ROAD TRIP:
Tangier Island - Paradise in the middle of the bay
Susan Guynn
Photography by Travis S. Pratt
Spring 2008 Issue
It's Thursday.
Grub day.
The day groceries and produce arrive from the mainland, and the island's lone market is bustling with activity. The cash register is ka-chinging and the door swings open again before it can latch. A stock clerk sticks price labels on canned goods, one at a time. No bar code checkout here.
Out front, the driver of a mid-size white pickup, one of the few vehicles on the island, squeezes the produce-laden delivery truck down the narrow streets, between picket fences and bicyclists headed home with handlebar baskets filled with fresh produce, canned goods and six-packs of Yoo-Hoo.
This is Tangier.
No mall. No glitzy restaurants. No movie theater. No bars, and some would say no nightlife.
But the locals will tell you otherwise.
"Just wait a little bit. You'll see," said longtime resident Connie Parks, as the sun began to dip in the western sky.
Winds of change
With a year-round population around 600, Tangier's residents live what mainlanders view as a simpler life. Unpaved roads traveled by foot, bicycle or golf cart; white picket-fenced yards abloom with flowers; one school for all grades; accessible only by boat or small plane; and narrow streets lined with neat, cozy homes leave visitors with a this-is-the-life image of this tiny island in the Virginia waters of the Chesapeake Bay, about 12 miles from Crisfield, Md.
Residents won't argue that, but they know island life is also filled with hard work, hard times and hard issues.
"The island has eroded. It's getting smaller. So has the population. High school graduates don't stay here because there's no work," said Glenna Crockett, a lifelong resident. Along with her husband, Dennis, she runs Hilda Crockett's Chesapeake House, one of three bed and breakfasts on the island. Glenna's sister, Susan, runs a local crabhouse.
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