It’s a longer delay than usual in starting the blog due to
the Steven and Lauren’s wedding and other family arrangements. But here we are at
last, on page one.
We met with Adam at Heathrow and flew together to Washington
DC. The flight arrived on time at 3.10 pm but, with a congested immigration
process and a 100 mile drive, it was 9.00 pm before we reached our destination,
a holiday home at Colonial Beach. Here’s a photo.
We decided to rent a holiday villa rather than stay in a
hotel as Adam was with us; also Ralph, Kelly and Ginny would be joining us for
a couple of days to attend the wedding. It’s on the waterfront and that’s our
own pier. Looking towards the pier from the house gave us a lovely view,
especially in the soft twilight.
Colonial Beach is in the state of Virginia and the far shore
is in Maryland. However, the Maryland state boundary runs along the shoreline
of the Virginia coast at this point- so our pier is, in fact, in Maryland. If
the south had become a separate country following the American civil war then
our pier would be in a different country, maybe even with its own customs and immigration officials! “Sorry, sir, crossborder food is not allowed so you
can’t bring your sandwiches onto the pier.”
There are some nice strips of sand although it’s actually on
the Potomac River estuary, which is about 10 miles wide at this point. That
means we don’t get much tide or rough seas here. The water is warm and shallow,
although a bit murky. Jane is scanning for murky characters on the beach.
The murky water doesn’t seem to affect the fishing birds,
the most spectacular of which is the osprey. There are literally scores of them
here, as many, it would seem, as in the whole of the UK where they are rare and
vigorously protected. The osprey is on the post and the bird flying top left hand
corner is a turkey vulture, also quite common in the USA.
Colonial Beach consists of hundreds of houses all built in
the same style as ours: the colonial style, hence the name, and clearly
enforced by the planners as nothing conflicts with the general appearance.
Well, not quite. There are some touches of individuality- use restricted to
the hours of darkness.
Boats are much in evidence, and most inlets contain a
marina. The owner of this boat must like the place so much that he’s made it into a
floating office, complete with outboard motor for chugging around the harbour.
Just to prove we are here together, we’ll finish with a
photo of Jane & me on our pier. And then we’re going to a wedding.
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