Let’s take a trip in the Way Back machine. Yes, I know, you all think that Gary and I live in the Way Back machine. And, yes, I will admit to a love of history and how it influenced how we are today. But, today, we did take a trip back, back to the day without cars, without bridges, without highways, when water was the major means of transportation, when steamboats plied the waters of the Chesapeake, bringing goods to hard-to-reach peninsulas from Baltimore, MD to Norfolk,VA, when tomatoes and other produce were transported to market, when weddings took place on the luxurious steamboats, and when traveling stage shows steamed from port to port with their entertainment. But, actually, those days are not so far back - the era of steamboats was really from the late 1800's to the 1930's when the last steamboat made one last stop at all its ports along the Chesapeake to say good-bye. Good-bye to its old passengers and and good-bye to an era.
Our stop today was in Irvington, VA, up one peninsula, across a bridge (natch) and down another peninsula to the Steamboat Era Museum, a small but lovingly put together and crafted and well-designed museum devoted to the steamboat era on the Chesapeake in all its ramifications. When we keyed our destination into our GPS, it said 10 miles as the crow flies, but then it figured out the route and it was 25 - gotta get around that little finger of water. VA is like that, lots of little fingers of water and you’ve got to go around them and get to the bridges. Our GPS is funny - it went one direction to get there and another direction to get back. You’d think that if it was picking the best route - coming and going would be the same. Nope, our GPS like variety.
Well, we got to Irvington and found the nicest little coffee shop with the best cranberry orange muffins. When I told the clerk that we’d take one and share, Gary snorted and I changed the order to 2. We were tempted to stay for lunch when we heard what the soup was asparagus and then we checked out the sandwich board. First you choose the bread you want and then the toppings. They had The California: spinach, roasted red peppers, artichoke hears, mozzarella and bistro sauce or the Black and Blue: roast beef, bleu cheese, spinach & Bistro sauce or the Rocky: classic Cuban with roast pork, ham, swiss, pickle and honey mustard. Salads like the Maine Squeeze: greens, walnuts, blue cheese and dried cranberries with raspberry vinaigrette or the Belle of the Bowl: greens, roasted red peppers, portabella with balsamic vinaigrette. I’m drooling even as I write all this.
OK, enough of the food. Let’s hit the museum. Very nice museum and extremely helpful docents. One has a mother who has been on the steamboats and ridden them. We began with a huge map at the entry to the exhibits showing all the steamboat stops along the Chesapeake.
Next was a timeline showing at the beginning Robert Fulton’s Clermont, the first steam vessel. Note that it still had sails - kind of a Plan B. What if the steam doesn’t work - ah, we still have sails and can get back to shore.
Inside was a model of a passenger steamship. There was even a bridal suite - had to have these since people wanted to get married on a steamship. Steward’s quarters, shared bathrooms, a lounge area with a bar, a salon area for relaxing, captain’s quarter and crew quarters.
In the main room was this marvelously detailed model of a steamship being made. In one spot was a little model man climbing up a little model ladder. In another was a group of men discussing the ship. Very detailed model of a shipyard.
Then the museum told the story of the canneries that were built along its routes. A life-sized model of a cannery, cans of canned tomatoes, a computer where you could hear stories from people who actually worked in the canneries or near them and what their lives were like. One guy told about how red the water got with all the tomatoes that were canned around it and waiting for the tide to go out to clean the water so he could swim. One woman spoke about earning 1 token for every pail of tomatoes she peeled - to a total of $.40 a day. Now, the catch was - you had to spend those tokens in the company store. Hmmm. and we’ve all heard about how that operated.
Finally, there was a section about the traveling playhouse. A steamboat that plied the waters and put on plays and other entertainments up and down the Bay. Big enough to hold quite an audience and they put a new play on every night. Remember, no TV’s, no movies, no videos and not many opera or play houses in many of these town and villages. This steamboat was their entertainment and they enjoyed it. Here you can see the rows of seats for the theater goers - with the state on the right.
Very sophisticated exhibits, intricate models of steamships, dioramas showing people of the time at work - all showing an immense amount of dedication and effort - a neat museum to visit.
I liked some of the cute information that they had put on a wall at the beginning of the exhibits.
Cute, eye-catching intro to the museum itself.
We also appreciated the steamboat paintings throughout the lobby but really enjoyed the whole museum.
But it was time to head on home. We leave tomorrow for a new campground up by Washington DC and it’s time to pack up and head on our way - kind of like a steamboat heading for the next port.
‘To save time, let’s assume I know everything.’
Anonymous
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