Articles
No Mistaking Mystique
Apr 22, 1988
A SEASONABLY obscure passenger and bicycle ferry operation across the Chesapeake Bay is a day's excursion for most people - not a transportation necessity.
So when Captain Cynthia Riggs scheduled the Mystique's first crossing this year to coincide with Daylight Savings Time, not realizing it was Easter Sunday, she wasn't sure if she'd have any passengers, whether she'd run or what the channel was like on the other side. She merely promised two passengers an adventure and that was fine.
A couple staying at a Solomons Island bed and breakfast did reserve passage, but forgot about the clocks. Capt. Riggs called to wake them and say she'd boat over and pick them up at the pier. Another visiting couple decided to join the journey.
Once on our way, under a scudding sky that never delivered the promise of a gorgeous spring day and with the hint of briny air in our noses, we looked in vain for the Dove (the replica of the first ship to land in Maryland had been in drydock). We did discover a sunken PT boat, an island supposedly a pirates' burial ground, huge tankers plying their freight up and down the bay, and an old hunting lodge on Barren Island that's losing its battle to the Bay. Our field glasses and long camera lenses looked eyeball to eyeball with dozens of osprey nests being readied for eggs.
Suddenly, where there should have been channel, there wasn't and the boat was grounded. The Fishing Creek bridge tender tried to find some help, but everyone was at church. We could see Fishing Creek, and we knew we could walk to dry land, so our grounding didn't matter.
The bed and breakfast couple brought out a bag of Easter candy, left by the B&B owners. A bag of grapes appeared, as did some hot cross buns. From a cooler came a six-pack of soda, so we ate lightly as we sat around chatting and working on replacing a broken shearing pin. In 30 minutes the tide had risen sufficiently for the boat to get to shore. From there we walked to the local store, past the bridge tender and dozens of friendly, hand-waving locals.
As she said, she promised us an adventure.
THE CHESAPEAKE BAY FERRY
runs twice a day on Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday, leaving the Solomons Island area at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. and Hoopers Island at 11 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. The Mystique is a 40-foot, all-mahogany vessel patterned after a New England lobster boat and holds up to 20 passengers and bikes. Round trip is $15. Call 800/638-1188 or 855-1900 (a Washington-area number) for reservations.