a chilly lukewarm. We are very grateful for our hot shower at “home”!
In the afternoon we decide to break camp and take a drive up Route 13 to the Atlantic Ocean side of the shore to have a drink and some fresh seafood. We eat local at the Island House Restaurant — oysters on the half shell, a shared crab cake, and some garlic steamed clams. We make the drive back to camp as the sun set. This time the clear day made for a striking ombré of color at the horizon. The waxing moon was bright in the sky.
We get to camp and get the van back on our leveling blocks and decide to walk with headlights through the woods down to the beach. The wind was finally easing. Waves lapped the shore and the moon and stars were bright. In the distance we could see the big transatlantic cargo ship lights and hear the low hum of their engines. We counted eleven ships lined up to enter the Port of Norfolk tomorrow. On our way back up to our camp we collected dried wood and fallen pinecones for a fire in the fire pit. We enjoyed the warmth of a fire under the pine trees. When the fire died down we headed back inside the van. Our evening “treat” was to watch the latest episode of Succession, the HBO show we are loving right now. We didn’t bring a TV but we do occasionally partake in a show (usually every three or four days) on our laptop. We try to download episodes when we have fast signal so that we have an option when we are out of signal. This is still learning process for us- each service (Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime) has a different set of steps and limitations for downloading or streaming. We have had to resort, now and again, to watching together in the “tiny screen” - our iphone with sound piped through our bluetooth JBL when the laptop has not cooperated. We think we will eventually cave in and invest in an iPad to simplify and enable use of apps for all of these services.
Day 3
The winds have completely calmed and it is in the mid 60’s and sunny, so after our coffee we decide to inflate the kayak and venture out to visit the ghost ships in the bay. We launch from our “private” beach and paddle out over open water about 1/3 mile to get close to the ships. We are paddling against a rising tide and swells on the way out and it takes us time and effort to reach the boats. We are suddenly aware of how very small we are against these massive structures and the open bay. The first thing we notice is the huge number of pelicans roosting on the decaying cement decks and… the smell; like a chicken coop, the guano is heady. Though there were so many birds it was surprisingly quiet with few bird calls. Instead we hear the low swooping sound of pelican wings beating as they take off and patrol the area, and the splash of their feet against the water as they fly low past us. They are large close up and look prehistoric, like pterodactyls standing guard on the cream and rust ruins. Eventually we make our way back, this time with the tide, to shore. A couple walking the beach seem surprised to see us make land on the sand—we’re the only people crazy enough to brave the water in November.
We hike the boat up the path to the campsite and set it out to dry in the sun on the picnic table. We shower to warm up and rinse off the salt spray. As we are becoming more adept at setting up and breaking down camp we are taking more day trip drives. Driving on the shore is flat and low stress so we decide to visit Chatham Vineyards. We enjoyed their Steel Barrel Chardonnay and watched soybeans beans being harvested in the next door field. (Tom, a midwestern boy, detailed for me how the combines do the work of cutting stalks and shelling the beans.) After our tasting we explore the town of Cape Charles on the bay side. Cape Charles had its heyday at the turn of the century with industry supported by a train line. Later the town was the site of the major ferry line to this eastern spit of Virginia. It was a bustling port town and a vacationers haven from 1900 until the 1950’s. Unfortunately the ferry was relocated to Kiptopeke (now defunct as well) and eventually the construction of the Bay Bridge Tunnel and the trucking industry killed the railroad. Cape Charles suffered for a few decades but has seen a resurgence as a tourist beach town. A new marina has recently been built with some posh luxury craft docked there. The town actually reminds me of some of the New Jersey shore - a little like Ocean Grove; quaint turn of the century homes, some decorated with Victorian gingerbread details, gracing the tree lined blocks that run parallel and perpendicular to the beach. We take another lovely sunset walk to a newish bistro called Hook@Harvey. It was a nice change of pace to actually have a “white table cloth” meal over a bottle of wine. We don’t do this often, but it was a special treat (and I will say, we didn’t suffer!). Then home, back on blocks and the sound of the ocean to settle us to sleep.
Departure Day (Day 4)
I am writing this entry on Wednesday morning as we prepare to head south, back into North Carolina again, this time roughly following the coast. It will be a driving day today. Tom is working on back-flushing our shower system to clean the filters. We will do a more “technical” entry on our shower system, which is super important to us, as well as how we manage the bathroom stuff- dealing with our own “sh-t” as it were- since we have had many inquiries about how the whole “bathroom” thing works for us and the realities of these essentials on the road.
As we head out, we remember to stop at the camp office to buy a sticker to add to our travel board (a thank you to my friend, Monica, for the idea).
We continue to chase “perpetual autumn”, seeking fall colors and crisp temperatures as we travel. We’ve been lucky with our timing so far, following the peak color — gold and red leaves and bright blue skies in our butterfly-like movements over the past few weeks. Today is our third and final Virginia /North Carolina border crossing; our path will be southward from here.
Amie, your 3-day travel was artfully written and enjoyable reading, and would make a great chapter in a book of your travels!
This is living. Got your mojo workin. Great pix and nice little history lesson tucked in.
Without Martha, no George as we know him.