ROAD TRIP:
Tangier Island - Paradise in the middle of the bay (continued ...)
Susan Guynn
Photography by Travis S. Pratt
Spring 2008 Issue
"The people are very intuitive and smart," said Glenna. "They are survivors, hard-working people. The watermen are some of the hardest working. Many are having to leave what they've done for so many years because of rules and regulations (that watermen say make earning a living wage just about impossible). They're working on tugs up and down the East Coast" from New York to Baltimore. The men are gone two weeks at a time, leaving the women to manage the family and island business.
Spring on the island
On a warm June day, the Steven Thomas passenger boat departed Crisfield for Tangier Island, cruising at about 11 knots for the 75-minute ride to the eastern shore, the Main Ridge.
With the highest elevation just 4 feet above sea level, the island's buildings seem to rise from the water on the approach. There's the Methodist church steeple looming high above the rooftops; the crab shanties with their docks filled with crab pots; and the boats of watermen - some weathered and worn, others new and crisp, rebuilt after Isabella "knocked them to pieces a few years ago. Some were not rebuilt," said a resident who had come down to the dock to meet the passenger boat.
On land, you can walk just about anywhere - from the busy dock to the serene beach on the far side of the island. Or you can rent a golf cart to cruise the streets. Innkeepers' golf carts line up at the dock to meet their overnight guests when the passenger boats arrive.
Tangier is about a mile and half wide by two and a half miles long. The middle is marshland. Bridges span the marsh, called "the ditch" by locals, to the western side of the island. There are two churches and most residents are at one or the other come Sunday morning.
The island receives electricity by underwater cables from Maryland, but the town can generate its own power if needed. Fresh water is supplied by artesian wells. Cell phones? Don't need them because there's no cell service. There's one town cop, two resident registered nurses and a part-time doctor and dentist. On this day, the town was prepared for a visit from the governor of Virginia, who was coming to announce state funds for a new medical center on the island.
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