September 20 – 24, 2024

Once Janet joined us, we drove the short distance to Smithville for our meal at the Inn.  The original was built in 1787 by James Baremore as one room on a well –traveled stagecoach route and it may not have been planned as an inn.  But houses were far between in those days, and word of the Baremore’s hospitality spread until inn keeping became their living.  The family continued to operate the Inn through the years and by 1874, it had grown to six times its original size, and its fame seemed permanently established. Yet sometime after the turn of the twentieth century, it was abandoned.  In 1949, the Inn was rediscovered and in 1952 a local couple purchased it and seven acres of property, restoring the structure and opening it in 1952 as a 42-seat restaurant.

We arrived a little before our reservation time and sat just outside the cozy bar until we were called to our table in the main dining room.  Joanna and I both ordered a cocktail to start, for her the Pumpkin Martini and for me the 13th Manhattan, while Janet enjoyed a glass of Chardonnay.  To start Joanna and I would split a cup of the house corn chowder and then try our best work through our entrees, the Seafood Primavera for her and Sausage and Chicken Pasta for me. 

Stuffed to the gills, we took the bulk of my pasta dish with us back to the Holiday Inn and would enjoy it later for lunch.  The next day Joanna and Janet went to a morning spa treatment while I made my way to a trailhead for the Atlantic County Bikeway.  It occupies a 7.56-mile abandoned rail corridor of the West Jersey and Atlantic Railroad, is 10-foot wide with 2-foot shoulders, and has an asphalt surface. It was funded by the Atlantic County Open Space Trust Fund and a Federal Highway (ISTEA) grant and officially opened in 2003

Just my third ride since the hip replacement and still dealing with the effects of Covid, ten flat miles was about all I had in me.  As I was returning to the trailhead, I met up with Joanna and Janet who had gone out for a walk along the trail and after reuniting, we headed back over to Galloway for lunch at JD’s Pub and Grill, where we have eaten with Janet before.  We ordered a beer apiece and enough food to last us into the evening, a cup of Crab Bisque, the Crab Cake Sandwich for Joanna and the Rueben for me. 

Food here is reasonably priced and filling which is what one expects from a local pub, so although the Rueben didn’t knock my socks off, I ate most of it and enjoyed spending time with two lovely people.  Finished, we dropped Janet off at her apartment and returned to the Holiday Inn for a quiet evening of catching up on some of the programs we stream, knowing full well that in a few days we’d be staying or socializing with friends and our TV time would dwindle to not much at all. 

But before we launched full time into family and friends, we set aside one night for ourselves and that would be to enjoy a day at Chincoteague Island, which we visited some years back.  Our GPS set a scenic route for us, heading due south until we drove aboard the Cape May Lewes Ferry which after a very pleasant hour or more at sea lands in Delaware near Rehoboth Beach.  Disembarking we stopped at a local Dairy Queen to split one of their quite good fish sandwiches, before pushing to Chincoteague. 

The town is a tourist gateway to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on adjacent Assateague Island, the location of a popular recreational beach and home of the Virginia herd of Chincoteague Ponies.  These ponies and the annual Pony Swim are the subject of Marguerite Henry’s 1947 children’s book Misty of Chincoteague, which was made into the 1961 family film Misty, filmed on location.

We arrived at the Best Western Chincoteague Island, our lodging for the night and one we stayed at the last time visited the island.  After unpacking we climbed back into the car to take the causeway to Assateague Island, home to the National Seashore and home to the famous ponies.  We stopped there to take some pictures as they were close by, then drove all the way out to the seashore, its stormy surroundings cautioning against going into the water. 

On our return to the Best Western we parked at the trailhead for the Woodland Trail that took us out to the edge of the marshy land we’d glimpsed from the causeway.  No ponies to be seen here as they were too far away, but a nice hike all the same. 

We returned to the Best Western and at the recommendation of the desk clerk, headed into town for dinner at Chatties Lounge, which had a formal restaurant downstairs (Don’s Seafood Market and Restaurant) and a large bar upstairs where we decided to throw our fate.  This would lead us to one of the more disappointing meals of the trip.  Along with a beer apiece, we both had soup, the Fisherman’s Stew for Joanna and the Homemade Cream of Crab for me.  The flavor of mine was good, but there were few pieces of crab, leaving me to wonder how good our entrees would be. 

We’d soon find out when mine arrived, the Medley of Sauteed Vegetables over Pasta that I added chicken to, resulting in a tasteless conglomeration of decently cooked linguine smothered in a gooey sauce that likely came from a jar with an almost complete absence of vegetables.  I ate as much as I could before giving up and we paid the tab of $50, not unreasonable for all the food we got.  But next time I’d be sure to order fish. 

The next morning, we took advantage of a late morning checkout and the relatively short drive that day to Durham to fit in a bike ride into the park. 

We weren’t the first people in the park, but few others were sighted as we pedaled past the entrance booth and turned left onto the Wildlife Loop, passing through its large parking lot to begin a circuit that would also include a detour onto the Swan Cove Trail which took us to the beach for quick view of the surf.  Finished with the loop we rode out the Toms Cover Visitor Center for a bathroom break before returning to the Best Western to pack up and hit the road.  Our one-night stay had refreshed us prepared the ground for what would be a couple of whirlwind weeks of social interaction. 

Links

The Smithville Inn: https://www.smithvilleinn.com/

Atlantic County Bikeway: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/new-jersey/atlantic-county-bike-path

JD’s Pub and Grill: https://jdspubsmithville.com/

Chincoteague Island: https://www.chincoteague.com/

Best Western Chincoteague Island: https://www.bestwestern.com/en_US/book/hotel-rooms.47125.html?iata=00171880&ssob=BLBWI0004G&cid=BLBWI0004G:google:gmb:47125

Assateague Island: https://www.nps.gov/asis/planyourvisit/index.htm

Chatties: https://www.facebook.com/p/Chatties-Lounge-Chincoteague-VA-100063701346859/