Portrait of a Town: Cape Charles, 1940-1960, by Patricia Joyce Parsons
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Portrait of a Town: Cape Charles, 1940-1960, by Patricia Joyce Parsons
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Situated on Virginia's Eastern Shore, Cape Charles was once a vibrant railroad town, serving as a vital hub for troop movements between the northern and southern states during World War II. Its placement on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, along with its fleet of ferries and fishing boats and its position among the farming communities of the Eastern Shore, made it a town of plenty in the lean times of rationing that occurred during the war-and a perfect place for a child to grow up. Portrait of a Town takes the reader on a nostalgic, invigorating journey through Cape Charles with a child's-eye-view-from playing in a swamp, to jumping the railroad's coal chute, to fishing the barrier islands that line Virginia's oceanfront. In this collection of vignettes, Patricia Parsons portrays life in Cape Charles during World War II and beyond. Using her own childhood memories and her family's life as a powerful touchstone, she follows the town's period of prosperity into a period of decline that transformed it from a bustling commercial center to a forsaken backwater-and back again. Recently, this historic town has experienced revitalization, rising from its own ashes to become a family-style tourist destination. Today, Cape Charles beckons you to explore-and see why it truly is a memorable town.
Portrait of a Town: Cape Charles, 1940-1960, by Patricia Joyce Parsons- Amazon Sales Rank: #1144988 in Books
- Published on: 2015-05-15
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.02" h x .37" w x 5.98" l, .53 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 158 pages
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Life in Cape Charles "Before It Was Quaint" By George Southern Anyone who grew up reading Laura Ingall Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series will especially enjoy Parsons’ book, because while the locale is far removed from the prairie, the fresh, honest, easy-reading evokes Wilder’s style. Parsons tells it as she remembers it, and she has a gift for honing in on the interesting and skipping the mundane.In the chapter “Swimming Hole,” for example, Parsons relates that “In August of 1945, the city fathers arranged to have the existing swimming hole [in the Bay] dredged to make it larger and deep enough for diving. The next summer, I was nine years old, and allowed to go into the water myself. . . . That day, no one realized that the new improvement had created a strong undertow. I was the first swimmer to be sucked into it. Helpless to extract myself as I was drawn below, I tried to fight against the downward force. During my struggle to surface, I could see the events of my short life, like the projected images of a film, unrolling within my brain. Fortunately, before I drowned, I was pulled out of the vortex by Mary Catherine Ames, our family physician’s teenage daughter. . . . Unfortunately, several adults who were unaware of the undertow lost their lives in the swimming hole over the next few years.”On a happier but still ironic note, Parsons writes that as a child, “I equated crabs with poverty. Crabs were so plentiful that the less fortunate could always catch enough to make a meal, as the crab shells scattered around their dwellings so clearly attested. I could not understand why my parents, obviously lacking the insight that I had into the lowly status of the crab, would drive miles up Route 13 to the Shickshinny Restaurant because they considered the crab cakes there such a delicacy.”And now, of course, crab cakes are more expensive than steak.At only 140 pages, the book can be devoured as one would a jar of peanuts or bag of potato chips. One page after the next, you really can’t stop. And don’t skip over the Preface, as readers often do. Here’s how it begins:“Don’t tell anybody that you come from over here, Mama.” The year was 1975. My ten-year-old daughter and I had just arrived from our home in Richmond and were driving along the beachfront of Cape Charles, Virginia. Experiencing a surge of nostalgia, I turned away from her. Glancing through the car window toward the horizon of the Chesapeake Bay, I could see part of the beach upon which I had spent so many pleasant hours in my youth. It was now choked with a tangle of sea oats and wiry beach grasses. The boardwalk, where I used to sit to watch the sunsets on summer evenings, was deserted. The benches that once lined the beachfront were gone. We had turned off the town’s main street, with its boarded-up storefronts. Across the street, an empty, unused plot of land gave no indication that at one time, the town’s focal point, a bustling railroad/ferry complex, had thrived on that spot. Instead, an unattractive cement factory dominated the view. A few years before, my daughter had been enchanted with the area, but now she was ten, old enough to be embarrassed by the depressing sight of her mother’s former hometown.”But Parsons concludes the Preface on an upbeat note: “Recently, I have returned to find that the community is slowly redefining itself. It now boasts a modest tourist industry, which has resulted in the renovation of a number of the old buildings that line a main street that once again contains shops as well as a couple of nice restaurants. An Irish pub occupies an old bank building. Some of the homes of former residents have been restored and are rented to vacationers who come to Cape Charles to enjoy the sun, the beach, deep-sea fishing, and tours of the wildlife preserve at nearby Kiptopeke. During the 1970s and 1980s, magazine and newspaper articles often referred to Cape Charles as a depressed community, or even as a ghost town. I now hear it called “historic,” “charming,” or “quaint.” Well, I lived in Cape Charles before it was considered charming or quaint, so for those who have just been introduced to Cape Charles and wonder how and why this town existed in such a rural setting, for those who had to move away in order to earn a living, and for those who stayed and care to reminisce, here are a few snapshots of life in Cape Charles before it was “quaint.”
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. This book is a wonderful quick read about the charming town of Cape Charles ... By Margaret, mom of three This book is a wonderful quick read about the charming town of Cape Charles on Virginia's Eastern Shore. Having vacationed in picturesque Cape Charles on the Chesapeake Bay, I could envision the exact location of the author's stories as she weaves together the memories of her idyllic childhood. Cape Charles is today, a pleasant, slow-paced, beach and golf town but was once a bustling, important center during WWII. The author's descriptions of watching the ships and soldiers rolls in, recollections of taking the ferry to Norfolk to buy provisions, and even the witty stories about daily living, transport the reader to a time gone by in this "Mayberry-esque" coastal town. Every story left me wanting to know more and wishing that my own children could grow up in such a picture-perfect town and time in history. I can't wait to go back to Cape Charles to revisit the scenic locations of Parsons' tales of mischief and wonderment.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A delightful "must read!" By Hugh Harris Pat Parsons is an exceptionally talented writer. In "Portrait of a Town," she takes you into her world growing up in Cape Charles, Virginia. Her fluid style of writing invites your undivided attention. Her descriptions become word paintings that enable you to "feel" the events she describes with her. It was a pleasure to work with Pat in the Lifelong Learning Institute "Writer's Critique" sessions as she initially unfolded her story, and also to be asked to contribute graphite sketches to illustrate her book. If you're interested in the Chesapeake Bay and its culture, in Virginia's unique Eastern Shore, and in dwelling for awhile in a small town during and after World War II, then "Portrait of a Town: Cape Charles 1940 - 1960" is a must read!
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