orange line gone, ramp blocked, soft shells in doubt

The first inkling of trouble came when I checked the Star Transit time schedule for their orange line runs from Accomac to Chincoteague.  I had come across the Eastern Shore bus system last year and thought it would be a perfect way to get from my destination of Onancock back to Chincoteague where I planned to leave the jeep and trailer.  Just a few dollars, one bus transfer and less than two hours would get me from one place to the other. 

Perfect.  Or so I thought.

Checking the schedule last week I found that the orange line had disappeared.  A little further research found minutes of a meeting where the orange line was discontinued due to lack of funding.  My needs, apparently, did not come up in the board discussion.

So I called my friend Maria, who lives in Onancock, asking if anybody ran a taxi service in the area, maybe something out of a garage or gas station.  She replied back that there was no such service, but she would be glad to give me a ride back to Chincoteague.  How nice of her.

So I'm thinking I'm back in great shape until I get an email from the dock master at Onancock telling me the ramp was in bad shape due to both age and this winter's ice.  It will be closed for repairs for at least a few weeks.  

I'm gonna miss those Tangier Island soft shell crabs...........

The Eastern Shore/Chesapake will have to wait until this fall.  The offer of a ride, I'm told, still holds.  North winds, needed for the first couple of days sailing down the ocean side of the shore, might be more prevalent.

My next phone call was to friend Millie, who lives in Elizabeth City, NC.  She let me leave the jeep and trailer at her place for last fall's trip, and said she would be glad to do so again later this month.  Maybe Elizabeth City to the Alligator River (hopefully not hidden in fog and rain), down the canal to Belhaven and the Pamlico River, with luck a crossing to Ocracoke and then north to Roanoke Island and back home.  

Or something like that.  Yes, blue crabs do shed their shells in North Carolina water too, but for some reason they are not as commonly served in restaurants.  But I do know where I can get a good trout burger.