Cape Charles, Va, my Home
Where the Sun Rises and Sets on the Water
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Cape Charles, Virginia has been called a modern day Mayberry. The town sits at the entrance to the Cape Charles harbor on the Chesapeake Bay. It is a friendly small town and a melting pot, much like it was upon its incorporation in 1886.
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Cape Charles is a town that was created as the terminus of the New York, Philadelphia & Norfolk Railroad, where rail cars were towed across the Chesapeake Bay on barges and then back on the rails in Norfolk to move North or South. It was an incredibly busy hub of transportation until the Chesapeake Bay Bridge opened in 1964. Ferries have always played a huge part in transportation here since the 1600s. Ferries first transported people, some on horseback, some in carriages. Later, the ferries evolved to more luxurious forms of passenger transport and then the automobile ferries operated until the CBBT was in full swing.
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The town is small and quiet except in the height of tourist season when it is buzzing with free concerts in the park and the beach is crowded on weekends.
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There are food trucks that park on the beachfront road in the summer. There are some good local restaurants and no fast food establishments are allowed in town.
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Lots of the old homes that had fallen into disrepair have been renovated and some have been turned into vacation homes. The post office is like no other and let me tell you, as an online seller, I have been to many and not just in this state.
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What I love about living in Cape Charles is the wonderful healing here that has transformed my life. Since I moved here a few short years ago, I have been able to do all the things that I have wanted to do all my life, but never thought I could. I got back into my artwork and have sold several of my paintings.
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My website has a blog and I have written about 27 articles on the little known and forgotten history of the area. I`m referred to as the town historian and work part time at the Cape Charles Museum.
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The museum is in the old art deco power plant building. I absolutely love the history here.
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Just outside the town limits, it is like a direct link to our old mother England.
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There is something about living in a beach town that is soothing to my soul. I only drive when I have to, like to grocery shop, get gasoline or go on an adventure. I ride my bicycle on small errands and ride all over town and up and down the beach front. I can stop at the harbor and dine on seafood outdoors
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and then ride across the harbor where the boats are stored. The place is magical to me and I feel blessed to live here. There is so much beauty to behold and I could never run out of subject material for my artwork or my writing. I feel like I was called to move here and record the history of the people and places in my writing and art. My needs are provided for by the Universe and I am aligned with her.
The sunsets are amazing at the town beach. Almost every night there is a different showing of the sky as the sun sinks below the line of the water. It can make almost anyone a good photographer.
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I go there as many evenings as I can to witness what I no longer take for granted. If you wish, in the early morning,you can drive outside town limits and watch the sun rise over the bays surrounding the Barrier Islands that protect our land from being destroyed by the mighty Atlantic Ocean.
Thank you, Cape Charles, for being such a great place to live.
About the Creator
Laura Smith
Historian, artist, writer living my best life now.
Share my articles from website only. Any other reproduction is copyright infringement.
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