I am sorting some old slides and thought I would introduce you to a place called Tangier Island. The Island is in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay, just below Maryland's border which puts it in Virginia. The only way to get to the island is by boat and the kids must take the mail boat each morning and afternoon just to get to and from school. About a forty minute ride.
Right! "When I was your age we had to walk three miles through snow, sleet, and rain....stop complaining". Well, here they still do have to suffer the weather and rough water just to get to school.
It takes about as much time to do your algebra homework as it does to get from either Tangier or Smith Islands (in Maryland) to the mainland at Crisfield, Maryland. Mail, kids, supplies and tourists alike ride this boat. The watermen's catch also gets to market on this boat.
Combine the watermen's twang of the south with a hint of Elizabethian english, and you pretty much get a snapshot of these folks. Both islands were discovered by John Smith in 1608 and not a lot has changed since. I say that with tongue in cheek because those folks still just live a simple life out there. What cars there are on the islands are not even licensed, roads are narrow and some not even "black topped" but made of crushed oyster shell.
Fishing and some tourism are the only industries on the islands, and you can still get a fantastic seafood lunch in both places. Incomes are basically derived from a life on the water, and crabbing seems to be the dominant income producer.
But as with most places ---- kids will be kids! Remember riding your bikes side by side and holding hands? Pure Americana! And that's Main Street.
And simply put, that is Tangier and Smith Islands in the Chesapeake Bay.
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