The skies were clear and the sun was out this morning. It looked like it was going to be a great day to go for a ride!
We took our time over breakfast, talking to the other cyclists about biking and touring. They were all from the finger lakes region of New York so we picked their brains about bike routes in that area since we'll be going there in a month or so. Several said it's beautiful but hilly! Well, we kind of expected that. But there are also lots of wineries!
By 9:30 we headed out for an unloaded ride that would take us west in what's called the "Neck District". Necks are a spit of land like a small peninsula that has water on 2 sides. And there are quite a few of them along the bay. The roads dead end at the water in each peninsula.
Traffic was a bit busy in town even though we weren't on the main highway. Guess everyone was trying to avoid it as we were going through a residential area. At least there was a bike lane in the worst sections. After that it quieted down the further west we traveled.
We were now in the country again and biking past many farms. What was perplexing to us was that the only crops we saw growing looked like wheat. We could tell that there had been corn fields, but none had been planted. Were they letting them go fallow? Anyway, the things you think about when biking!
It was a nice warm day and would have been perfect except for the headwind. Not the worst we've ever had, but annoying. At times we were in the woods or the road would turn as it wound it's way toward the water so we were protected.
Our main stop today was at the Spocott Windmill. The windmill is not the original one which was destroyed by a blizzard in the 1800's. It's what's called a pillar windmill and quite interesting looking. There were a couple of other old buildings that had been moved to this site but none were open. They do operate the windmill at special events.
On down the road we continued to have less and less traffic as the pavement narrowed until it became a small lane where it ended at a house that was on the water. After looking at the osprey nesting on their pier, we turned around and retraced our route back to Cambridge.
When we reached the edge of town, we turned north into a different neighborhood and over to a road that went by beautiful old homes next to the Choptank River. By now I was famished as it was now after 1:00 and we hadn't found any places out in the Neck District for lunch.
Luckily our route went by Snapper's Seafood Restaurant that was on the water so we stopped in to eat. They were quite busy but we were able to get a table indoors and I was finally able to try some local crab. I ordered a crab quesadilla while Don had nachos. My crab was very good and we both had leftovers for dinner tonight.
After lunch, we back tracked to look at the Choptank River lighthouse which again is a replica but still different from other lighthouses we've seen. Next we biked past the Annie Oakley house which is now a private residence and continued on through the historic downtown area. Cambridge has some nice looking old churches and buildings. We would have taken more time to explore if we'd had the energy, but we were starting to poop out.
Done with our wandering, we made our way back to the hotel and collapsed. It was after 3 pm and while we were happy with our ride, it had been a long one. Our legs told us we'd worked them, for sure!
Tomorrow we do one more short ride as we make our way back to the trailer where we'll load up and head north into Delaware.
This was last night's storm - hail and wind driven rain. Good to be indoors!
We biked past the Harriet Tubman Memorial Garden. She grew up in this county and was where she escaped from slavery to freedom. Harriet returned time and again to usher 70 family members, friends and other enslaved people across the Mason-Dixon Line to freedom.
We biked through several blocks that had these homes all in the same style. Don thought they might have been something a company would have built for its workers?
We spotted a number of osprey today along with one bald eagle that landed in the middle of the road in front of us. I tried to take a picture, but it flew off when a truck spooked it.
I wanted to see Annie Oakley's house but was disappointed. I expected something more interesting and older. It's a private residence now. Annie and Frank Butler lived in this Colonial-Revival bungalow between 1912 - 1917. They had planned to retire here in sleepy Cambridge but soon grew restless and returned to performing.
