Cobb Island is an isolated spot with lovely scenery and just a few businesses. To hike or tour we would need to leave the Island. That meant we planned to make stops at other points of interest on the way there. We left home on an almost Spring-like March Friday. We thought we’d head to Annapolis for brunch but after a bit, we were too hungry to make it that far, so we de-toured to Newark, Delaware instead. Being a college town there were a number of possible choices along the main street. My research led me to the Home Grown Cafe, which had a lot of gluten and dairy-free options. We ordered some vegan nachos and a homemade veggie burger on a gluten free bun.
We looked on All Trails for a picnic area and came up with the nearby Newark Reservoir. The paved path up to the reservoir was a bit steep but gentle. We got up to the edge of the water and sat on the rocks to eat. The nachos were pretty simple but tasty. The burger was really good but messy due to the toppings including some type of yummy avocado mash.
As we were finishing our lunch, unfortunately the lovely day started dropping cold rain on us, so we headed back down the slope to the car and on to the next de-tour. The rain was going in and out but eventually it cleared again and we found a place to walk.
The Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary had a number of hiking trails, but since they were only open about an hour more after we arrived the lady who we paid the fee to suggested going down the boardwalk along the water and then either doubling back or circling back on one of the other trails. We saw several nesting birds, one munching on a “sushi” snack. We took one of the wooded trails back and got back in time to escape before the gate was locked.
Now it was time to move on to the cottage on Cobb Island and settle in for the evening. We crossed the bridge and made the first right on the Island and found our self at the Sea Glass Cottage. Before even letting ourselves in or bringing our things out of the car we felt compelled to walk out on the dock onto the Neale Sound. The weather was lovely again and pretty mild for March, so once we did check out the inside of the cottage, we planned to have dinner on the deck. The cottage has several bedrooms, so can easily accommodate a family. We of course didn’t need all that space but we could certainly spread out and the full kitchen was well equipped. We had brought leftovers and other foods from home that would make a nice dinner, since we weren’t inclined to head out again. We did walk to the next door grocery market which had anything we could have needed; we just went there for some hard cider to have with our meal.
When we finally were ready to call it a night, we played a new game we bought, actually it was a variation of a game we had found on a past trip with cards, instead of dice, Qwixx. It is full of strategy and was fun, even if Steve did win both times we played during our stay. We also later discovered the cabin had a games collection too, but that was the day we were leaving so we didn’t dig into check it out.
The next morning we cooked breakfast and took our time getting ready and deciding where to go. Virginia and some of the places we traveled to last Fall in our R adVenture weren’t very far, but we decided to go East instead further into Maryland. The area is a series of Peninsulas, so it meant some out and back to most places. We started with a Farm and Flea Market in Chesterfield, Maryland. They had a lot of produce but very little local, probably due to the time of year. We are looking for some items that are part of a business our son is working on, so we wandered around the flea market and checked out the diverse offerings. The few things that were interesting to us were rain damaged, so we moved on without a purchase. From there we decided to pick up lunch somewhere in a town called Leonardsville, since it had many options and was on the way toward our hiking destination. We did need to De-Tour on our way for what looked like a cool geocache. I don’t want to include a picture and spoil it but for those who are interested check out the Sunrise Sunset cache.
When I picked the Botanic Café as our stop to pick up lunch I had no idea that it was in a building attached to SOF or Sheppard’s Old Field Market. Once we placed our order we went to explore the market that was a building filled with different crafters and other creative small businesses. This is something that our daughter who is an artist is always looking for. Although Maryland is far for her, we are always interested on how these different markets work, so while I was finding a shirt I liked Steve was doing some research. Can you see we are very involved in our children’s entrepreneurial ventures? So for a shameless plug you can find a small selection of our daughter’s business, Hillary’s Handmade, has items at a similar shop in Cape May, NJ called Shop Local.
We then took the items we had picked up from the Café, a Buddha Bowl and a gluten free veggie wrap to Point Lookout State Park in Scotland, Maryland. The park is the Southern Tip of the Peninsula we were on and had an unusual light house that was a big square building with the light at the top. Also in the park were a recreated Civil War Fort and a partially recreated prison camp that the Union Army ran at that site. We walked the trails along the beach and through the wetlands and historic sites. We saw a cool bird, a heron, I think, in the wetland’s pond and just enjoyed another cool, but nice day.
It was still early enough so I looked at some of the local wineries on the way back, there was only one open late enough, which also had a large selection of fruit wines, often our favorites. Fortunately I had read that the Cove Point Winery looks like a house when you arrive and it’s really a small building behind a house. The door was open but the closed sign was up although it was a half and hour until closing. The website advertised a choice of 10 tastings for $5.00 but the man there said we could still get 4 free tastings each for free. Well, that was an easy choice. None were the best we had ever had, but we liked two of the fruit wines and one of the dessert wines to bring some home.
We thought since we were in Maryland and since the only restaurants near the Island were seafood restaurants we should have some fish for dinner. We stopped at the restaurant on one side of the road right before the bridge to the Island, Captain John’s Crab House which had the better reviews, though neither had stellar reviews. We had to walk halfway into the dining room, past the hostess stand to find out we could order take-out at the bar. When we finally got the attention of one of the bar tenders she told us it would be about half an hour as the kitchen was backed up. We said that was fine, figuring we’d wait outside on the water. What she didn’t say was it would be a half an hour until she could take our order. After about 15 minutes of her rudely ignoring us and then being rude to one of the waitresses right in front of us, we had had enough. We drove across to Captain Charles Seafood House on the other side of the road. The place was pretty empty which concerned us about the food, but the staff was extremely friendly and took our order right away. We got one order of the local Rockfish along with a side of baked potato for me and fries for Steve. We took the dinner back to the cottage to eat, this time inside as it was a bit cold. The food was flavorful, if not exceptional and we were glad for our choice in sharing as it was just enough along with some of our other leftovers again.
The next morning we took our time getting packed up, took a ride around the Island too see the rest, mostly homes and docks, and then headed out. The friend who owns the cottage lives about 40 minutes away, going toward home, so we had made plans to have brunch at her home. Brunch took several hours, not only of eating but of catching up, sharing memories and pictures and the like. By that time it was late afternoon and we needed to move further in the homeward direction. A different friend who does sculptures with found items and belongs to a community of similar artists had given us a list of cool places to visit in our travels. We got to the first one an old cemetery. It had a few interesting faux wood sculptures scattered around but was not as interesting as the next place. This next stop was hard to describe, so I’ll let the pictures speak for the Vanadua Art House . We didn’t go into the house as we didn’t have the time but often the owner will invite people in. There are articles on-line showing what else is there, but the outside was fascinating enough and this is all in a residential neighborhood. By the way, supposedly all the vehicles are drivable and how the owner gets around.
We decided to make the stop in Annapolis on the way back for dinner, knowing it’s a nice town to walk around, although it got a little cold by the time we made it. Also, we knew we always could find food options there. Steve was in a sushi mood so we hit up Tsunami for soup, salad and sushi, all very good. That was the last stop until home on our short but lovely road trip to Maryland. We have a few more trips planned and growing list of ideas, especially for short trips so stay tuned. I finally created the page I promised about how to leave home less for groceries, talking about how we buy the gluten-free, dairy-free and other healthy foods and supplies we use in our home. Grocery Shopping – Fewer Road Trips