I don’t use the term “lovely” much; it sounds too much like my granny, but it just seems like the right word to describe Onancock, Va. Onancock is a small, basically 2 street town on the Eastern Shore that is picture post card perfect. Laid out in 1681, it still has an old town feel. Unfortunately for us, most of the historic sites were closed. We’re finding that many shops, museums and restaurants don’t open until after Mother’s Day or even Memorial Day.
It was only about a 3 hour ride from Onancock to Tangiers Island, so were arrived around 11am and had plenty of time to see this unique waterman community. This shrinking island is currently about 3 miles long and 3 miles wide, but erosion is talking it’s toll. According to the Waterway Guide, “In the winter of 2013 nearly 40 feet of land was lost on the north side..”. As you enter the east channel and head to the heart of the island, you see the old crab shanties many of which are falling into the bay. The shanties are where the crabbers sort their catch. They may also have pens where the crabs are held until they molt. 
Tangiers is a dry island- no alcohol is sold here. The Methodist church has a strong influence in the community. Todd, a local crabber, told us about the small school of about 65 kids that his 14 year old daughter attends. She has 10 kids in her class. Most of the young people leave the island as soon as they can to seek a life on the mainland. There’s little future for them on Tangiers. According to Todd, crabbing is no longer the small family business it once was. Crabbers must be licensed and there is a limit to the number of licenses issued. It isn’t feasible for a father and son to share a license because the meager income crabbing provides isn’t enough to support two families.
We were surprised to see many houses with family graveyards set in the corner or even the front yards. This was to protect them from grave robbers and to allow families to be closer to their departed loved ones and to take better care of the grave site.
Just up the Eastern Shore is Crisfield. While the town has an amazing marina facility with pool, bar and new floating docks, the town has little to offer. Again, many of the shops and restaurants were closed until “the season” begins. This is a great place if you just need a place to stop and get some maintenance done, it isn’t the place to charm at the quaint homes and waterside.
From Crisfield, we are crossing the Bay to Solomon’s. We’ll be staying at Zahniser’s Marina. More on that in the next post.