National Geographic Traveler Highlights Cape Charles

This is what the writer came to see -- marshland at Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge -- but she also wrote about the  Town of Cape Charles. (Photo by Xavier de Jauréguiberry, Flickr)

This is what the writer came to see — marshland at Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge — but she also wrote about the Town of Cape Charles. (Photo by Xavier de Jauréguiberry, Flickr)

By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

July 29, 2013

More first-class exposure for Cape Charles and environs: National Geographic Traveler executive editor Norie Quintos visited recently and posted her experiences in “Beyond the Guidebook – Where the Locals Go.”

That’s a few steps down from National Geographic magazine, of course – but Traveler is still a well respected member of the Geographic family of magazines.

Quintos learned of Cape Charles from “a college pal I hadn’t seen outside of Facebook in more than 20 years,” and accepted his invitation to come visit.

The friend was none other than Ned Brinkley, the renowned ornithologist who, when he’s not birding, manages Hotel Cape Charles. So Quintos had no problem finding accommodations, staying at the “16-room boutique hotel with minimalist aesthetic just a few blocks from the beach.

“Mid-century art hangs on the monochromatic walls and mornings begin with complementary small-batch roasted coffee, Greek yogurt, and organic granola made six miles down the road in Eastville,” she enthused.

Quintos describes Virginia’s Eastern Shore as feeling “like an island unto itself, separated to the north by the Maryland border and to the south by the Chesapeake Bay and a steep bridge-and-tunnel toll ($12 at last check).”

While acknowledging that Chincoteague is the more famous town, Quintos adds that “Cape Charles draws visitors to the region in its own right. . . . The last passenger train may have stopped running in 1958, but the town’s swellegant bones — wide streets, handsome building facades, and deep-porched Victorian homes — remain. There is a minor renaissance of restoration as energetic individuals buy up homes and open modern mom-and-pop stores selling handmade ice cream and gourmet cheese.”

That would be Brown Dog Ice Cream and Gull Hummock Gourmet Market, of course. [Read more…]

TUESDAY 7/30-8/1: Vacation Bible School at Cheriton UMC

Vacation Bible School at Cheriton United Methodist Church (21331 S Bayside Road in Cheriton) on Tuesday July 30, Wednesday July 31, and Thursday August 1 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. [Read more…]