This morning, CJ and I picked up our friends Melvin and Audrey for a trek “down the road” to Cape Charles. There was an event being held there this weekend, Friday – Sunday, called Bark in the Park at Bay Creek. Audrey and I are both dog people and both CJ and Melvin seem to enjoy the company of each other on little road trips. It seemed like something fun to do.
When we got to the event site, we had a little giggle driving to the actual location. It was located in a Golf Club community, and at first I didn’t realize it. But by the second Speed Limit sign, I did realize that was what it read:
I can’t drive 25!
24. Not 25. 24. And in the lower speed zones (sorry I didn’t get a pic) it was 18. I had a chuckle and had to take a picture. It’s not something you see every day! Maybe it’s a typical speed limit for golf carts. I don’t know. No matter, it’s funny. I’m easily entertained!
So the event itself was kind of neat, yes, but dull for us. Maybe they had more going on Friday and Saturday, but today’s was highly uninteractive for poor CJ and Melvin. We got to see some dock diving dogs do their thing and that was definitely awesome! But I guess we were just hoping that it was going to be more your-average-dog-owner-and-dog-friendly than it was. There weren’t any pet supply vendors nor any “things to do” for those of us that showed up with our dogs for fun. Thankfully they were selling Brown Dog Ice Cream to benefit our local Eastern Shore SPCA. Audrey and I had ice cream for breakfast, yes. And it was mighty tasty. The dogs even got to enjoy some peanut butter banana ice cream that they thought was delectable! So the hour drive was still worth it! Because we also spent a little time enjoying other areas of Northampton County.
One of the downsides to living on the Eastern Shore of VA (and any rural area) is that most businesses are not open late or on Sunday. Unfortunately this was the only day during this event that either myself or Audrey was available to attend. So we were hoping it would be more fun than it was to make up for not being able to visit some of our favorite places in Cape Charles.
After watching some of the dogs do their dock diving, we drove down to the beach. The beach wasn’t dog friendly, but we wandered down the sidewalk checking out what we could for a short bit. We found a shaded gazebo to cool down for a few minutes and took a photo op:
Photo op in Cape Charles, VA
It was pretty toasty today, so we didn’t spend too much time wandering about as we didn’t want to have a couple of overheated dogs. Or dogs with heat sores on their paw pads! So we left, and headed back up the road.
On our way from Cape Charles to Accomack County we have to pass by Machipongo Trading Company! A little gem of the Eastern Shore! It was perfectly timed for lunch. So we stopped and grabbed a couple of wrap sandwiches, a sweet potato biscuit for me, Audrey and I each picked out a mixed 6-pack of craft brews to bring home, and Audrey even picked up a cute dog toy for Melvin. While we were there we ran into BethAnn of Eastern Shore Dog! She is the one that got me and CJ hooked on K9 Nosework! She is our Certified NoseWork Instructor, and a pretty great dog trainer in general. We love her!
We grabbed our sandwiches to go and headed to Willis Wharf. A quiet little area near the water where we ate our lunch picnic-style. The dogs were able to hang out outside of the vehicle with us and enjoy new smells and surroundings.
After lunch we headed home. CJ and I hung out at Audrey’s place long enough for she and I to enjoy a beer and chat. Then CJ and I headed home and here we are. It’s early afternoon and there are a ton of things I need to get done around the house. I just wanted to sit down for a spell first and share today’s experience.
At the beginning of this post it kind of sounds like today was disappointing. In fact, it was quite the opposite. You see, that’s what I LOVE about the Eastern Shore of VA! Even though our day didn’t go as we had hoped or planned, we found fun stuff to do and enjoyed a small part of what the shore has to offer! It really is a pretty amazing place and I’m grateful to be a part of it.
~AnimalWhiz
AnimalWhiz 