DINING: Eastville Inn Adds Imagination to Tradition

By CLARICE MACGARVEY
Cape Charles Wave

February 3, 2014

If your palate enjoys surprises, put Chef Brent Schmidt and the Eastville Inn on your dining radar. The historic Inn, built in 1724, began life as a roadside Coach House in Colonial times, offering overnight accommodations as well as dining for travelers.   Today, the sprawling hotel bedrooms located on the upper story of the Inn are closed.  The primary floor, consisting of a large main dining room, a smaller, more private dining space, and a cozy lounge, is very much open—providing an upscale dining experience that is rare on the Eastern Shore.

Chef Schmidt, a native of Hampton Roads with strong family ties to the Shore, took over this landmark facility in June 2013, updating the décor and adding high-top tables, a bar, and bar seating to the rear lounge overlooking the Colonial herb garden.  The lounge area previously served as a display room for artifacts found in or near Eastville, showcasing the Shore’s legacy as one of Virginia’s earliest shires. The artifacts can now be viewed in the spacious entry hall, making space in the lounge for a comfy sofa and chair for chatting or enjoying a pre-dinner cocktail.   The Inn’s bar serves a full range of popular cocktails and specialty martinis (try the Flirtini or Spiced Pear) along with champagnes and some very nice wines from Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Argentina, California, and the Shore’s own local winery, Chatham Vineyards.

As an historic landmark, on the National Register of Historic Places, the Inn must maintain authenticity in specific areas of décor and structural detail.  This includes draperies and wall paint color tones.  Schmidt has added counterpoint to the Inn’s soft yellow walls with rich burgundy table linens and a collection of nicely hung art by local artists.  With the warm wood flooring and pristine white molding and support pillars, the dining room fully evokes Southern hospitality.   And the friendly, well-trained staff delivers on that promise.

I have been to the Inn multiple times, and on each visit have discovered a new taste sensation. Schmidt is a talented and imaginative chef with a real knack for unexpected flavor pairings, including his soup and appetizer creations.  On my last visit, a chilly Saturday night in mid-January, the soup du jour was “Loaded Potato,” a rich and hearty blend of potato, apple wood-smoked bacon, corn, and spinach.  It was pleasantly seasoned, appropriately thick and creamy, and topped with Cheddar-Jack cheese and sour cream.  Also popular is Schmidt’s “not so traditional” French Onion Soup, with a unique base that delivers a nice flavor twist. [Read more…]

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COMMENTARY: Why We Might Join the Beach Club

By WAYNE CREED

February 3, 2014

The review of the new Beach Club at Bay Creek in the Wave, which at first appeared to be a rather innocuous report about the general status of the facility, instead seemed to unleash a firestorm of commentary. As usual, the comments section veered off into the weeds, degenerating into a Wrucke vs. Bender UFC cage match, arguments of gated vs. non-gated communities, Bay Creek’s inability to clear snow off the roads, the Wave’s journalistic style, and even intellectually flaccid attacks against members of Old School Cape Charles.

While all this was going on, my wife was reading the article with excitement — years of working in social work, she is the original inspiration for a silver linings playbook. While I’m complaining, “Where’s the bar? How am I going to get my martinis? Do they expect me to survive on just food and water? Never!,” she’s reviewing the amenities, and quite to my surprise offers, “You know, this place is great. And it’s a great deal. Cheaper than the Y.” Stopping me in my tracks, I asked her, “What you talkin’ bout Willis?”

And then she explained. When she was a kid, she belonged to a pool and racquet club in Northern Virginia. In the summers she would spend her days playing tennis, walking over to Roy Rogers for fried chicken, and generally just lounging by the pool. She would also spend one or two weeks visiting cousins in California, who belonged to a magnificent beach club overlooking the Pacific, just north of San Diego. At that moment, I realized that she wasn’t just trying to be Pollyanna — her memories of those times really did make her happy.

Then I thought of my own youth. We also belonged to a club. Looking back, it probably wasn’t much to look at, and compared to what we see at Bay Creek, probably a bit shabby. But it had a big, clean pool, a couple of tennis courts, game room with pool, ping-pong, a few pinball machines, and an excellent snack bar. When Little League baseball ended in mid-June, we were finally cut loose, free to indulge in the lazy days of summer. Me and my friends would sleep late, and then hop on our bikes and ride over to the pool. Pockets stuffed with lawn mowing money, we would swim, play ping-pong, and eat hot dogs and coke all day, until exhausted, we trekked back home to Mom’s dinner table.

Sometimes during the week, when the pool was marginally empty, me and my friend Ronnie would take his dad’s scuba equipment, and the life guard would let us scuba dive in the pool (as long as they could see us). I’m not sure how many hours you need to be certified to dive, but I’m months past that. Ronnie and I would stay under until we completely drained the tanks. Later we would carefully return them to the racks, and Saturday morning, when Ronnie’s dad was checking them before he went on a dive, after discovering they were empty, we could hear his yell, echoing throughout the neighborhood, “RONNIE!” [Read more…]

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1999 BALTIMORE SUN: Real Estate, Development Boom Reawakens Cape Charles

February 3, 2014

EDITOR’S NOTE: The story below appeared 15 years ago this week in the Baltimore Sun. On its anniversary, the Wave is highlighting it as one more intriguing look from a “back to the future” perspective.

By CHRIS GUY
Baltimore Sun

February 07, 1999

CAPE CHARLES, Va. — More than a century after two railroad men from up north put the place on the map — literally — the future is beginning to look a lot like the past in this bay-front town near the southern tip of Delmarva.

“For Sale” signs are sprouting on residential and commercial properties, and newcomers are snapping up second homes, investment properties and rentals so fast that local real estate agents can barely keep up.

There’s not a block among the perfectly square 644 lots laid out in 1883 by New York, Pennsylvania & Norfolk Railroad executive William L. Scott that hasn’t attracted interest.

Isolated for years by a $10 one-way toll to make the 30- to 40-minute trek across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to Norfolk, Virginia Beach and other Hampton Roads cities, the southernmost town on the Delmarva Peninsula is no longer a secret.

Cape Charles’ pristine Chesapeake Bay beach and stately late-Victorian homes are drawing increasing numbers of well-heeled investors looking for weekend getaways, says Kim Starr, a New Jersey native who first came to Virginia’s Eastern Shore 15 years ago.

The weekenders are coming not only from the Hampton Roads area, about 25 miles away, but also from Baltimore, about 205 miles away.

“People say that the bridge-tunnel toll is our serenity tax,” says Starr, who [formerly was] married to six-term Town Councilman Frank Wendell. “It has kept us from becoming a bedroom community of Virginia Beach. But more recently, people have discovered that despite the toll, we have the benefit of living in a small town that’s just a hop, skip and a jump from a major metropolitan area — the best of both worlds.”

Investors willing to take a chance have found Cape Charles a good risk, Starr says, citing a Charlottesville, Va., couple — both lawyers — who bought two small homes for about $83,000, then sold them for $132,000 in just a few months. The couple used the profit to buy a second home close to the town’s public beach.

After decades of decline that left Cape Charles a ragged shell of the booming rail, steamship and ferry hub that once was the Virginia Shore’s most important town, business and community leaders say their newfound optimism is fueled by more than a surging real estate market.

The bed-and-breakfast inns, restaurants and shops that have opened in the past few years have provided a boost, merchants say. But it is an innovative “eco-industrial park” and a nearly 2,000-acre golf course community, conference center and resort that will soon lift Cape Charles and Northampton County — one of Virginia’s poorest — into prosperity not seen since the town’s pre-World War II heyday, supporters say. [Read more…]

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VIDEO: Cape Charles Snow Day

January 30, 2014
We take a drive down Mason Avenue and over the Hump so you don’t have to. (Click bottom right of window for full screen view.)

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COUNTY SUPERVISORS FIRE PSA CHAIRMAN PANEK

PSA Funding Is Stopped Until Change of Leadership

 
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

January 28, 2014

Northampton County Board of Supervisors effectively ended Bob Panek’s Public Service Authority chairmanship yesterday by voting to “stop all future funding until there is a change of leadership in the PSA.” Newly elected Board Chairman Larry LeMond made the motion, which was seconded by Larry Trala and passed unanimously.

The previous Board Chairman, Willie Randall, had maintained that the Supervisors had no power to dictate who chairs the PSA, because PSA members elect their own chairman. Randall lost his seat in the November election to Granville Hogg, and the deciding factor in that upset seems to have been the PSA issue.

The new Board of Supervisors simply used the power of the purse. The PSA is financed wholly by the County, and without funds it can do nothing. Although Panek technically remains chairman, a refusal by him to step down would be a Pyrrhic victory, since the PSA could no longer function.

The opposition to Panek centered on the fact that he is also the assistant town manager for the Town of Cape Charles. A Wave editorial (click to read) addressed the issue last September, maintaining that Town Council’s appointment of Panek to the PSA “violates the principle of separation between a paid public employee and an elected or appointed official.”

Under Panek’s leadership, the PSA turned a deaf ear to public outcry.  Last September 17, some 100 residents came to the Cheriton Fire Hall to oppose PSA plans to establish a sewer district around the Route 13-Cheriton area that could increase property taxes in the special district by almost 100 percent. Despite the universal outcry at the meeting, the PSA met immediately afterward to unanimously approve a $70,000 contract with the engineering firm Hurt & Profitt to begin surveying the sewer project. [Read more…]

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ORAL HISTORY: A Chat with Alston Godwin

January 26, 2014

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Cape Charles Historical Society has for more than a decade been recording oral histories of the area’s earlier days.  In 2008, Bill and Jan Neville interviewed Alston Godwin, who was then 96. Mrs. Godwin lived to be 101, and her obituary may be read by clicking here.

A grant from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities enabled 15 interviews to be transcribed, and the Historical Society has made this one available for readers of the Wave.  All the transcriptions may be read at the Cape Charles Museum.)

Excerpts from an interview with Bill and Jan Neville, March 12, 2008

Entering the Funeral Business

The Funeral business started, my aunt and uncle [Mills Grey] established that business.  I don’t think Uncle Mills was born here.  But anyway, he and my aunt were very lovable people, lovable to each other and all the people they came in contact with.  He learned people and he worked to do that.  He established himself and his memory was good for everything he had ever heard or seen.  And so then, he got married and established his business.  It was the first black business in Cape Charles.  They had one white undertaker.  This was in 1895.  My aunt stuck right by him.  She learned from him what he was doing, but he didn’t have her embalm and she didn’t want to embalm.  And you know, I didn’t either!  I’d work to do anything but that.  I didn’t care for that.  My daughter, Jennie Marie, used to hang around them.  She wasn’t afraid of no dead people.

Now I’ll tell you how I came to [enter the funeral business].  My first year in college, we were having our Christmas vacation and I came home and Uncle Mills had just died and been buried.  He hadn’t been buried very long and I said to my mother, ” Mama I think I would like to go spend a couple nights with Aunt Jenny.”  She said, “I think Alston that’s a good idea.”  So I went there and I was an excellent driver.  I could drive anywhere.  So then I went and when I got there, sure enough, she had a call out.  And I drove the hearse for her.  And she and I went and got the body.  She went with me.  Because she worked with her husband, too.  She was with him all the time.  So then I saw a need that I had to stay longer.  I was going to stay there until this body was buried.  My aunt wasn’t up to it.

Bill Neville: She didn’t have anybody else to help her after her husband died?

Oh yes, back then that’s one good thing.  There was not a neighbor, white or black, that wouldn’t come if you called and do anything to help you.  And they’d come and cook for her.  I didn’t have to do any cooking.  But I wanted to because I didn’t want to forget how to cook.  Then I used to give them dinners and things to eat. [Read more…]

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Town Grants South Port $180,000 Utility Fee Deferral

By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

January 23, 2014

Town of Cape Charles offices were closed yesterday due to snow, but that didn’t stop Town Council from holding a special meeting to grant a deferral to South Port Investors of up to $180,000 in utility connection charges.

South Port, the developer of Cape Charles Yacht Center, is engaged in yacht repair and storage, and is soliciting vendors for boat manufacturing, yacht brokerage, boat rentals, sail making, ship stores, insurance, a bistro, retail shops, and a bed & breakfast.

South Port last month requested a waiver of utility charges and fees for property it is leasing from the Town. Unable to reach consensus at its December meeting, Town Council held a special work session earlier this month to further discuss the issue, but still could not agree on what to do.

A week ago, Council held a closed meeting, revealing only that the discussion concerned “property leased by the Town and Town-owned property,” leading observers to conclude that South Port again was the topic.

The thorny issue is that although Town Code requires utility connection charges, Town Council has begun making exceptions. The Shanty Restaurant, built on property leased from the Town, was not required to pay a utility connection fee (which would have been $60,000).

South Port’s legal representative, Cela Burge, said South Port is only asking for equal treatment. She also pointed out that the Town waived a portion of connection fees for the developer of the apartments planned for the Old School at Central Park. (The fees essentially were eliminated by cutting them 75 percent and then giving the developer $41,000 to apply toward the remainder.)

Council member Joan Natali appeared to have forgotten about the Old School: “To my mind our precedent is limited to leased Town property,” she said.

Most recently, the Town reduced connection fees for the new Bay Creek Beach Club from $153,000 to $44,000. [Read more…]

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DINING:
Bistro Tuesdays Bring Taste of Europe to Mason Avenue

By CLARICE MACGARVEY
Cape Charles Wave

January 21, 2014

Chef Timothy Brown of Hook-U-Up Gourmet has ambitious culinary goals. He intends to elevate the level of dining on the Eastern Shore, and establish some new benchmarks for quality and good taste, both locally and region-wide.

A talented and innovative chef, Brown’s credentials include teaching at the Culinary Institute of America and operating the 5-Star restaurant, Myriah’s at Tower Hill.  He opened Hook-U-Up, a gourmet dine-in/take-out café-style restaurant, in April 2012, and began introducing Bistro Tuesdays, a more upscale dining experience, this past November.

My first visit to Hook-U-Up Gourmet’s Bistro Tuesdays event indicates that Chef Brown is taking the right approach, and that there is plenty of great dining ahead for epicureans living on, or visiting, the Shore.

Located at 227 Mason Avenue in downtown Cape Charles, the venue is small and intimate, with only six tables at the front. The kitchen is within view.  My companion and I arrived at 7:30, and although the dining space was packed, our server, also named Tim, seated us and took our drink orders right away.  My first surprise was finding some of my favorite wines listed at very reasonable price points.  The bottle of Hess Select Chardonnay we enjoyed, for example, was only $22.

For appetizers, my companion ordered the Salmon Mousse served with chopped egg, red onion, and crème fraiche.  It was so creamy and delicious, I couldn’t keep my fork away, even though I had a lovely appetizer of my own: Sauteed Local Crabmeat en bouchee, finished with sherry, butter, and country ham. [Read more…]

TOWN COUNCIL:
A Thank-You to ‘Sambo,’ PSA, Multi-Use Trail, More

By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

January 20, 2014

Cape Charles Town Council members paid tribute to newly retired Police Chief Charles “Sambo” Brown at their January 16 meeting, and welcomed new Police Chief Jim Pruitt. Mayor Dora Sullivan presented Brown with a duck carving in appreciation of his years of service to the Town.

In other business, Cape Charles Business Association President George Proto announced plans for a 2014 workshop on economic development jointly sponsored by the Association, the Town, and the County. Proto also reminded Town Council that the Business Association had asked both the Town and the County to halt plans for a sewer pipe from the highway until concerns about the effect of highway development on the Town are addressed.

Nevertheless, Assistant Town Manager Bob Panek reported that the Public Service Authority is moving forward with plans to provide wastewater treatment to commercial properties on and near Route 13. (Panek is also chairman of the PSA.) He said that 12 properties had been removed from the planned special tax district, while four other properties had been added. Councilman Frank Wendell asked Panek if plans had been put on hold. Town Manager Heather Arcos responded that the Town “has not made any progress” on providing sewer service to the PSA. [Read more…]

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EDITORIAL: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

A CAPE CHARLES WAVE EDITORIAL

January 16, 2014

At 5:15 p.m. today (Thursday), members of Cape Charles Town Council will go behind closed doors at Town Hall for an “executive session.” (The Wave has been criticized in the past for referring to such meetings as “secret.”)

Virginia state law requires almost every action, or even discussion, by publicly elected or appointed bodies to be open to the public, with records available. There are only a few exceptions — personnel matters being the most important. If Town Council wishes to interview candidates for, say, chief of police, the candidates understandably deserve privacy.

But today, Town Council is meeting to consider buying or selling property. That much we know, because state law requires the Town to state the reason for its “executive” session.

Here is the reason provided by the Town Clerk:

Discussion or consideration of the acquisition of real property for a public purpose, or of the disposition of publicly held real property, where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body. Specifically: Discussion of property leased by the Town and Town-owned property.

So, we know that today Town Council will discuss property leased by the Town, with the idea of buying it, and property owned by the Town, with the idea of selling it. What we don’t know is — just what property?

The only allowance under state law to privately discuss the sale or purchase of property is if “discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy” of the Town. Note that any “adverse effect” must be on the Town – not the other party. [Read more…]

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LETTER: State Bar President-Elect on Old School Battle

January 15, 2014

DEAR EDITOR,

For well over a year, a group of residents has been battling to save the historic Cape Charles High School from being lost as an historic public asset. I will explain why and suggest a course of action to protect other historic property.

First, the primary excuse for transferring the property to a private developer, for a nominal price, was a supposed need to unload a building that had been allowed to fall into disrepair. Of course, the Town of Cape Charles has ordinances that prohibit allowing property to become dilapidated, so it appears that the local governing body violated its own laws. That type of excuse for disposing of historic property is sad, ironic, and unacceptable.

Second, the deal involving Cape Charles High School converts a public asset into private property, with no public space and no future intended public use. The deal takes a building that was considered to be a part of the public park and allows it to be converted into private residences. The “renovated” building will bear little resemblance to the old high school. This would appear to be contradictory to the Cape Charles Comprehensive Plan, which calls for the preservation of public space.

Third, saving an historic school property like the Cape Charles High School is not complicated to do. The Town of Onancock managed to save the old Onancock High School, and the community is richer for the effort. Many residents urged the Cape Charles Town Council to follow the Onancock example, to no avail. In fact, a competing bid to purchase the school for more money and keep it public was rejected without any Council vote or public discussion. No good reasons were ever offered for the refusal to engage in a serious preservation effort. [Read more…]

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