Elegant Living Magazine : Frederick County Maryland at its Finest

ROAD TRIP: Tangier Island - Paradise in the middle of the bay (continued ...)
Susan Guynn
Photography by Travis S. Pratt
Spring 2008 Issue

Tangier's mayor, James Eskridge, also known as Ooker, pilots his boat through the bay while checking his crab pots as the sun rises.

Peach Orchard Point, on the north end of the island, is a rookery for pelicans. Eskridge says he can't recall there being a peach orchard at the point, but erosion is continually reshaping the shore and swallowing trees and buildings. "Eight or nine years ago, pelican sightings were rare. Now, I'd say most of the pelicans on the bay nest here," said Eskridge.

Occasionally, a visitor will come to the island and never leave. That's what happened to teacher Donna Crockett 20 years ago. She sailed to Tangier with some friends and that's where she met Davy Crockett. When she returned home to Germantown, Md., she wrote him a four-page letter saying how much she enjoyed her visit. Davy called her and invited her back to visit - which she did just about every weekend for 18 months before she traded her city life for island life. "It was a fairy tale romance," she said.

But most come just to spend a day or two. On pleasant weekends, the streets swell with tourists.

They come on passenger ferries from Crisfield, Md., or Onacock and Reedville in Virginia. Some opt to ride the mailboat from Crisfield, like the locals do. It's a centuries-old way of life - one that revolves around the water, weather and the grace of God, says Eskridge.

And it's a life that Connie Parks hopes is still around for her great-grandchildren to experience as her grandchildren, who live in Salisbury, do today when they visit.

"They have freedom," said Parks, as she watched her grandkids explore "the ditch" around the marsh bridge, trying to catch crabs on a carefree spring evening.

"It's a paradise."

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