03-VIII-2001.
And so we packed and went off to Chincoteague, finding there's a camp and remembering how Burt once said it was a beautiful place. The ride from A-burg to the sea was mostly uneventful, we went that way last year already. Only this time we'd cross the wide estuary twice - by whim of traffic that was the simplest way to get there, as there were few bridges over the lower bed of Potomac, it's actually a huge bay, and the bay boasted three or four. Yup, tunnel bridges, but I got used to it already.
Go was supposed to come with us, but we got lost in communication somewhere, so we didn't quite know where we'll be or when exactly do we take off. She was a bit pissed off for that. There was also a chance that they'd come meet us there, with Jose, so that us oldsters could have a few drinks, but that too came to nothing.
The trip was a longish one. We took off around ten thirty. Friday, no rush yet - crossed the first bridge around 13:30, the other one lasted until 14:00. This other bridge is really long, some 30km above water. The bridge has two tunnels, shorter, just about half a kilometer each, which is at least interesting, and a croissant crescent on its north end, which looks almost dangerous. But the flat part is pure hypnosis, water left water right as far as eye can reach. And nothing moves except the fence, and it also looks like moving in place. We heard later that there were many accidents on the bridge while it had only one track. It got a lot better when they built the other one, but still every year some truck veers into the water, even with no curves. They wanted to shoot a fight-on-truck scene for „Lethal weapon 3“ on the bridge, but the insurance would charge them outrageously, because fuckit it's dangerous, so they shot the footage of the locaion from a chopper, did the fight on dry land, and recomposed digitally.
It was already past noon when we were halfway over the peninsula. We stopped by a Walmart to get something to eat, and whatever else we remembered that we forgot to bring for the beach. That's when I first got that displaced feeling - all the shops of a chain look identical inside, there are no windows, only glass entrance, and suddenly you don't know what's outside. As if in a random teleport, you have no idea where you'll be when you go out.
We reached the island around 16:00. The road follows the middle of the peninsula, and there's no hint of sea, though you know it's within 2km (or 20, in some places) to the left or right. You feel you're in Vojvodina. Corn is high, it's just that in the middle of it you see a pelican, or that the birds scavenging a garbage heap are seagulls.
We passed by some NASA's place, and yeah they have those huge dishes, antennae, some rockets lined up by the road and that's it. Not one of their more important places.
The island is reached over a small bridge, a movable one. It's not a drawbridge, it swivels on its middle pillar. And of course, we had to wait, at least on our way back.
The island is... neither here nor there. Looks like sea, except there's no beach. Salty swamp all around. True, there's about 300 kinds of birds, plus mosquitos and whatnot. There are some 4-5 camping sites, no lies no tricks - except there's no beach. The coast is crabbers' swamp, so can't even wade in the shallows, don't scare their prey. The beach is on the other island, Assateague, 2$ entry plus 6km drive or walk, or you can rent a bike, through sand dunes... definitely not how we imagine a vacation. It didn't matter that the camp didn't look bad, there's no theory that I'd stay where I need transportation to the beach.
We decided to go south and see what we find. The problem was that we were already some 120km north up the peninsula, so it took some time to drive back. And some 20km before the bridge we did find a camp, so let's night there. We left quite an impression at the reception desk, all the girls were giggling and suffering acute fits of religion, „awmagahd they have a guinea pig!“. Of course, we took Mrvica with us... There's access to the coast, but for boats only, there's no beach. Pines thick and 30m tall, the utilites as if in a hotel, everything's there, except the beach.
We had all the room we wanted to take, and we did take a lot, not even trying to fit into anything, there was no congestion. We raised the tent quickly, it's one of those with flexible poles, technology developed for alpinists, all light and thin. Blowing up the mattresses took longer than that. We also had a table with benches, so we sat there and ate.
And so we spent the night in the tent, even if it were in a wrong place.
When the dusk set, some vehicle drove slowly by, spraying against mosquitos. It also has some transportation to the beach, just a tiny hop of some twenty miles. But let's spend the night here.
Mentions: Annenburg (A-burg), Gorana Sredljević (Go), Jose Bariero, Mrvica, Reginald Burton Cape (Burt), in serbian