Last report left off with this: "we planned to be in a campground east of Norfolk, Va, to be ready to cross the 26 mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel". That was not to be, as we had a blowout and were able to park at a brick company near Lawrenceville, Va. Roadside assistance arrived in about 40 minutes, changed the tire with our spare and we were on our way. Locating a tire place in Chesapeake, we opted then to spend a 3rd night in a Walmart, in Suffolk, Va., and had two new tires installed the next day, taking only two hours but significant $$$. Finally on our way to the tunnel, we had to go through Norfolk. Several times so far on this trip, our navigational skills have failed (or is it just the Navigator??) and we have missed turns or exits and have wound up in downtown or residential areas. Then it's a scramble to get back on track. Unfamiliar highways and confusing interchanges along with fast heavy traffic create the problem. I think we will experience more of that as we move up through more congested areas. Here's a pic I took while driving on a Norfolk freeway. The bow of the battleship Wisconsin is slightly visible. (but I don't text while driving!!) At last to the bridge/tunnel. The bridge is out over open water with two tunnels, the first of which I measured at a little over a mile long. We arrived at a Virginia State Park just on the other side of the bridge on what is known as Virginia's easter shore. Campsites were on grass and very basic, but cost $48 per night (very high for state parks, we think) plus $5 if you wanted to dump at your site. Otherwise dump on the way out. Go figure. The Chesapeake Bay waterfront had a very nice observation area plus fishing pier ($3 per person). A breakwater was formed by 9 sunken WWII concrete ships. (There is a concrete ship in Galveston Bay, seen from the Bolivar ferry). A concrete boat was first built in 1848 in France. Some were used by the US in WWI, and 24 were built in 1943 at the rate of one per month. They were built to conserve steel for other war use. They proved to be seaworthy and cruised at 7 knots. In the pics below, I was amused by the structure looking like it had a patio all around but apparently it had more superstructure above it. Click to enlarge. All afternoon 2-3 helicopters were making circles dipping down over the bay, then circling around almost over the campground. They had no markings that I could see, but I think they were Navy, possibly doing submarine detection excercises. Here's an old picture of one of the ships underway. Wifi was only available at the little store - our 'internet cafe'. After a much needed rest here, we drove north toward Maryland, to a planned quick stop in Ocean City, a popular beachside destination. Turns out it is a popular place and very touristy. It boasts a 3 mile long boardwalk lined with shops, eateries, hotels, an amusement park and vacation rentals. The beach is wide and clean tan colored powdery sand. Vollyball is popular. The tourists this day were mostly young people and we thought it looked like spring break, but it turned out to be 'senior weekend' (not our kind of 'seniors') therefore they were graduating seniors. Any excuse to party. This eatery was jammed with revelers. Here's our route to Norfolk. Ocean City is just north on the coast (or 'shore' as they say up here). We enjoyed our visit there and moved west to Easton, Maryland, to prepare for our plunge into the fray - Annapolis and Baltimore.
Stay tuned.
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Who are we?Chuck and Mary Lou have been traveling in their RV since 2002 and have lately been taking longer, extended trips. This is our way to share our experiences. Trip Reports
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