June 12, 2017 - Tangier Island, Virginia

We left Crisfield for a two hour trip to Tangier Island, Virginia.  This little island was quite a step back in time.  The streets are very narrow - two golf carts can barely pass each other.  The early descendants of the island were Elizabethan and most people still have a unique accent and vocabulary.  Tangier is one of the last true working waterman communities. The shanties on stilts are peeler sheds where the watermen keep their soft crabs until they molt.  There are several tour boats that come from the east and west delivering tourists to the little island for the day.  The town survives on fishing and tourism.  When we got there at 9:00, there were no people around nor any stores open.  That all changed around 11:00 when the tour boats docked, and the rest of the afternoon the town was pretty busy.  We walked back into town at night (to the ice cream shop, of course) and found it full of all the locals. There are local ladies who give golf cart tours of the town.  The lady who took us around was born and raised there.  The total population is about 450.  There is one school that serves kindergarten through high school.  Later that afternoon two boats came in - Jim and Marla (TBD) and loopers Jim and Linda (Leilani).  We spent some time sitting around the back deck with them.  Mr. Parks, who owns the marina, was quite a character.  He's 86 years old and rides around town on his scooter.

Crab shanties on the way into town

More of the crab shanties - they line the waterway

This must be for the golf carts because we only saw 5 cars

(one for the police and one fire truck)

Some of the houses - they all have fences around them

More houses

Looking down the main street

Not one of our fancier marinas!

One of the crab boats hauling his crab traps back to dry out for the next season

Just a little local color (I'm not sure I would trust him in my garden)

A couple of the tour boats

Mr. Parks and Jim (Leilani)

All in all a good day with a beautiful sunset