It’s just a few days before my 40th birthday, and I have ACHIEVED my goal of kayaking around the entire Delmarva peninsula. Exactly 600 miles. Complete.

On Wednesday, October 18, I paddled the last 1.4 miles underneath the Chesapeake Bay bridge along the shoreline of Kent Island. Now I’ll be honest, I had visions of ending at the restaurant there by the bridge (Libbey’s) on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, joined by friends and family. But if anyone has noticed, the weather has been TERRIBLE the last few weekends. So in order to reach my goal of completing the final leg before my 40th, and before the water temps dip too low this season, I squeezed in the last stretch on a lovely Wednesday afternoon. My Dad, my Aunt Margaret Ann (AMA) & her hubby Rich, and my dear friend Michelle from Ocean Pines came to join me, cheer me on, and celebrate over lunch.

Now if you recall from the time I launched at Terrapin Nature Park back in 2021, the parking area is 1/3 mile from the beach! So my Dad, AMA, Rich, and Michelle walked out to the beach with me as I hauled my kayak on our little kayak cart thingy – they even took turns pulling it for me!

There’s not a lot to talk about when I only paddled an out-and-back trip with a total of 2.8 miles, but I will say that I’m thrilled I left this leg for the final stretch. The day was gorgeous. Winds totally calm. A beautiful day on the Chesapeake.

And I totally underestimated how cool it would be to paddle under that bridge! Holy cow! I’ve of course driven over it hundreds of times, been under it a handful of times on a boat, but paddling in my little 14′ kayak was a totally different experience. It was really cool to stop between the two spans and take in the view.

There was also something pretty special about being under that iconic bridge. It so… Chesapeake. If that makes any sense. We studied the Chesapeake in my 1st grade class and that was my initial inspiration for my career, and ultimately led to my decision to live my adult life on the eastern shore. And as I paddled under the bridge, I couldn’t help but notice that it is THAT BRIDGE that links the first 20 years of my life to the second 20 years of my life.

I started spending summers in Ocean City when I was 19. I remember coming home to the western shore after that first summer and had a feeling of “being home” when I finished driving the westbound span. But after spending that second summer on the eastern shore, I always felt a sense of relief and a feeling of “being home” when I finished crossing the eastbound span.

As I pulled up on the little beach near Libbey’s, I had officially hit my goal. 600 miles around the peninsula. And since I still had to paddle back to my little entourage back at Terrapin Nature Park, I had a quiet moment to myself to take it in what I had just done. It was a pretty powerful moment.

Then I called Brian to share my news. Although I was bummed he couldn’t be there, it was also kind of cool to celebrate with just him for a moment before heading back.

When I got back, my crew was waiting for me on the beach, each with a camera and cheering. We didn’t waste any time, hauled my kayak back to the parking lot, and drove over to The Jetty for lunch and some celebratory cocktails.

“So how do you feel?” “How did you come up with this idea?” “What made you want to do this?” “What was your favorite section?” “What’s NEXT?!”

I’ve been hearing those questions A LOT lately. Those questions don’t just come from other people though. I’ve been asking myself those questions too! I don’t have all the answers yet, but I’ll do my best to answer a few.

I set this goal back in 2012 when Brian and I were driving northbound over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. As we approached Fisherman Island, I wondered what it would be like to paddle to some of Virginia’s barrier islands. And then I wondered what it would be like to paddle around the whole damn peninsula. I laughed at the idea at first, but then it was one of those ideas that you just can’t shake off. You keep thinking about it. And after a few weeks of thinking about it, I started scouring google earth to plan each leg, measured how far it was, started a blog, and before I knew it, I logged my first 8 miles between Wallops Island and the Chincoteague causeway.

At first, I wanted to paddle around the Delmarva peninsula to see the sights. And dang, did I see some sights. But as the last 11 years progressed, my kayaking goal became way more than sightseeing. With each mile logged, I became both physically and mentally stronger. Some stretches pushed me to my limit, enabling me to dig down and find strength when I felt like I was depleted. Other stretches forced me to work through the serious anxiety of being out in the wilderness alone, miles from another human.

Over the last 11 years, I switched jobs, moved, got married, became a mom, bought a house, started a business, experienced the struggles of raising a special needs child, and lost my biggest cheerleader – my mom. Life is pretty crazy sometimes, but being able to chip away at this long-term goal gave me stability and a form of much-needed self-care when I was at my lowest.

Some people could paddle around the peninsula in 3 weeks. But I’m not at all disappointed that it took me 11 years. I’m actually even MORE proud of myself for sticking to something for 11 years, despite some of the curveballs life has thrown at me.

While I’m eager to reminisce and share my most memorable moments, as well as recognize everyone that helped me achieve this goal, and tell you about my plans for what’s next, I need time to put all of those thoughts together. For now, check out my completed map enjoy a couple photos from the last 11 years:

I’m pretty darn close to finishing my 600 miles around the peninsula! I’m hoping the weather works out that I can paddle the last stretch to end at Libbey’s Coastal Kitchen on Kent Island and have a few friends and family join me to celebrate soon.

Last Tuesday, while on vacation with Brian, I paddled from Matapeake Pier to Libbey’s. I’ve known other sea kayakers that have paddled to Libbey’s for lunch and I even called the restaurant in advance to make sure it was okay to land my kayak on the tiny beach on their property – all good.

Brian dropped me off at Matapeake pier and I started the short journey north. Winds were so calm and it was a gorgeous day to be on the water. I’d say the most interesting thing I saw on this trip were four aircraft that took off from the small airport near the bridge. They were like motorized hang gliders that had inflatable rafts on the bottom of them!

As I approached the restaurant, I realized the beach was smaller than I expected, but still enough room to get out. I pulled up on the beach but wasn’t quite sure if there was space to walk from the beach to the restaurant itself, because there was a ton of brush and bushes. Luckily, there was a small cut-through so I walked up onto the lawn and called Brian. He was in the parking lot, but there was a fence and a locked gate separating the lawn and the parking lot and nowhere to pull my kayak out and get it to the car! Brian advised me to get back in my kayak and paddle around to the marina and get out at a floating dock.

As I rounded one of the docks, I took a photo of the massive boats around me. But I guess I looked super out of place in my 14′ kayak, taking photos of the boats, because one of the guys that worked at the marina asked me if he could help me with anything. I explained that I couldn’t get out at the beach. He was like, “the beach isn’t there anymore?” I said it was, but the fence was locked and there was nowhere to carry my kayak out. I clearly wasn’t supposed to be in the marina or using their floating dock, but at that point, I didn’t have much choice. Brian swiftly grabbed my kayak and carried it out to the parking lot. “Why did you talk to that guy?! You’re not supposed to be here!” he said. “Because he talked to me first! What was I supposed to do, ignore him? That would be even sketchier!”

Looking back, I guess when I called the restaurant to ask if I could arrive by kayak, I should have clarified that I also wasn’t planning on kayaking back to where I came from! I think the person I spoke to assumed I was paddling to lunch, then paddling back – oops!

At this point, I have 1.4 miles left (out of 600!), starting at Terrapin Nature Park and ending at Libbey’s again. Not sure if I should call the restaurant again to clarify what I want to do and ask if they can unlock the gate so I can load my kayak when I’m done? Or maybe I should not call again at all, because it’s easier to get forgiven than permission?

Ugh, I’ll try not to get on my soap box again about public access to waterways, but this is yet another example of how difficult it is to access the water where I need to!

I don’t know why I put this leg off for so long. It’s 3 miles out, 3 miles back. And it’s an easy drive from home and doesn’t require me to get help from anyone else. But after Sunday’s boat-filled journey and scary river crossing, I was happy to have Brian join me as I paddled the 3 miles across the mouth of the Chester River – although he didn’t even complete the whole crossing with me because it was “so boring.”

The water was flat calm and boat traffic was minimal compared to Sunday, so it was an easy trip across the river. And Brian was right, it wasn’t super exciting, but then again, I never said it would be! This was just a “connect the dots” trip! The only semi-interesting thing that happened was a bird flew down and swooped across the bow of my kayak. I thought it was a juvenile laughing gull, but Brian disagreed. He thought it was a small hawk or something. I suppose we’ll never know!

Oh – another bonus to paddling with Brian – he loads the kayaks on top of the car 🙂

Here’s a few photos and the path I took:

When I originally set the goal of paddling around the Delmarva peninsula (11 years ago!) I didn’t know that kayaks were prohibited in the C&D canal. So my circumnavigation idea can never truly be completed unless there’s some kind of special event to paddle the canal one day. However, a nice alternative to paddling is biking, and there’s a bike trail that runs almost the entire length of the canal, so Brian and I rented bikes and biked the 15 miles from Chesapeake City to Delaware City, and the 15 miles back. I’m not a strong cyclist so 30 miles is a lot for me, particularly on a bike that isn’t mine!

The town of Chesapeake City has a cool bike rental kiosk that was super easy and convenient to use. I downloaded the app ahead of time, scanned the QR codes on the bikes we took, and the app unlocked the bike. No bike rental staff necessary!

We took off to the east and enjoyed the waterfront view the whole way. Most of the ride was pretty flat, but there were a few spots where the trail went up a hill, back and forth on a few switchbacks, and back down the other side of a marina or a trail wash-out. It was really cool to bike underneath the Route 1 bridge – totally different view than the dozens of times we’ve driven across it!

We took some time to eat, hydrate, and explore the waterfront of Delaware City, and then we headed back to Chesapeake City. I definitely struggled on the ride back. My thighs were burning by the end! Totally different experience than kayaking, that’s for sure!

Last week Brian and I spent 5 days traveling around Delmarva to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary (shout out to his parents for watching Patrick all week!). This was the first time we’ve spent more than one night together, away from Patrick since he was born, so we decided to stay somewhat local, doing what we love – kayaking, biking, fishing, and hiking.

On Sunday, October 1, we started our journey north and I completed another 9 miles in the upper Chesapeake. Brian dropped me off at Stemmer’s Run boat ramp and explored a nearby wildlife management area while I paddled. I was thinking it was only 8 miles and it would take me a little over two hours to complete, but it turned out I was paddling against the wind and tide, and there were tons of boats to deal with, which really slowed me down.

We had had a string of crappy weather, and Sunday was the first beautiful day we’d had in nearly two weeks, so it seemed like everyone that owned a boat was out and about. As I approached the mouth of the Bohemia River, I was half tempted to cut the paddle short and paddle upstream to a kayak launch a few miles up. Crossing the river seemed terrifying with so many boats around, many of which were speed boats – boats that were so loud I could feel their engines reverberating in the hull of my kayak and I could barely hear myself think. But just as I was about to start paddling upstream, the wind immediately started to die out and boat traffic was almost nonexistent. It was super weird. I took it as a sign to just go for it and I made a bee line across the mile-wide river and was on the other side in no time. At no point was I even close to a boat. It was like the universe stopped for 20 minutes so I could safely cross.

Between watching boat wakes and dealing with wind, I didn’t take many photos. This trip was a “just get it done” trip. Scenery was mediocre and wildlife sightings were basically nonexistent. As I approached the mouth of the C&D Canal, I did see some interested aids to navigation and one GIANT yacht. Like a personal cruise ship!

I completed this leg in 3 hours, where Brian was patiently waiting for me at the end (I use the term patiently loosely – IYKYK!). Since there is no public access north of the Bohemia River kayak launch, I pre-arranged with the manager of the Harbor North Marina to allow Brian to pick me up there. Most marinas will not allow this, even if I try to throw money at them, which I find super rude. I could get on my soapbox now about public access to waterways, but that’s probably a topic for another time! The best part of this paddle was that it ended at a bar. I honestly think this stretch of my journey was my least favorite leg to date, so ending with a cold beer, with my husband, was a treat!

Here’s a couple photos and the path I took: