Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8
URBANNA — What I’d give for one more dinner at Eckhard’s restaurant in Topping! Today I remember Chef Don and Manager Robie, Missy and Dean and all the other members of that hardworking staff that once presented one of the best restaurant experiences in all of Tidewater.
Customers always sat at the same table. We sat at table number two and usually Jimmy and Diane Ward were at table number one and across from us were Middlesex Supervisor Lee Weber and her husband, John, and their best friends, Harry and Joan Madsen, by the window and sometimes between their table and ours were Rachel and W.D. Edwards.
Across the room at another window table there was sometimes a man from Deltaville that looked just like my father and every time I went to the restaurant I looked for him and, if spotted, I went right over to speak to him. He and his wife were kind and pretended not to notice how I stared so lovingly at him. I swear his ancestors were from Yorkshire, England, as were my father’s, that’s how closely he resembled him.
Then the marvelous food would come out from the kitchen, on special occasions roast beef done perfectly to order, so much we had to split one serving of “Chicken Chesapeake,” which was chicken breast served with crab cakes, or “Chicken Rappahannock,” served with fried oysters, each dish prepared perfectly.
If I were feeling brave, I would finish dinner with a “Heidi,” which was very dangerous because it was made with three brandies over ice cream topped with chocolate sauce, whipped cream and a cherry and, after finishing it, I would laugh like Kamala Harris, indeed, so much so that my husband would pinch me under the table and give me a look of disapproval that suggested that is not how a Virginia lady should laugh.
The big draw to Urbanna for me was it offered a small-town life and escape from the horrors of city life. It also provided a return to the water, which both my husband and I had missed since leaving our childhood homes, he on Hampton Roads with a sailboat on the beach and I boating on the Great Lakes, the most wonderful body of water the world has ever known. (No sharks! No salt!)
I once thought I couldn’t sleep at night without hearing the waves on Lake Erie gently lapping on shore. Or the roar of crashing waves when a nor ’wester boiled up out of Canada and blew down from Lake Huron. Or hearing the horn of a passing freighter (“Big Boy”) or the foghorn at night from Port Huron that warned ships passing by not to come in too close to shore.
But I found I could sleep when I left Lake Erie. Just not as soundly. Nor were my dreams so sweet as when I was a child in Ohio.
I used every kind of boat in the last 40 years in Middlesex County. Kayak, canoe, rowboat, sailfish, pram, Jon boat, sailboat, motorboat — maybe everything that floated except a raft. I was never so happy as when on the creek, river or bay. And although we no longer have a boat, our last boat sank at dock in Urbanna harbor in a passing hurricane, I am filled with rich memories of many adventures on the river.
Of course, there were a few memories that can never be forgotten as anyone who goes out on a boat can always recall problems that happen at sea.
I guess my favorite story was when our dinner club, a.k.a. the “Nightriders,” traveled to Greenvale Creek near Mollusk (no longer open) one summer evening.
We were on the “Queen Mary,” a 36-foot Alden trawler which was a slow but steady and comfortable boat that offered a ride like being in the bathtub moving at snail speed across the river.
We had invited Cedar Pointe residents Betty and Emmett Weir to go with us that evening. They happily accepted although admitting they were a little nervous because they were not boat people. “Oh, it’s perfectly safe and you’ll have nothing to worry about!” I recall saying to relieve their concerns.
After enjoying dinner, we pulled out of Greenvale Creek to return home. As the other boats in our group sped off with their “super dooper” engines afire, we could see their white wakes flashing in the moonlight along with lights of Urbanna down river, we were soon alone on the river.
The Rappahannock was a flat black mirror that evening. The “Queen Mary” purred along like the trooper she was, ready to deliver us safely to our dock at Urbanna harbor after a perfect evening for our land loving guests.
Then her engine just up and quit. We sat looking at each other, our reverie of the idyllic river dashed at the horrible thought that we were alone.
Captain Chip fooled around a while trying to get the Queen going again but to no avail. She can be stubborn. Finally, he got on the ship to shore radio hoping to find another boat from our group still on the river.
Out of the static we soon heard the voice of Fred Gaskins on the good ship “Good News,” who was just about to enter Urbanna harbor. He promised to send help.
The minutes passed by. The stars and a moon that slipped in and out of passing clouds were our only companions. Our friends tried not to show their alarm. But suppose no one came and we had to spend the night alone adrift in the dark sea?
Suddenly Fred called back to say the “Black Beauty” was on her way, which was Walt and Ruth Ellen Hurley’s yacht. She was black as the night so we could not see her but soon we heard the roar of her engine as she neared.
Walt threw the captain a line and we hitched a ride all the way home. He towed us right into our Urbanna harbor berth and the Queen’s bow, as if wanting to provide one more scare, hit the dock with a bang.
Fortunately, no damage was done. I remember Jimmy Pitts was bent over in laughter as several of the crew from other boats had stayed to watch us come in on the tow.
Our guests thanked us profusely for the “lovely evening” and scampered off to their car at a very fast pace. I don’t know how much they enjoyed the evening but I am sure they had an evening they will never forget. (Continued next week.)
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