Where Oysters are King, Chincoteague VA [October 24 – 31, 2016]

An American Oystercatcher (bird) surrounded by oysters exposed at low tide.

Cans from the early oyster industry - display at the Chincoteague Museum

Oysters have fed and supported residents of Chincoteague and Assateague Islands since the first Native Americans arrived here.  They were once so plentiful that canning plants preserved oysters for distribution around the world.  Even today, if you go to restaurants that seriously serve oysters in the DC area, they will identify their saltiest oysters as coming from Chincoteague.  It would be hard to miss the impact that oysters have had on the economy and natural history of this area.

Oyster Rush boat bringing in full oyster cages

Oyster Rush oysters before cleaning and sorting

This machine cleans and drops out the smallest oysters (that will be returned to a cage to grow bigger)

Serendipitously, our campground has an adjoining fence with Tom’s Cove Aquaculture (TCA).  We gave them a call and got permission to come for a visit.  Tom’s Cove Aquaculture farms clams, and buys and resells oysters from oyster farmers.  We ran into farmers from a company called Oyster Rush who use the TCA dock and yard to off-load, clean and sort the oysters that they raise in nearby Tom’s Cove, off of Assateague Island.  Their products are called “Salty Ass(ateague)” and “Little Toms”.  They generously shared information about how they take care of their oysters.  It is painstaking work.  The oysters they sell have been hand sorted, and moved into larger cages 5 times before they are ready for sale.

Quite a few of these kinds of signs along Assateague Channel

Oysters in the foreground, Assateague Lighthouse in the background

Oysters growing in the marsh grass

The Assateague Channel, that separates Chincoteague and Assateague, has marshlands along the sides.  There are piles of oyster shells along the shoreline, and live wild oysters growing in the marsh grasses.  There are oyster and clam beds (called “rocks” by the watermen) all along the channel.  Signs warn you to keep out of smaller channels in order to protect private grounds.  Low tide exposes sand bars loaded with wild oysters.

Oysters in Tom's Cove

In early days, there was a town on Assateague Island, and watermen would walk from there to Tom’s Cove to harvest the plentiful oysters, wading out from the shoreline.  It is now the location of many leases for oyster farmers to cultivate their oysters in cages, including the lease farmed by Oyster Rush.  We kayaked into Tom’s Cove, it is huge.  The land around Tom’s Cove is all National Park Service.  The shallow water along the shoreline is loaded with oyster cages and wild oyster “rocks”.  Amazing stuff.  Keith, the farmer from Oyster Rush, told us that you would never go hungry living on Chincoteague with all the bounty living along the shoreline.  We are inclined to believe him.

Bicycling with the Ponies, Chincoteague VA [October 24 – 31, 2016]

We found ourselves with a whole week without a commitment, so looked for a place to visit that was close by home, salty, wet, and with lots of things to do.  CHINCOTEAGUE!!!!  

Chincoteague is famous for the Wild Ponies that live on Assateague Island across a narrow channel from Chincoteague Island.  The ponies live in bands with a stallion, 2 to 10 mares, and foals. We came across one such band as we rode our bicycles along Wildlife Loop.  These animals placidly munched the grass along the side of the road as we and other people took their pictures.  They are definitely used to tourists.

The ponies are actually genetically horses, but 300 years of adaptation to a poor quality salt grass diet, and survival in a harsh climate have resulted in animals of short stature.  They drink over twice as much water as domesticated horses because of their high salt diet, and as a result have a bloated appearance.  There is no denying that they are lovely to see in the wild.

We saw a band of the ponies in the distance as we drove along the Beach Road across the island.  One day at low tide, we saw another band on a spit of land across the channel from our campsite.  They had come across a newly exposed land bridge to graze on a tuft of high ground usually surrounded by water.

Assateague Island in Virginia has both a National Wildlife Refuge and a National Seashore (Happy 100^th Birthday NPS!).  The Maryland part of the island also has a State Park.  Wild Ponies live all along Assateague Island, though the Maryland ponies and the Virginia ponies are owned by different entities and are separated by a fence along the Maryland/Virginia border. About 125 ponies live in Maryland, and 150 live in Virginia.  Both herds are kept that size to prevent overgrazing the fragile barrier island ecosystem.

Even though the Wild Ponies aren’t very wild (they hung around while we took their pictures, after all) and are really horses instead of ponies, they are beloved.  Dana read Misty of Chincoteague and the other “Misty” books as a girl.  She saw Misty at the viewing of the movie based on the book in 1961.  A few years later, she came to the annual Pony Penning, where the ponies are rounded up by the Chincoteague Fire Department.  This a special place with special memories, and special ponies – I mean horses!

Goin’ Country in Nashville [September 7, 2016]

Introducing the next new Country singers at the Grand Ole Opry

When you think of Nashville, you think of Country Music.  We spent a day immersing ourselves in locations important to Country Music. 

The Grand Ole Opry House

To start, we visited the Grand Ole Opry House, the current auditorium where the venerable Saturday night radio show is broadcast.  There are also shows on Tuesday, and Friday each week.  The Opry has been housed at this location since 1974.  The backstage tour takes you past the “cast” entrance and through a variety of dressing rooms and the “green room” where everyone waits for their turn on stage.  Country Music stars are invited to become members of the Opry, it is considered a great honor.  Interestingly, there is a mail center, where members of the Opry pick up fan mail in post boxes.  The tour takes you through the wings where the house musicians warm up and the techs hang out.  Then, you get to walk on stage and stand at the microphone center stage.  Inset into the stage is a circular piece of the stage from the Ryman Auditorium, the home of the Opry for 30 years before moving to this location.  The tour is full of the history and lore of Country Music

One of the dressing rooms

The Grand Ole Opry House is outside of town and part of a huge complex of hotel/conference center and outlet mall.  Just down Music Valley Drive from there are three campgrounds, one of which was ours.

Seats 4,400, note the pew seating, a carry over from the Ryman days.

The Opry was actually housed in a variety of venues before the building of the Grand Ole Opry House, but the best known is the Ryman Auditorium, home to the Opry from 1943 – 1974.  It is located downtown.  They do a really great job at the Ryman telling you their history.  In 1885, steamboat magnate Thomas Ryman was “saved” by the Rev. Samuel Jones.  In order to give Rev. Jones a place to spread his gospel, Ryman put up his own money and raised $100,000 more to build the Union Gospel Tabernacle which opened in 1890.  The name was changed to Ryman Auditorium upon the death of Thomas Ryman.  They soon realized that hosting revivals did not bring in sufficient income to keep the lights on, so they branched out to hosting political and cultural events.  In stepped Lula Naff as the Manager of the facility.  She became prominent in booking all kinds of plays, music and other events, at a time when women were not active in business, especially in Nashville.  With the Opry as a tenant for 30 years, the Ryman became synonymous with County Music, gaining the moniker the Mother Church of Country Music.  Eventually, the Ryman started needing repairs, and the Opry needed a larger venue, so the Opry moved out.  The Ryman fell into disrepair, and was being considered for demolition.  A coalition of Country Music icons and fans pulled together funds for its renovation.  Now it is an active venue for all kinds of music concerts and other attractions.  At the time we were there, they were prepping for a Garth Brooks concert.

The Ryman Auditorium

From the Ryman we headed a block over to the District, an area of restaurants, honky tonks and western wear stores along Broadway.  As you walk along, you hear music wannabes playing inside the honky tonks and some out on the street (in 90+ degree weather).  We selected a barbeque joint, with shaded outside seating, a view of the Ryman and music heard from a distance.

Seats 2,362

Last stop, the Country Music Hall of Fame, just a few blocks further on from the District.  There are the requisite display cases with costumes, instruments and other paraphernalia and brief descriptions of different artists through history.  The open, modern building doesn’t really lend itself to linear, historical displays so you kind of wander through, stopping at something that looks interesting to you.  We enjoyed the video monitors, particularly the footage of early performers in what is now considered the roots of County Music.  There were special exhibits about Alabama, the Zac Brown Band, and Blake Shelton.  There was an interesting exhibit about Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan’s collaboration, and how it stimulated an influx of musicians outside of Country Music into Nashville and the resulting cross pollination of musical ideas.

They discovered this stencil work on the Ryman balcony during renovation.

Pew seating at the Ryman is replicated at the newer Opry House

Roy Acuff and Minne Pearl, considered to be the parents of the Grand Ole Opry.