August 31, 2021 - Don 's Airport Community Airstrip

I met Mugsy at St. Mary's Airport.  Today's destination -- a private grass strip airport community on the northeast end of the peninsula between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers.

Mugsy and I taxiied out for takeoff at St. Mary's, with this tricked-out DC-3 ahead of us.
   
Check out all those antennas and turboprop engines!
   
The 77-year old DC-3 uses up a lot of runway taking off at St. Marys.
   
Mugsy and I heading southeast along the southern shore of the Potomac River.
   
This is really a remote area;  first time I've been down here.
   
Mark on top the grass strip airport.
   
Safe on deck at the grass strip.  We met Mugsy's friend -- Don J. -- who owns that hangar behind my plane.  Nice guy.  He's retired and has lived out here the past 15 years or so.  He has two RVs.
   
 
   
Looking at the north end of the runway.
   
And looking south.
   
Don't you hate those guys that take pictures of their own airplanes.  What JERKS they are!
   

Don gave us the scenic tour of nearby Reedville, which back in the day, used to be quite something.   Reedville was home to the fishing industry for Atlantic menhaden, a small oily fish found in great abundance in mid-Atlantic coastal waters.

As early as the 1620s, in the area which became New England, the Native Americans had taught the Plymouth Colony's settlers the value of burying menhaden in each hill of corn, as fertilizer.

Reedville is named for Captain Elijah W. Reed (1827-1888). In 1874, Reed, a sea captain from Maine, came south to the Chesapeake Bay and recognized the potential of the menhaden fishing industry. brought to the established community of watermen a method of extracting large quantities of oil from the fish, by rendering them by the millions. Their oil was used as a lubricant and in lighting, as whale oil was; and the leftover bones and carcasses were valuable as fertilizer. He opened the first processing plant. By 1885, Reedville was heavily engaged in the menhaden fishing industry. Menhaden processing factories on Cockrell Creek produced fish oil, meal, and fertilizer from menhaden. The menhaden fishing industry brought tremendous wealth to Reedville and to Northumberland County. Reedville, a town of approximately 500, was once known as the wealthiest town in the United States, due to its large income produced by the menhaden industry.

Fishing boat captains and factory owners, who made their fortunes from menhaden, built homes along what is now Main Street.

The below picture is one of the houses on Main Street, also known as Millionaire's Row.

 
   
Across the water is the waterfront estate currently owned by a man who made his money not from business but from "public service".  I won't name his name but he is a disgrace.  A card-carrying member of the Establishment.  He had one of the most important positions in government and did not do his job.  Now he lives his best life on his Virginian waterfront estate while the country is a mess.
   
We had lunch at the Crazy Crab.  It's not too fancy, but the food was good and for a good price.
   
Looking across the river.
   
We took a small 2-3 car ferry across the Little Wicomico to get back to the airport.  The ferry was free.  What is this place?
   
After thanking Don for his great hospitality, Mugsy and I took off and headed south to check out what we had just seen in the car.
   
Of course, we had to make the obligatory low pass at the airstrip.
   
Close-up of the ramp area where we had parked.  Don's hangar is the one with the open door.
   
There's a lot of water down here.
   
Flying down Cockrell Creek.   The Crazy Crab is in the center of the picture.  Reedville is just to the left of the Crazy Crab.
   

Looking down at Reedville (bottom of image).

You can arrange for sport fishing charters and cruises to Tangier Island from Reedville.  They have some bed and breakfast establishments. Several large houses on Millionaire's Row are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Reedville Fisherman's Museum has restored the oldest home in the community; known as the Walker House, it houses the museum in conjunction with adjacent buildings. The museum also has two vessels, the skipjack Claude W. Somers and the deck boat Elva C,
   

A one time dozens of fish processing factories dotted the Northumberland coastline near Reedville and other fishing communities.
   

But now there is only one:  Omega Protein, seen below.  The company, with several hundred employees, has a fleet of large oceangoing fish-harvesting vessels supported by a number of spotter aircraft. Menhaden, once caught, are cooked in large mass and processed for further use in various applications including as a protein additive for poultry feed; Tyson Foods is a large customer.

 
   
Right next to the Omega Protein plant is their grass strip, used for their fish spotting planes of which there were two on the ramp.
   
Looking down at the north side Sunnybank ferry ramp where we had come across earlier.  That's the Little Wicomico River.
   
Passing overhead St. Mary's Airport on the way home.
   
Passing by Bay Bridge Airport and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on the way home.
   
A roll-on/roll-off car carrier heading south and an empty tanker heading north.
   
 
   
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