Introvert Beach Getaway Part 2: Tangier Island, Virginia

In seeking the perfect introvert beach, I set out for Tangier Island, a small island in Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay.

The town of Tangier has an area of 1.2 square miles. The total area of the island, including marshland, is less than 740 acres. A visitor can therefore see quite a lot in one day.

The British used the strategically located island as a staging area during the War of 1812. Tangier was also used as the base for the attack on the U.S. capital during the Battle of Bladensburg and the subsequent Burning of Washington in 1814.

Residents have a unique accent that I can’t quite place. Apparently, scholars debate whether their accent and dialect is derived from 17th century British English or developed separately on its own due to the relative isolation of the island.

Indeed, the only way to reach Tangier is by boat or airplane. It takes one-and-a-half hours to reach the island by ferry from either Maryland or Virginia.

Residents of Tangier make a living largely through crabbing; you’ll get some of the freshest crabcakes ever.

There are no automobiles on the island, although they do have an ambulance, which I witnessed responding to a call about an elderly woman who had apparently become overheated.

Residents get around the island on foot, by bicycle, or on motorized golfcarts. Streets are quite narrow, barely allowing two of those golfcarts to pass each other. Houses are close together and everyone has one of these golfcarts parked in their yards.

The island boasts a museum, a few restaurants, and a couple of bed and breakfasts. I traipsed around, visiting the marshes and looking into people’s yards, which included greeting this resident goat, until I arrived at the beach.

Imagine pristine, white sand with clear water lazily lapping before breaking on the beach before you. Now imagine that there’s hardly anyone else there. It was incredible. Be warned that the water gets pretty deep. About 50 feet from shore, it was almost up to my shoulders.

On the walk back to the ferry, a resident breezed past me on her golfcart. She stopped and asked me where I was going, and I told her, “The Chesapeake House, to get some crabcakes and clam fritters before I take the ferry back.” Moving some stuff from the seat next to her, she said, “Get in.” Hey, I wasn’t going to argue.

She told me that they had a school and a medical center on the island, that women could give birth at the medical center in an emergency but that typically they went to Maryland or Virginia for that, and that if someone was really sick they got flown by helicopter to a hospital in one of the two neighboring states.

Heading back to Reedville on the ferry, I marveled at how Tangier has remained today. So different due to its relative isolation yet so close to big cities. You seriously do not want to miss it. As far as short getaways go, it cannot be beat.