What a strange time we live in. Everything about this post feels wrong. For one thing, it marks what will likely be our final overnight jaunt to the Eastern Shore, as Jane and I are leaving the Chesapeake behind in just a few short months (more to come). For another, these photos are… terrible. Our final time visiting the Eastern Neck refuge and photographing our beloved marsh islet in Tubby Cove - and it had to be in harsh midday light! And lastly, we were brash to travel, even if just for one night, as the COVID pandemic began to unfold around us in Maryland. Still, it would have felt even more wrong to not celebrate the occasion of Jane’s PhD defense (in virology, no less). Restaurants and businesses are shuttered, so a little car trip is all we have left.
Instead of staying for a third time at Osprey Point, we chose instead to stay at the Great Oak Manor, a lovely old estate a few miles north of the Chester River. After driving through the Arby’s in Chestertown, we make a short detour to the Java Rock Café in Rock Hall, and from there to Eastern Neck, where we say our farewells to Tubby Cove. We make the short trek to the river mouth at Boxes Point, where we part ways with our hiking branch from Shenandoah. Then, it’s back up the peninsula to Great Oak Landing, where we check in at the sprawling manor house. After settling into our second-story bedroom and exploring the mansion’s lush, ornate interior, we take an afternoon bike ride down to the boat landing, cruising along country lanes and past yards full of blooming magnolias and forsythias. Sunset is a wash (and frankly, I’m not in much of a mood for photography, anyhow), so we stay in and watch movies into the early evening. The next day, after a breakfast of quiche and pancakes, it’s back to Baltimore, to the real world, and to a very uncertain future.
