We took a long weekend vacation to Gloucester last week. Gloucester, as in Virginia, and in the heart of the Middle Peninsula. Gloucester is both a city and a county and is the general description of about 400 square miles of flat, salty land somewhere west of the Piankatank River. It’s a large area and we had rented a waterfront cottage on Ferry Creek – in Gloucester.
Fortunately, our GPS lady had been there before and directed us to our destination, but not before a series of forked roads, dead ends, right turns and left turns. In Gloucester, there is no such thing as a road that goes from Point A to Point B. Rather, you go 5 miles to Point C, then veer to the left and arrive at Point D where you then must choose between forks leading to Points E, F and G.
No problem when the GPS lady is riding shotgun, but if you ever take off on your own – as I did trying to find a grocery store – it’s an iffy situation. I am usually pretty good finding my way around but when I drove by the Mathews County Court House for the second time, I figured I was good and lost.
Fortunately, I found a couple of good old boys between landscaping gigs, and they had a phone with a map. The only thing I could remember was that we were on Ferry Creek, a widely known destination for maybe 10 people, but I also remembered Piankatank Road and they located it. Turns out I had driven in a huge circle and was only a couple miles from the cottage. After three more forked roads, I was home free.