On June 21, 2014, False Cape State Park is hosting their annual Blueberry Blues program from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Featuring wild foods enthusiast, Vickie Shufer, the Blueberry Blues program is part wild foods hike and part cooking seminar. Wild blueberries are abundant at False Cape State Park and the first part of the day will be spent hiking the trails collecting wild blueberries and learning to tell the difference between edible berries and non-edibles in the coastal forest.

Wild foods enthusiast, Vickie Shufer, is a renowned expert in foraging and wild food identification.

After collecting blueberries, participants will break for lunch (bring your own) at the park's Environmental Education Center on Back Bay and then participate in a cooking seminar where you will learn a variety of ways to prepare wild blueberries into yummy desserts. Some of the recipes and cooking methods date back to when the park was home to the Wash Woods community, a hardscrabble group of hardy souls who eked out a living by fishing the shoreline and farming the sandy soil. Blueberries were probably a welcome treat in the late Spring after a winter of living on dried vegetables and fish.

The False Cape State Park Wash Woods Environmental Education Center sits on the shores of Back Bay and has overnight accommodations for 22, a full kitchen, and modern restrooms.

Reservations are required by calling False Cape State Park at 757-426-7128 and the cost is $20 per person. Participants will meet at Little Island City Park in Sandbridge for transport into the park. Bring your own lunch, snacks, plenty of water, bug spray and your camera. For more information about this program and a schedule of other park programs and events, click here.

Don't forget your camera! Wild flowers are often in bloom during the spring and summer.

False Cape is located in the Sandbridge area of Virginia and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Back Bay to the west, North Carolina to the south and Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge to the north.  Access to the park is limited to park transport, hiking or biking through Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge.  Visitors can also kayak in through Back Bay.