Even Noah didn’t get this much rain!!!
Today is the first day on Virginia’s Eastern Shore that it is SUNNY! After 2 days of waking up to gray skies, drizzling rain and yesterday THICK fog,
we have sun but LOTS of wind.
At least this place is open!!!!
We had breakfast this morning at the Cape Charles Coffee House on Mason Street in a beautiful, old 2 story building. It was once been a bank and was renovated after a fire with very interesting ceilings and dark paneling. Annette was our gracious server and brought the hubs coffee and hot tea for me; the food was delicious and a great start to the day!
After looking through the many pamphlets and brochures I picked up at the welcome center our first day, I decided to go exploring! My destinations were a sheep farm, Ten Good Sheep in Onancock, an alpaca farm, By the Bay Alpacas in Painter, Red Dog Decoys, and a pottery. It was a nice day to drive, so I took off in Big Blue with my destinations circled on the pamphlet and the GPS on the screen. There is only one main road, Highway 13 that travels up the entire peninsula with roads going off either side to take you to the towns up and down the coasts.
What’s good for the goose…
I followed the directions to Ten Good Sheep, which was tucked back into a small hamlet of houses near the water. It looked closed, so I called and got my first voice message of the day that they were closed for the season. I left a message in case they were in the studio but alas, never heard back.
I decided to call Red Dog Decoys and discovered the phone number was the same as Ten Good Sheep, so that was out. Silver lining – as I turned around, I saw a gaggle of white geese! I pulled over to take a picture and they started honking and coming towards me – I’m used to Canada Geese moving away when I drive or walk near them so I was quite surprised. I think they thought I was going to feed them! 
So this is what you mean by off-season???
I went back to Highway 13 and toward the alpaca farm. Their information had said appointment only so I gave them a call and received my second voice message stating to leave a message to make an appointment – sigh. So, I followed the directions to the potter who was in an old school building where different artists were set up in classrooms, unfortunately, all the classrooms were locked with the lights off. The lesson had finally set in – February is OFF SEASON! That means many places were going to be closed until mid-March or April, so I headed back to Cherrystone.
Great atmosphere, great beer, great food!!
We decided to go out for dinner instead of waiting until tomorrow for Valentine’s Day. We had passed an interesting looking building several times going into Cape Charles. It was the Cape Charles Brewing Company. We headed there for dinner. The first thing I noticed was the furnishings – the tables were made out of wood planks and varnished to a high gloss. The knots and imperfections (as some would call them) all showed up and gave each table character. The bar was built in smaller wood planks in a zig-zag pattern with different shades every couple of planks. The light fixtures had an industrial look to them. In talking with one of the owners, we learned that he and his son-in-law (and possibly other family members) had made most of the furnishings by hand with the wood sourced from a local saw mill. It was incredible!
Since I’m not big on craft beer, I asked for my usual drink (Michelob Ultra). Instead, he brought me 3 different craft ones to try. I found my favorite and ordered. The hubs had fish and chips and I had a fabulous hamburger of their own blend of meat. A very enjoyable experience and a good end of the day!