Continued from Part 1...

Things quickly improved the next day. Stopping at a busy diner nearby, they still managed to send us on our way with to-go containers within 10 minutes. These containers were a necessity because of the dog, leaving us to laugh as we at our tasty breakfast outside atop a picnic table, while a 55mph speed limit, congested roadway roared only feet away.

Throughout the morning, I kept an eye on the clock as we had another ferry to catch at some point. I'm not sure why I didn't call and make a reservation this morning when I knew how far away we were, but that's neither here nor there.

So we raced down the Garden State Parkway, through marshy forests and increasingly rural lands en route to Cape May. Pulling up to the ferry line, things really were improving today as the ferry was leaving in only 20 minutes and there was space for just 5 more cars.

I wouldn't have minded missing the ferry and finally seeing the nearby Cape May Lighthouse, but I'm also a big fan of schedules working out and running a tight ship.

I've been on this New Jersey to Delaware ferry previously and God do I love it. It's the perfect way to enter Delaware and I was extremely pleased that it was Isy's method for getting another new state.

I was also amused with standing up after only 10 seconds and surprising Isy with a question of what she would like to drink. You see this isn't Marine Atlantic's horseshit reselling of domestic, 12oz. Moosehead cans for $11 - on this ferry the prices are closer to that of a dive bar. We happily grabbed a Leinie's Summer Shady pint as well as a gin & tonic. Isy's gin & tonic was so strong that she told me to have a few sips.

Another reason I thought this ferry was a fantastic idea was that we didn't have to leave the dog in the car or crate him in a room with other terrified animals. All along we'd jokingly asked Kingsley, "do you want to go to Delaware? Get in the car! We goes to Delaware", so how perfect was it that he could enter Delaware up with us on the deck instead of down in the hold, wondering where we went in an empty, oscillating car.

The Delaware Bay was like glass today too. The boat had the tiniest bit, an almost indiscernible bit of rocking, while we looked out at miniscule ripples far out to sea.

Kingsley still wasn't having it. He was fine when he thought he was in a building and simply climbing stairs up to a lounge, but once the ferry's engines roared and we set off, he darted under our park bench and against the wall, hiding underneath and crouching right down. There were other dogs on the ferry too, and as their owners walked these little frou-frou dogs by, the seafaring hounds were happy as clams, while Kingsley the landlubber was terrified and couldn't comprehend the comfort of these other dogs in his dog brain.

He stayed under the bench for the entire 85 minute crossing.

The dog's lovely Delaware trip continued when we stopped at one of the coastal beaches here at Fenwick Island State Park. As the sand was super hot, it was time for him to wear his booties he doesn't like, while I also tried to trick him into the ocean as he could use a wash but hates the water.

Truth be told, I'm not much of a beach person either. I didn't take off my shirt and I even brought an umbrella so I could block out the sun and avoid growing sun tired or sunburnt.

Isy loved it though, referring to Delaware's beaches as a national treasure. This made the stop all worth it.

Our 26 mi/42 km jaunt through Delaware was soon over after we reached a sign where Governor Larry Hogan welcomed us to Maryland. For a travelogue named "South of the Mason-Dixon or Bust", one might believe that we finally crossed the Mason-Dixon Line.

Instead, by parking on south side of 146th street outside the Fenwick Island Lighthouse and then walking across the street back into Delaware, we were instead crossing something called the Transpeninsular Line.

"South of the Mason-Dixon Transpeninsular Line or Bust!"

Construction and men working right in front of the lighthouse prevented my usual up close inspection, but looking at the photos I see that there it was - the stone laid April 26th, 1751 to mark the line between the colonies of Maryland and Pennsylvania, which eventually became the state line between Maryland and Delaware.

Numerous 19th century shipwrecks off the coast of Fenwick Island at the Fenwick Shoals led to the US Lighthouse Board allotting $25,000 for the construction of a lighthouse. Paying landowner Mary Hall $50 for ten acres believed to hold the highest point of the island, the Fenwick Island Lighthouse was built just feet from the Transpeninsular Marker in 1858.

The lighthouse would be decommissioned in 1978, but citizen uproar led to the Coast Guard eventually relenting and installing electricity to put in a symbolic light. Only 4 years later the Coast Guard went even further, returning the third order Fresnel lens to the tower.

A couple of volunteer groups have maintained the lighthouse since that time, although unfortunately you can't climb the spiral stairs to the top. You can go in the base of the lighthouse though, where there's informational boards and the volunteers will tell you about the history (it was closed as I walked around).

Just behind the lighthouse, I discovered quite the desirable trailer park.

My readers, Sunnyvale might be the top trailer park you want to live in, but does it have its own lighthouse? It does not.

Next up was a drive further to the south, to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge so we could see the wild horses that roam the beaches and marshlands.

The dog was going to be a problem though, as dogs aren't allowed in the wildlife refuge. On the other hand, there wasn't anyone at the main booth and the Kingsley isn't a shitheel when in a car. While I definitely respect rules banning dogs around sensitive wildlife, Kingsley isn't the type to jump out of the car window & we were only going for a quick spin around without hiking any of the trails.

Those trails might've been the key to seeing the horses though, as we couldn't spot any equine beings from the car. We flaunted the rules for nothing & I took my consolation by turning off the road onto a tiny island where I loved the obscurity and its rich colour.

Back in the town of Chincoteague, I stopped to grab some beers & walking into the touristy shop, I couldn't tell if the teenage cashier bro was sassing me when he asked if I'd been out riding the waves in a odd fashion. I told him that I skipped the skatepark today, but was hoping to ride the Salisbury Skatepark tomorrow and that seemed to confuse him and his broskis. Twas strange.

In Chincoteague we were only about 10km (6mi) into Virginia and tonight's AirBNB would be even closer to the Maryland-Virginia border.

There's very few motels in this area away from the seaside towns. And as for the inland motels, they're all concentrated in the infrequent bigger towns, two of which I've already visited or stayed in (Crisfield & Princess Anne). This leaves swaths of land without any motels and this is country where I want to explore and check out more of the isolated, off the beaten path communities and peninsulas.

Staying at an AirBNB tonight would help with my dream of overnighting out in one of the obscure villages down here.

Driving out to the village of Saxis, I got everything I could have asked for in rural Virginia by making wrong turns and ending up at strange, lonely churches, then finding our way back just to slam on the brakes for farm chickens; eventually passing through struggling places like Sanford, where there were plenty of lovely old homes that hadn't seen occupancy in a long while.

The village of Saxis only has 29 more people than Sanford, but it felt far more lively and significant.

Our AirBNB used to be the general store in Saxis, replete with antiques, travel guides and comfy furniture where we could sit back and try to escape the heat with another cold Leinenkugel's. It even had bulletproof glass blocks, or at least that's what I've seen them advertised as around Detroit.

Even though the dog was keeping a watchful eye out of the front window, there were so few people driving by in sleepy Saxis that I really doubted we would need said protection, haha.

We spent a fair amount of time inside to escape the muggy heat and I used this time to check out restaurants and campgrounds for the coming days. The only problem was that the internet blocked the most popular modern sites, so I was stuck reading sparse reviews on the Yellow Pages website and sites like Yelp.

Anyway, I was really excited to watch the sun set over Chesapeake Bay, and while we may have been a bit late, I was still very much enjoying this walk at dusk through Saxis.

Down at the harbour with no else around, we paused and watched the last bits of day setting somewhere out over Virginia and Maryland. This was lovely and perfect and the moment I fantasized about when thinking of using all these vacation days and full gas tanks to get down here.

There was also a breakfast restaurant down here that looked like an authentic hole in the wall and I made a note to try the next morning, but we decided against it for whatever reason when the time came. You know how people say they live their lives with no regrets? I regret not stopping at Martha's in Saxis Virginia.

Slowly leaving our AirBNB the next day, Isy asked if I knew what kind of trees these were and as someone who struggles to identify anything outside of a willow or a birch, I had no idea.

So I took additional pictures and put them on a crowdsourced biodiversity website and spent hours looking at "Trees of Virginia" until I eventually thought it was a walnut. Some guy disagreed with me and said it was a type of pear tree. I can see it.

Today it was finally time to put my bike together and stop in Salisbury Maryland where there were enough rails and unique setups to make a stop worthwhile.

I was a little worried as we rolled up since this is a No Bikes park and there was an older skateboarder standing guard. Pulling all of our car camping gear out and putting my bike together along the road just outside, I really hoped if he was going to secure the park, that he'd let me know before we emptied out two-thirds of the car.

Eventually I rolled up, dropped in, hit one of the rails and heard no reprehension. I kept riding until I needed to catch my breath, where I then looked over to see that Isy and the skateboarder were mucking it up with Isy holding the skateboarder's baby! LOL.

Avoiding that social situation for a good while, eventually I made my way over to ask Isy to film something & the skateboarder even offered to film if it would make things easier! He was even going to skate behind me and film to get some rolling footage, except I was worried about how many tries I would need.

I ended up doing the trick second try & I wished I would have asked for rolling, following footage that I so rarely get nowadays.

We ended up talking with the Salisbury skateboarder about where we were going and what route we were planning to take there. He then asked about lunch plans and said we'd go through Easton, and if we liked BBQ, then we had to stop at Hot Off The Coals - which we were both very pleased with. I especially loved my green beans, lol.

The Google Reviews of the Salisbury Skatepark make it seem like they enforce the no biking rule, so shoutout to that friendly skateboarder for being reasonable, realizing we're all in this together, and giving us both a great impression of Salisbury.

Continue to Part 3...