Bells Mill Park

The other day I was south of the Great Bridge locks in Chesapeake

and happened past a sign that said "Bells Mill Park."

This was a place I had never heard of, so my curiosity was piqued.

My husband, good sport that he is

 considering the wretched heat and humidity, 

agreed to accompany me over the weekend for another outdoor adventure.

We arrived at the Park and its rough, natural trails mid-morning

and immediately found ourselves confronted with a choice:

should we choose the path to the left 

or 

should  we choose the path that led to the right? 

We didn't know which path to take.

But as the Cheshire Cat said to Alice, the path one takes 

"depends a good deal on where you want to get to."

Like Alice, we didn't much care where we got to, so we turned left.

And it was a good choice because 

there was cool water on both sides of the trail.

On one side, a glassy  tidal creek:

On the other side, the creek flowed into a pool 

colored chocolate brown by tannic acid leached from tree bark:

And a little further on, saltmarsh cordgrass 

towered eight to ten feet high, making us feel quite small:

Come with me tomorrow and I will reveal 

what else we found along the grassy trail.

I can't say for sure where we will end up,

but we will get somewhere  

if, as the Cheshire Cat says, we "only walk long enough."

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