Oct 10th
There is so much more to do in New York City, but we left this morning feeling pretty good about what we did accomplish. Because it is Sunday, there is very little traffic and it was a lot less stressful getting out of Jersey City. Delaware did not seem very welcoming. One of the only states that we have been to that did not have a welcome sign at the border. On top of that we had to pay a toll on Interstate 95 to enter the state, and then pay another toll as we left the state 20 minutes later into Maryland (which did have a welcome sign). We are staying at Elk Neck State Park, near the town of North East, Maryland. It is on a peninsula in Chesapeake Bay. This is the polar opposite of our campsite in Jersey City. The campsites are very spread out in a dense forest, and most of the sites are empty. The sound difference was the most striking though. All we can hear are birds and the wind in the trees. It is so peaceful. There is a path across from our campsite, and we hike down to the beach. The rest of the day, we just relaxed.
Oct 11th
After Mia’s schooling this morning, we took a hike. The trail took us down to the water, then by a marsh created by a beaver dam. There was a distinct rotting fruit smell throughout the forest. We finally came across the fruit causing the smell. It was roughly the size and shape of a small mango. We cut it open and revealed a yellow pulp with large black seeds. ??? Kathy spotted some still clinging to a tree, and thanks to the SEEK App, we identified it as a pawpaw tree. I had never heard of it, but they are everywhere here. Later, we passed another family, and their toddler son told us that they were hunting pawpaw. We were told that not only were they edible, but that they were delicious. We found a few more in a tree, and picked them to take back with us. The East Coast is being infested with the spotted lanternfly, and we have seen several signs in three states, that told us to kill them on sight. We did see a few in New York, but on the trail today, we saw trees covered in them. Kathy found a ranger and told them about the bugs. They told her that they knew they were there, and they are working on a trapping solution. We got back to our trailer, and I immediately sought the internets advice on pawpaw, before we tried to eat any. Interestingly, it grows all over the East Coast and Midwest, and is the largest native fruit in North America. We cut one open and I scooped out a piece and tasted it. Wow! It’s delicious. It tastes and feels like a banana custard. There is not a lot of flesh, because the seeds are so big. Again, I sought the advice of Google. “Why have I never tasted pawpaws?” The pawpaw fruit season is only a couple of weeks long, and as soon as they come off of the tree they start to rot. Its almost impossible to ship them anywhere before they are no good. I am bringing several seeds back with me. I hope to get at least one tree to grow.
Oct 12th
After Mia’s school today, we took another hike. This time we hiked to the tip of the peninsula, to see Turkey Point Lighthouse. The hike was very mild, but we did gather some more pawpaw to eat later. We reached the lighthouse, only to find the entire point infested with the spotted lanternfly. They don’t truly fly, but they jump very far and use their wings to get more distance. They are about the size of a cicada, and as we entered the clearing, they started jumping all over us. They can’t hurt us, but its disconcerting to have these large bugs landing on your face and in your hair. The lighthouse was covered in them too. We quickly turned around and headed back. Later we walked down to the beach. Mia and Oreo played in the water, while Kathy and I relaxed on the beach. Three large birds I had mistaken for vultures were soaring around overhead. As they got closer, we could see that they were not vultures, but golden eagles. One landed on a tree at the end of the beach, and as I watched, it swooped out over the water, reached down and plucked out a fish. Of course, I didn’t have my camera ready for any of this. Later, after we had eaten dinner, we retrieved our pawpaw for dessert. Half of them had already rotted in the four hours since we picked them. There was still enough for each of us to have one.
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