Delmarva Drives

On the Road with Fran Severn

    There are few better ways to spend a summer afternoon than to linger over a meal and drinks by the water. One of the best spots to relish this is the Island House Restaurant in Wachapreague, VA.

Wachapreague calls itself “The Little City by the Sea,” but that’s such a misnomer. This is a peaceful hamlet overlooking the vast salt marshes and barrier beach islands. There’s no boardwalk, no souvenir shops, no ice cream stores, no rental mopeds. Just a few quiet streets, the wind across the water, and the endless, tranquil views. It’s recognized as a Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations, one of the last large wetland habitats in the world.

The Island House takes advantage of all of this. It sits on and over the water. Charter boats putter past the outside deck. Seagulls perch on the railing, alternately watching for snacks in the water or dropped food on the deck. The tides running to their timetable makes the high reeds waver along the channels through the salt marsh. Time seems to stop. Lingering and savoring are the only way to dine here.

As you might expect, the menu is seafood oriented. In addition to the set menu of crab cakes, shrimp, stuffed flounder, fried clam strips, fried oysters, and fresh market fish, they have the ‘you catch, we cook’ option for visiting anglers. They are also kind to land-lubbers, with Delmonico and Flat Iron steaks, Angus burgers, and Caribbean chicken.  On weekends, they offer slow-cooked Prime Rib, baby back ribs, and traditional Eastern Shore kettle fried chicken and clam fritters.

The afternoon I was there, I opted for the Cedar Island Seafood Salad. (The Island House was originally a hotel & restaurant on Cedar Island in the early 1900’s. In spite of its less-than-exciting-slogan “A common sense resort for common sense people,” it thrived until it was washed away in the hurricane of 1933, the same storm which created the Ocean City Inlet.)

Big chunks of Backfin crab, shrimp, and scallops arrived on a serious salad of mixed greens. There was a little ramekin of cocktail sauce, but even better was the ramekin of Old Bay, a very nice touch. Sprinkle on the salad or dip each forkful into the spices. Then wash it down with iced tea or beer. In addition to the usual, mass-produced brews, Island House has Clipper City and Carolina Blonde in bottles and Skipjack Amber (Anheuser-Busch’s beer for the mid-Atlantic) and Flying Dog Wheat on Draught.

The nicest thing about an afternoon in Wachapreague is that there’s no pressure to ‘go’ anywhere or ‘do’ anything. Just let the rhythm of the tides and marshes surround you and just ‘be.’ And the deck of The Island House is the perfect place to do it.

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Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/26/10 at 11:00 PM

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