Fossils, Mushrooms and a Ferry

Our latest adventure was close to home.  We ventured across the James River on the ferry to Chippokes Plantation State Park.  Our timing to the ferry was good.  We could see it approaching as we pulled up and knew the wait would not be long.  We had some fries left from our stop for a snack at Wendy’s.  We enjoyed feeding the gulls while we waited for the ferry.  They flocked around us almost taking the fries right out of Chris’s hand.  I was particularly entertained by the gull who landed on the hood of our car and strutted around begging for a fry.  Of course, we rewarded him for his efforts.

After we boarded the ferry I enjoyed watching the many cormorants posted up on the moorings as if they were sentinels. Once we were underway, I headed to the back of the ferry to feed the multitude of gulls the last of the fries.  It was amusing watching them as they swooped, soared and dipped around the back of the boat.

After the 15-minute ferry ride, we made our way to The Surry Seafood Company where we enjoyed lunch.  After a short drive, we arrived at Chippokes Plantation State Park.  The park was beautiful with the fall foliage.  I don’t think the squirrels were happy that we were there.  They bombed Chris with sticks and pine cones while we set up camp.

We headed down to the beach to do some exploring and look for shark’s teeth before the sun went down.  We had the beach to ourselves and were very happy to wander around taking in the scenery.  There were fossils everywhere.  As we walked the beach, a multitude of migrating birds flew overhead.  It seemed as if they would never stop.  In the water, we could see what looked like crab pot markers floating, but once I zoomed in with the camera I realized that it was hundreds of gulls.  As the sun disappeared, the sky took on hues of pink and purple, which were beautifully reflected on the almost still water.

We headed back to camp where Chris lit another spectacular campfire.  The night air was cold so the fire was a lovely warm relief from the chill.  Before our trip, Chris had sous vide (a process of low-temperature slow cooking in a water bath) a rack of ribs.  He heated them up over the fire.  He also roasted potatoes and cauliflower steaks.  It was a hearty, delicious meal.  I had ordered a key lime pie to go when we had lunch and it was the perfect finish to a wonderful dinner.

We enjoyed each other’s company as we watched the fire die down, still being pelted by the squirrels, which was rather amusing.  We slept soundly despite the cold as we had good sleeping bags, warm clothing and an extra blanket between us and the air mattress.  Our sleeping bags zip together so cuddling helped keep us warm as well.

In the morning we packed up and headed back to the ferry.  We hadn’t looked at the clock, so we had no idea how long the wait would be.  We arrived just as the ferry was unloading.  The line of cars started to move but stopped a few cars ahead of us.  We watched the loading procedure, attempting to decipher if we would make it on or not.  The line started moving again and we made it through.  We were the last car allowed on.  We could not have had better timing.

I once again had fun feeding the gulls the fries I had saved for them from our lunch.  The sky was overcast with the sun eerily radiating through the cloud cover, creating an interesting glow on the water.  As we crossed the river, we had a lovely view of the colorful trees as well as Jamestown Church and the ships at Jamestown Settlement.

After leaving the ferry we took the back roads to Toano.  It was a lovely drive on roads I had not been on before.  The trees were breathtaking with their vibrant colors.  We made our way to Two Drummers Smokehouse for lunch.  Their Pork Belly Burnt Ends were spectacular.

After lunch, we headed to York River State Park.  Even though the day was overcast the river was still lovely.  As we followed the trail we passed by Woodstock Pond, closed due to a toxic algae bloom.  As we turned on to the trail to Fossil Beach we passed by the foundation of Woods House from the 1930s.  As we continued on the trail through the woods we found some amazing mushrooms.  The more we looked, the more we found.  We found what looked like young chanterelle mushrooms (with further research we realized they were actually flat coral mushrooms which are also edible), jellies, puffballs and some very interesting mushrooms which we were not able to readily identify.  We harvested some of the corals and the jellies.

We made our way down to the beach where we found a few fossils.  Driftwood peppered the beach making it a photography haven.   As we walked around, the sun burst through the cloud cover to light up the trees on the opposite side of the river.  We noticed that there were some periwinkles on the beach.  As with the mushrooms, the more we looked, the more we found.

As we headed back we stumbled upon a jackpot of more coral mushrooms.  We picked a bunch more of them and then we were on our way.  After walking for a few minutes, we arrived at an intersection on the trail that we did not recognize.  Apparently, we had taken a different direction on the trail out but decided to continue instead of backtracking.  It was a good choice.  After walking for a few minutes we discovered the foundation (or what was left of it) of Henderson House, a pre-1817 plantation home.  The trees had spectacular color along this stretch of the trail and we saw a gigantic mushroom on the side of one of them.

The sun was setting as we made our way back past Woodstock Pond and the sky was a gorgeous array of pink and purple reflecting on to the water.

Trip cost – campground $36.59, gas $7, parking fee $4, firewood $24.