Williams Wharf

These pictures of the old railway at Williams Wharf were taken four years ago.

Williams Wharf has undergone quite the transformation in the past few years. 

Sadly, this very photogenic piece of history is no longer there. 

But, happily, new life is being breathed into this site.   

A wonderful addition to the community, the William and Catherine Owens Water's Edge Center, is currently under construction and promises to be a world-class community center and home to the Mathews crew team.  

Click here for more information on Williams Wharf, the Mathews Land Conservancy, and the new project.

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In other  news, I am excited to be preparing for a trip out west to visit wonderful friends I've made through this blogging gig.  Somehow, even though I'm empty nesting, my life seem to be busier and fuller than ever.  That's not a complaint, it's just a surprise.

I hope all is well in your world.

Heron

This heron was loitering hanging out at the end of my dock one day recently.

Naturally, as soon as he saw me approach--especially with a camera--he became disgruntled.

It's a well-known fact that herons not only despise people, they also hate having their picture taken.

True introverted hermits they are, these herons.

It wasn't too long before he'd had enough.

Isn't it amazing how his coloring blends right in to that old, weathered wood (also known as the dock with missing boards)?

In other news relating to more of those I photograph even when they don't want their pictures taken, I visited Chesapeake Bay Son and Daughter at UVA this weekend.  In addition to eating at some great Charlottesville restaurants, we took a hike straight up the side of a mountain off the Blue Ridge Parkway.  No mothers, sons or daughters were injured in the mile of torture otherwise known as the Humpback Rock hike.  It's straight up in the air, practically a ninety-degree angle from the parking lot, at least that's what it felt like to me.  Regardless of how steep it was, the end reward for all that torture work was a spectacular view and a most memorable experience with my two favorite humans.

(I took pictures on my new iPhone, but I'm too lazy to post them here today.)

And now I'm back home staring out at a beautiful, sunny, fall Sunday afternoon.  Trying to figure out what I can get into next before Monday and the workweek arrive.

Have a fantastic week.

Sunrise

This pine tree and sailboat live at the mouth of Callis Creek, which is off Stutts Creek.

The stuff in the foreground is part of an oyster farming operation. 

(I'll talk about the oyster farming operation later on.)

I am delinquent in talking about many topics of interest around here these days.  In spite of the fact that I am now a professional Empty Nester, I don't seem to have all the spare time I thought I'd have.  However, I'm not sure I could articulate exactly what I've been doing when I'm not working.

Truth be told, work does eat up the majority of my days.  The commute is brutal, and the days are long.  But I still have weekends off.  So what am I doing?

Well, I've been to Charlottesville a couple of times--and I'm going back again this weekend for Parents' Weekend at UVA.  Next weekend, Baby Sis and I will be in the Outer Banks for three or four days running another half marathon.  (She's far more prepared than I.)  A couple of weeks back, I spent a Saturday night in Virginia Beach.  I've been having dinner here and there with my parents and Middle Sister.  I have had frequent dinners with my friend Warren--who runs the oyster operation referenced here.  My sisters and I went to a few really great wine festivals.  I went to my first Mathews County Visitor and Information Center meeting and am excited about the possibility of being involved with tourism for the county.

And now it's Halloween.  Which means one blink and it's Thanksgiving Christmas.

Time just continues to fly by.

One sad news item I have to share is the passing of Captain A.J. Hurst.  He allowed me to tag along on a crabbing adventure back in 2012, Click here and here and here for those pictures and that story.  

Put In

A new addition to the bustling, happenin' downtown Mathews Court House scene is a kayak launch on Put-In Creek.

The launch is conveniently located next to the fire department, at the site of the former water treatment plant. There's plenty of free parking available.

(All parking is free in Mathews.  Every inch of it. We have some very interesting parking around here, too.  That should be a topic for another time though.)

One of these days I intend to borrow a truck and take my kayak down here.  As it is, my little Kia Forte isn't quite equipped to handle the transport.

Here lately, I just haven't had time to do anything, really.  Every spare moment seems to be taken up with this or that. I didn't realize just how much this or that there would be after both of my children left for college.

But there's plenty of it.  

This past week, I drove 100 miles round trip each day on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday for my normal work commute.  Wednesday I had to take a work-related jaunt to Northern Virginia: 300 miles round trip.  Friday was Daughter's birthday, and she wanted to come home for the weekend.  Tack on another 300 miles, give or take.  That's almost a thousand miles in one week.  That's crazy.

Yesterday, Middle Sister, Baby Sis, their respective boyfriends and I went to the Yorktown Wine Festival on the Yorktown waterfront.  It was hot and humid loads of fun, with live music and lots of wine to be sampled. (Standouts included a chocolate wine and a jalapeno pepper wine.)

My  next weekend trip is in a few weeks, so I'm looking forward to what I hope will be a "normal" amount of time in the car in the near future.  Normal for someone who lives in Mathews and works an hour away, anyway.

Happy October! Christmas will be here before you know it.

Market Days

To be filed under the category of Better Late Than Never, here are a few scenes from Mathews Market Days, which took place a couple of weeks ago.

Although the humidity on Saturday was so bad I felt like I could have used a flotation device just to take a few steps, the overall atmosphere was festive and fun.

I do not know this woman but feel certain she's wondering, "What is wrong with this crazy lady with frizzy hair drenched in sweat, and furthermore why is she taking my picture?"   Actually I didn't even know she was in the picture until I loaded it here.  I was looking more at the stuff in the background, especially the BBQ booth.

As usual, there were lots of booths filled with unique arts and crafts.  

In hindsight, I wish I'd purchased this.  I think the lips and teeth are my favorite part.  And the eyes. And the color, although I'm not typically a pink fan.  It's just a fun, happy fish.  

Since Market Days, I've been on the go.  Last weekend I traveled to Dewey Beach, DE, for a reunion with my college friends Iris and Lenja. The highlight was a live band that performed directly on the beach.  As a public service announcement, I'd like to share that dancing in sand is not the same as dancing not in sand, and it's possible to do what feels like permanent damage to knees and other joints when gyrating aggressively to live music.

For example.

Next Friday I travel to Charlottesville for Chesapeake Bay Daughter's 18th birthday.  Then on Saturday Baby Sis and her boyfriend will join me at the Yorktown Wine Festival, which promises to be loads of fun.

In short, life here in Mathews has been pretty darn great, all things considered, and I am enjoying my foray into Empty Nestville.

So far, so good.

Boat Houses on Stutts Creek

Last weekend, my first weekend as a new member of the Empty Nest Club, my friend Warren took me on a boat ride on Stutts Creek.

It was a gorgeous day and a wonderful way to keep my mind off the fledgling I abandoned dropped off at UVA the day before.

It's been several years since I've taken a spin on Stutts.  What a lovely creek.

Now that I've survived all the emotions and worries of launching my youngest off to college, I find myself in the unfamiliar position of having the luxury of worrying about what I want to do with my time, with my day, with my weekend. I no longer have to worry about details and schedules and logistics and who needs to be fed at what time, and how many friends will also be here, and do I need to take off work early to make that cross country meet or that basketball game.  When I go to the store, the only person I'm shopping for is me.  (And my cat Twinkie, who is really the Chief Operating Human in the household.)

Chesapeake Bay Woman is very excited about this next chapter of her life and looks forward to returning to regular blogging, among many other things.

Although she usually reserves talking about herself in the third person for unsavory topics, in this instance it's all good.  (She thinks.)