May15, Sunday – Environment

Jane Island State Park was a heaven. I had tried to get into Assateague National Seashore on the ocean side but they were full so I looked for the closest Maryland state park. It was Jane Island near the town of Crisfield on the Chesapeake Bay and Tangier Sound. The small park was a jump off place for sport fishermen and gathering place for families. Also kayakers flock to the park because of the well-known waterway trails. To make sure that you are aware that you are outdoors there were hoards of deer and horse flies that that greet you and kept me indoors with the A/C running. At one point I jumped up and burst outdoors and briskly walked to the park store/ranger station. I announced to the woman behind the desk that I needed to talk to someone because I was becoming a recluse. She spoke of the town and how it was fragmented by cliques; that the mayor couldn’t read or write; how the town was stagnated; a new election was happening next week with a black woman and a white man running on the same ticket with posters proclaiming that they were honest, had integrity.
In the sleepy town Crisfield had once had a boom time judging from the store fronts and the houses. Today it was filled with empty, for sale, condos, empty store fronts everywhere. The only place that seemed busy was The Sweet Shop, which is where the famous rich Smith Island’s cakes came to the mainland.
I had the worst and most expensive crab cake sandwich in the town. ($9.99 with wilted lettuce and a dry tomato slice on a toasted hamburger bun.)
Drove out to the small Coast Guard Station and stopped my VW and shut it down. It was right out of a Hitchcock film. Hundreds of horse and deer flies were throwing themselves against my car making dinging sounds. I sat behind closed windows screaming my head off. Alfred would have loved it.
I got to go inside the station and look at their boats and talk to the Petty Officer about their operations. Cool guy; cool service. They have about 40 to 60 search and rescue mission each year (Skagit Bay Search and Rescue have about 4 to 6 missions a year; Victory, B.C. have around 75 per year)
After a very leisure morning, I drove out the National Seashore and set up a dry camp (no water or electricity, which means no A/C without firing up the generator. I was torn between the 94 degree temperature and the $3.96 / gallon gas. Later this week it is suppose to drop into the lower 80’s. Can’t wait. At least with all the windows open I can hear the birds now and can smell the salt air.