From Assateague Island National Seashore, I decided to cover some distance. The Maryland and Virginia sides of the island are separated by undeveloped land, so it is necessary to backtrack and cross the state line inland. This I did, taking Rte. 113 south through Snow Hill and Pocomoke City. I crossed into Virginia and took a side swing out Rte. 175 into Chincoteague, the other access point to Assateague Island. Early evening by now, I did a little driving tour past shops and restaurants and even Miss Molly's Inn, where Marguerite Henry stayed while writing the well-loved book, Misty of Chincoteague. Still moving on, I returned to Rte. 13 and headed toward Cape Charles. Had I not needed a phone line, I would have stayed at Rittenhouse Motor Lodge. Pulled over by magnificent azalea gardens, I stopped in and talked to kind and welcoming owner Robert Rittenhouse, who designed and built this 50's-era motel and has been running it ever since. Very clean and filled with both nostalgic decor and an amazing amber glass collection, this is a great alternative to regular chain accommodations, several of which are nearby. I drove the lengthy and impressive Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, found a discount motel room in the Newport News area and spent the next morning at Colonial Williamsburg - a fascinating place, even on a fairly humid day, as this was. Here the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, a private, nonprofit organization, offers over 500 restored buildings on 301 acres of land and an up-close opportunity to learn about life in the 18th-century capital of the colony of Virginia. After some browsing and a pulled pork BBQ sandwich in the outside garden at Chowning's Tavern, I hit the road again, skirting Virginia Beach and taking Rte. 17 into North Carolina. Never having explored the Outer Banks, I zoomed out Rte. 158 and landed in Nags Head, NC, well after dark. I saved forty-five dollars by not taking an oceanfront room. I saved another forty-five because it rained all morning and the hotel decided not to raise the rates, which would otherwise have jumped to a higher season's level. My room was just one of many in Nags Head, NC, but perfect for me - not large, but with refrig., microwave and coffee maker. Free local phone calls, writing table, iron, ironing board, hair dryer, TV, safe. Very clean. Not historic, not fancy, just a good stopping place for the night. The morning brought fog and rain, so I didn't walk along the beach, as I thought I would. At night I had walked out to a round wooden gazebo, dimly lit and shrouded with fog. From there the ocean was just yards away, churning impatiently in the dark. It reminded me of the horses on Assateague Island, stomping their hooves against the ground. I found dinner up the road at Bushwacker's, a fun and funky beach-type eatery, with a jungle-luau decor and live music by a local band, Souvenir. At the suggestion of the waitress, Amber, I had a blackened tuna sandwich with tomato-cucumber salsa, which was delicious. Excellent, soft, fresh bread. My father would love this sandwich. I inherited my love of bread from him :) Unsure whether to head back to the mainland or continue south through the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, I made a couple phone calls to Ocracoke Island, a forty minute ferry hop from Hatteras itself. With information on bed and breakfast availabilities, dining possibilities and new photo opportunities, I made my decision. With a stop for gas and another at the Cape Hatteras lighthouse - amazingly moved to a new spot in 1999 for preservation purposes - I made my way south to the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry terminal. This being a free ferry, no reservations required, I parked my car in line and waited for the next adventure to unfold.
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