Most folks who visit the Cape Charles area of Virginia’s Eastern Shore quickly fall in love with one of its many offerings.
The Chesapeake Bay, fresh seafood, restaurants, shops, a certain quaintness and, for many, its history are just some of the things that draw.
The boating community also has a loving relationship with Cape Charles – which provides a deep harbor and close proximity to fishing grounds.
Many of those things also draw transient boaters heading south for the winter or north in the summer.
Cape Charles harbormaster Paula Davis came to the Shore after a life in Virginia Beach that saw her running Fisherman’s Wharf Marina in Rudee Inlet.
She fell in love and moved to the area.
“It’s just incredible,” she said. “I came over for a crab fest in 2015, stayed the night and loved it.
“There are great restaurants, great shops, great beaches and it’s a walking town.
”It’s amazing.”
She’s hardly alone when it comes to the mind set of those who live around Cape Charles, and of those who visit.
One way to enjoy it is becoming more and more popular, with hundreds of people arriving during the summer by boat.
On either side of Cape Charles are creeks, towns and other places to visit – or just a simple sight-seeing cruise.
This is the best time of year for boaters to think about more than a day trip around Cape Charles’ waterways, capped by a sunset meal at one of the many of the shore’s restaurants.
Like for any other outing, make sure you have your vessel and all the necessary equipment in order. Going anywhere haphazardly just isn’t a great idea – especially when dealing with the water.
If you have a vessel that you can sleep in overnight, you’re basically all set.
A center console boat will bring different challenges, but ones Cape Charles can accommodate.
Once settled in, a pair of golf cart companies offer rentals so that you can more easily get around.
There are even some historic churches if a Sunday service suits your fancy.
A History buff’s paradise.
A stay can be as simple or in-depth as you want it to be.
The Cape Charles Museum and Welcome Center are good places to start. There you can find bits and pieces of the area’s long history and good ideas on where to start to discover more.
Just so you know, Virginia’s portion of the Eastern Shore – known to many as the DELMARVA Peninsula – was one of the first areas in the country to be colonized after being explored by Capt. John Smith.
A seafood and agriculture region, it fed many with fish, vegetables and wild game.
And still does.
After decades of modesty, in 1870, Cape Charles and other close-by towns gained in popularity when the Pennsylvania Railroad decided to extend its tracks into the area to take advantage of local provisions and to provide a jumping off spot for ferries headed to Norfolk.
So in 1882, engineer Alexander Cassatt made a move to build a harbor and town to meet the needs of passengers and the railway.
All that led to the start of a boom that lately has been rekindled by those wanting to leave behind the madness of cities.
Its quaintness is a description often used by locals to describe the area’s mentality.
In 1884, the first passengers and freight trains began arriving from northern states.
The following year saw residential and commercial buildings, a volunteer fire department, a newspaper, schools and several churches.
The town was the unofficial center of Northampton County.
History includes that native American tribes like the Nanticoke, Pocomoke, Choptank and Accohannock made it home.
While most tribes left the area and headed north, they left behind large areas of their lives to nearly disappear in the soil.
Creeks and backwaters were popular places for folks sneaking in slaves, unapproved goods and weaponry.
Early habitants left behind tons of their past during times when they aided the Revolutionary and Civil wars.
Metal detector fanatics love to look for items just after farmers till their soil and they often are rewarded.
Also left behind are things like the tomb of John Curtis on the shores of Old Plantation Creek, whose family first came to the Shore in 1653. There is Saint Charles Catholic Church, originally in 1886, and Cape Charles Baptist Church from 1902, that held services as early as 1885.
The town was becoming such a popular destination that in the early 1920s, the Sears and Roebuck catalogue began offering mail-older homes that could be built on site.
Nearby towns also offer a huge taste of the past.
SO WHAT’S CHANGED
Not much, really. But modern technology has mingled with the past.
Eastern Shore’s Director of Destination Development, Megan Lawson, says restaurants, shops and places to watch the sun set on the western horizon are vastly popular. There is a golf course and a wonderful beach. If you want to take seafood home with you, the Shore is the place to get it. Hunting and fishing opportunities are popular and plentiful.
And special events attract crowds from all over the shore and points further away.
“Cape Charles is filled with history,” Lawson said. “People see all the things off Route 13 and fall in love with any one of them. It’s such a wonderful place.
“And we have a Christmas Festival that basically turns into a Hallmark movie.”
And a small town mentality that persists with most residents – folks who let the modern in but refuse to let the place’s storied history slip away.
“There are lots of really cool things to do, or you can just come and relax,” Davis said. “It’s an easy place to fall in love with.”
And what better way to start off that relationship than by boat.
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