Let's Be Frank(town)

     It was definitely time to move on before Ocean City, MD opened in early March. Yet, as my good karma came through, I had my first VAX scheduled for transition day and then had to hang around for 30 more. So, it's been a month on the Virginia Eastern Shore in Franktown, just 90 miles south, and close enough to drive for the booster! 
     While I’ve been by this area on the way to somewhere, it was unfamiliar, but spring was coming and I knew that I could cycle from my front door. The Airbnb seemed interesting - a cottage on a horse farm - with human contact only on an “as needed” basis. Now though, my only regret with not being able to talk to everyone is a lack of local history and how it has remained so undeveloped. 
​     In the mid-19th century, Franktown was a point along the stagecoach route between Wilmington, Delaware and Eastville, Virginia. Today, it’s an unincorporated community in Northampton County, which has a population of just over 12,000. The former name of the County was Accomac Shire, and it’s one of the original eight shires of Virginia after the founding of the first settlement at Jamestown in 1607. The name was changed in 1642 to Northampton County by the English to eliminate "heathen" names in the New World, and eventually was split into two counties that exist today -- Accomack and Northampton.  

     Honestly, it’s been a wonderful stay and the perfect transition from cocooning in a box all winter to returning to my tent. Whether on two wheels or two feet, I’m surrounded by farmland, forests, marshland, and water views, while greeting horses, sheep, cows, and llamas (or are they alpacas?). My photos may give the impression of an affluent place, but Franktown has a mix of properties and people who never pass by without greeting you. 
​     So, March has been quite lovely here. I’ve spent time with two friends outdoors, read many books, worked very little, regrouped and repacked, been fully VAXed, and now after more than a year, I’ll be returning to tent life for 10 days in North Carolina. It’s time to cautiously travel again.