Tour de Chesapeake 2017

These pictures, taken in 2012 when everything was lush and green, help illustrate how quiet, peaceful, scenic and flat our county's roads are.

Flat and quiet roads are important when you're training for a half-marathon, as I was when I took these.

Flat and quiet--and scenic-- are also important when you're bicycling.

Once a year, Mathews County holds a major bicycling event, the Tour de Chesapeake.  

Not to be confused in any way with the highly competitive Tour de France, our tour involves a day of leisurely cycling through scenes such as these, and includes lots of activities for avid and casual cyclists, friends and family.

Friday night there's an opportunity to cruise the beautiful East River and learn something about our local history.  Saturday morning the 101 miles of routes that cover Mobjack, Gwynns Island, Bethel Beach and New Point Comfort will open to bicyclists.  Chesapeake Bay Paddling will offer kayak and paddle board trials; the Bay School will host an art show and sale, and the weekend of fun culminates with a seafood feast and party at Williams Wharf--my favorite part of the whole weekend.

Open to the public and overlooking the beautiful East River, the Party at the Wharf includes live entertainment from Lynda Smith and 7th Street--a fabulous band that can coax even the most awkward dancer out on the dance floor.  (Ask me how I know. My middle name is Awkward. My other middle name is Uncoordinated.  But the music beckons!)

This year's weekend of fun and festivities will be on May 20th.  If you live here and are interested in volunteering, if you wish to be a sponsor, or if you wish to participate and need more information, contact the event director at Email:  tourdechesapeake@gmail.com.

Check out the Mathews County Visitor and Information Center and the Tour de Chesapeake websites for more details.

I'll be volunteering at this event and will be the awkward one on the dance floor Saturday night, so I hope to see you there!

Spring Break

This endearing structure lives in a field near the end of the road at Freeport, just up the road from Mathews. I stopped in recently on my way home from having lunch with a friend in Saluda.

The wonderfully weathered wood and the vestiges of vines made it impossible for me to drive by without stopping to say hello and take a few shots.

Pretty soon, the weather will take its turn towards warm, and the weeds will take over my house greenery will take over everything.

There are signs that the process has already started.

I just returned from a once-in-a-lifetime cruise with Baby Sister, which is why this blog hasn't been updated in a while.  On board, we saw tons of live music from bands of the 1970s, including Firefall, Ambrosia, Little River Band, Player, Orleans, and my favorite:  Peter Frampton.  Although the best days were the ones at sea, we also visited Cozumel and Key West.

Now, it's a slow return to the town called Normal Life, where my workload will gradually increase, and much of my spare time will be devoted to work for the Mathews County Visitor and Information Center.

But I do still vow to keep up with this blog.

I hope all is well in your neck of the woods.