Eastern Shore of Maryland (Easton)

We drove from Jersey City New Jersey to Tuckahoe State Park in Queen Anne Maryland on 2 Sep 2026.  When we were almost there, the sky got very dark and if felt ominous. After a few minutes of just quiet black skies, the torrential rain started.  We had about 10 minutes of driving 40mph through it with our flashers on.  It slowed to a drizzle by the time we arrived.  The first entrance to Tuckahoe State park that we tried was inaccessible due to a tree falling across the road.  A park ranger guided us for backing out and told us how to get to the other entrance.  We got set up in a light drizzle and we were happy to be settled in by 4pm. 

We went to morning mass at our old church in Easton on Thursday.  We saw many faces we recognized and our friend Linda came and gave us a hug when she arrived.  She is a good friend Anita hung out with before we hit the road.  After mass we met our friend Darrell at the Amish Market for breakfast.  Anita had never had breakfast there, but it was nice.  Anita’s old neighbor, Margaret, from before we left Maryland walked by and Anita caught up to her to tell her we were in town.  We finally came up with getting together after mass of Saturday evening.  They were supposed to be leaving on a cruise on Labor Day.  After the Amish Market and seeing Darrell’s new house in the new development (Four Seasons) in Easton, we drove to Bethany Beach Delaware to see Anita’s friend Patty and her 92 year old mom, Pat.  We had a nice visit with them and we all went out to dinner.  We left around 9pm and stopped for groceries on our way back to the campground.  We made it home close to 11pm.

Bethany Beach Delaware - 3 September 2026

Pat, Patty, Kathy, Charlotte, Anita

Friday 4 Sep 2026 our friend Steve came over to hang out with a campfire.  We enjoyed our time with him and he said he’d touch base the following week for us to get together with him and his wife Virginia.  That night we had dinner with our friends Mark and Kim at La Bodega in Easton.  After dinner they invited us to their house for dessert.  The restaurant was loud and it was hard to hear each other.  At Mark and Kim’s house it was quiet but we were all getting tired.  It was around 10pm when we left.  Steve and Mark had made a plan to go fishing Saturday morning. 

Campsite at Tuckahoe State Park - 4 September 2026

Steve and Steve

Steve got up early Saturday morning to go fishing with Mark.  Anita enjoyed sleeping in and then did things around the camper.  Steve got home around lunch time and we just worked on the blog for NYC and relaxed.  We went to mass Saturday evening at 5:30pm at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church.  After mass we went to see our old neighbors Michael and Margaret.

Gateway Marina Cambridge Maryland - 5 September 2026

Steve and Mark and his new boat

Sunday our boat trip with Bob and Susan was moved to Tuesday, so we found ourselves with no plans.  It was nice to just hang out at the campground and rest. 

Monday 7 September was Labor Day.  Steve’s old neighbors invited us to a cookout at their house.  They’d invited “the old gang” three other couples (Judy and George, and Debbie and Tim, Liz and Hank) that would come over for cookouts at least twice a year before Steve moved.  Dale and Lorrie invited Mark and Kim who live in the neighborhood, and whom we had seen the previous Friday night and but forgotten to get a picture.  It was a great time catching up with everyone and just having lots of laughs.  Kim and Mark were leaving early the next morning to drive to Cape Cod.  Debbie and Tim were leaving the next morning to drive to Pennsylvania then to Ohio.  We appreciated everyone coming even though they had busy schedules. 

Dale and Lorrie's House - Easton Maryland - 7 September 2026

Lorrie, Debbie, Liz

Judy, Me, Kim

Dale and Lorrie's House - Easton Maryland - 7 September 2026

Me, Dale, Kim

Dale and Lorrie's House - Easton Maryland - 7 September 2026

George, Hank, Tim, Dale

Steve and Mark

Dale and Lorrie's House - Easton Maryland - 7 September 2026

Steve, Mark, Dale

On Tuesday 8 September we went out with Bob and Susan on their boat.  They have a place in Oxford so we left from there and went to Tilghman for lunch.  It was a beautiful day and we loved being on the water and hanging out with Bob and Susan.  They’re doing well. We've kicked ourselves because we forgot to get a picture with Bob and Susan. We forgot with a few other gatherings as well. That evening Steve attended the Knights of Columbus meeting at Saints Peter and Paul. Anita went shopping for a couple of things we needed.

Oxford Harbor - 8 September 2026

Tilghman Maryland - 8 September 2026

Knapp's Narrows Drawbridge

On Wednesday 9 September, we had to move to Martinak State Park, about 12 miles away.  It was no big deal, just more of an inconvenience.  We would have preferred to stay two weeks at one place, but neither campground (Tuckahoe SP nor Martinak SP) had availability.  We were settled in at Martinak by 1pm and all we had on our social calendar that day was to see our friend Peter at Bombay Tadka at 6pm.  We enjoyed a delicious Indian meal and got caught up on Peter’s life and filled him in on our travels.  It was great seeing him and we all promised to do better keeping in touch. 

Bombay Tadka Indian Restaurant Easton MD - 9 September 2026

Peter and us

Thursday 10 September we had lunch and dinner dates.  We met Ken and Trish at Panera Bread at 1pm, then Virginia, Steve and Darrell at Suicide Bridge at 5:30pm.  Ken and Trish are doing well now, but Ken has had open heart surgery since we last saw him.  Ken was a fishing buddy of Steve’s.  Trish is 81 years old and looks like she’s in her 60’s.   That evening Steve and Steve had crabs for dinner.  At Suicide Bridge they also bring fried chicken with the crabs.  The rest of us ordered other seafood off the menu.  It was a fun evening with lots of laughs.

Panera Bread Easton Maryland - 10 September 2026

Us with Ken and Trish

Suicide Bridge Restaurant Hurlock Maryland - 10 September 2026

Us with Darrell, Virginia and Steve

Friday we had a late lunch with Bill and Arlene.  They had returned from a Pennsylvania trip on Thursday.  Again we appreciated them making time for us.  It was good hearing all that’s going on with the Knights of Columbus and other activities at Saints Peter and Paul (our old church).

Washington Street Pub - Easton Maryland - 11 September 2026

Us with Arlene and Bill

Saturday morning we drove to Annapolis to spend the weekend with Cynthia.  We arrived around 11:30am and after lunch we all went for a hike.  The Waterworks Park trailhead is close to Cynthia’s house so it was convenient.  We walked and talked and before we knew it, we had walked 4 miles.  After we showered, we went to 4:30pm mass at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Annapolis.  Cynthia had a responsibility at the American Legion at 6:15pm so we went there after mass and had dinner there.  She was done by 7pm and we just headed home to her house.  Sunday was a quiet day at Cynthia’s.  The girls went for a walk in Cynthia’s neighborhood that afternoon while Steve enjoyed some football on TV.  Cynthia made crabcakes for dinner that night and they were delicious.  Her recipe is like the one Phillip’s Seafood Restaurant uses.

St. John Neumann Catholic Church - Annapolis Maryland - 12 September 2026

American Legion - Annapolis Maryland - 12 September 2026

Us with Cynthia

Monday morning Cynthia and her son RT went to work and we drove back to Martinak State Park in Denton.  We had an invitation for brunch at Maureen and Bob’s house in Preston at 11am.  We had a delightful time with them swapping stories about the last few years.   That evening we met our friend Bitsy at Easton Diner for an early dinner.  We had seen Bitsy in Maine this summer, but she came back to Maryland on the Friday, so we got to see her again.

Maureen's house in Preston Maryland - 14 September 2026

Us with Bob and Maureen

On our last day in Maryland, Steve went fishing with Darrell out of Ocean City.  Their trip was delayed a little due to wind and high seas, but they made it out and they caught some flounder.  Darrell actually won the $250 pool for the largest fish caught.  Anita had made a hair appointment at 8am with Heather who was her hairdresser the whole time Anita lived in Easton.  It was good to see Heather and to get a good haircut.  Anita met Linda for breakfast at the Bagery in Easton. Linda had to leave at 11am for an appointment, but we enjoyed catching up.  Anita ran a couple of errands and then met Kaye for lunch at 1pm at the Tidewater.  Kaye looks different from the last time we’d seen each other.  She’s let her hair go grey and it looks great!  Kaye had returned from a Viking cruise the day before we met, so she was feeling some fatigue.  We had a nice lunch and caught up on all the single ladies Anita mostly hung out with before meeting Steve.  Again it was very much appreciated that Kaye came out to play when she felt jet lagged and tired.

Fishing Trip out of Ocean City MD - 15 September 2026

Steve and Darrell

Fishing Trip out of Ocean City MD - 15 September 2026

Fishing Trip out of Ocean City MD - 15 September 2026

Darrell won the pool with one of these...left fish was bitten by a Barracuda under the boat

With the exception of a couple of health issues, hearing about the death of an acquaintance and the breakup of a couple of relationships, everyone we saw seems to be doing very well and enjoying life.  We had a wonderful time seeing friends and we were sorry our time in Maryland came to an end so quickly.

On Wednesday 16 September we picked up our mail at the Post Office in Denton and tried to fill up our truck before hooking up to leave.  The diesel pump at Bullock’s in Denton did not work, so we decided to wait till enroute to fill up.  We had to go back to Tuckahoe for the dump station as Martinak’s dump station is not currently working. We finally got on the road to Virginia around 11am. We stopped in Onley Virginia for fuel. We paid $5.89 per gallon. As I write this, we are in Cape Charles Virginia at Kiptopeke State Park. We had tent-camped here 10 or 12 years ago.  We’re using the time here to catch up on chores we neglected while seeing all our friends in Maryland.  We’re gradually making our way south to Florida.