Another Chesapeake Bay Bridge

While I was locating articles and videos about scary bridges for the previous blog entry, it occurred to me for the first time that the bridge I was planning to drive across next was waaaaay more exposed to the elements than the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. And while I don't especially fear bridges, I do have a well-earned cautiousness about driving my van in a strong crosswind. It was kind-of windy the day before, but not enough to be a problem where I was. But what about on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel when I was planning to drive it? It's a 17-mile-plus long bridge across open water where the bay meets the ocean. It's the only feasible path to take to get to my reserved hotel room for the next night, unless I backtrack several hours that I really prefer not to. What about that?

I looked at some weather reports and wasn't overly reassured... small craft advisory for some nearby areas due to wind conditions, for example... Then I found a twitter feed devoted to current announcements about bridge conditions. So I took a look at it and was a bit stunned to see this (read top to bottom):

The part about wind restrictions being lifted sounded good, but just two hours before that, they had 60-mph winds and a Level 4 restriction. That means (according to the CBBT website): "The only types of vehicles allowed to cross are cars without exterior cargo, pickup trucks without cargo, minivans, and SUVs. Maximum safe speed 45 mph." The only wind restriction that my van would pass is either none, or Level 1, which is 40 mph winds, and there were several hours the day before when I would not have been allowed to cross. That could be a bit inconvenient, and what if conditions changed for the worse while I was crossing?.

Suddenly I felt nervous, and an intense desire to get across that bridge before the weather had a chance to change again. Wind is often worse (not always, but often enough that I've noticed a trend) in the afternoon than in the morning. However I hadn't eaten breakfast or gotten dressed, I had to pack up the van, and I still had over an hour of driving just to get to the near end of the bridge. Time to get moving!

As I was leaving Chincoteague, I was surprised to notice that all the billboards I'd seen advertising stuff to do in Chincoteague -- all of those billboards were blank on the other side. So while I had seen a steady stream of ads on the way in, on the way out I saw this long progression of the back sides of signs. These weren't modern blah billboards, they were made out of rustic-looking wood. So what I saw was a whole row of wooden sign backs all the way down the road ahead. Not a sight I'd ever seen before.

Another thing about that part of the coast is all the crepe myrtle trees. They are everywhere all over the Chincoteague area. They are pretty when they're in bloom (as these were) and they have a particular structure with many small trunks instead of one big trunk that is attractive. I have particular knowledge of that kind of trunk because of the tree I had to get rid of at my house. My mother planted it too close to the house, and the roots were causing a problem with the nearest wall of the basement. After I had the wall patched and got rid of the tree, I had no more trouble with that wall. But the tree was not easy to kill. It took a couple of years and the help of my lawn guy to finish it off. So seeing all these crepe myrtle trees brought back murderous thoughts about trees... not enough to cause any nightmares, though. 😴😳😴

I had high hopes for this drive. A narrow coastal island, then a really long bridge-causeway-tunnel structure. Should be pretty interesting! However, most of the narrow coastal island road was flanked on both sides with tall trees, which makes it look just about like every other 4-lane highway anywhere. On the bright side, there were some cool old buildings, billboards for a Stuckey's (a snack and souvenir emporium that I used to beg to stop at when I was a kid but that my parents in their desire to get where we were going rarely indulged me in) and quite a few older businesses with interesting signs. Although there are big-chain hotels and fast food restaurants in the area, compared to most of the country they are relatively few and far between. It really does feel like 50 years ago in this part of the country.

Shortly after the toll plaza for the bridge there was a lookout with easy access, so I pulled over. I took what I thought would be a really nice panoramic shot, but viewing in on my phone and here are two very different things.

It looks just fine viewed a phone-screenful at a time, but there are tricks to viewing them anywhere else that I haven't learned yet. If I get it figured out, I'll re-post it as an interactive panoramic photo.

The bridge itself was not all that exciting of a mundane driving experience. It might have been much better as a passenger, but as the driver I was focused mostly on the road (as it should be). The toll was $18 since I was traveling at a peak time. There's a discount for a return trip within 24 hours if you have an EZPass transponder, but one way is full price. 

Not exciting is certainly preferable to getting out on the bridge and having the wind kick up, but it was a bit anti-climactic. The high-up part of the bridge was over quickly, then it was all causeway and tunnel. I did enjoy seeing the osprey perched on the light poles plotting their next move. I saw several osprey taking advantage of the bridge structure.

Heading south from Norfolk to my next planned stop at Elizabeth City, North Carolina, I saw on the map that I'd be passing the Great Dismal Swamp. It didn't look like there was really a way to drive through it unless it was my destination for a longer stay, so I didn't plan to check it out. It looks like a thing of true beauty and I hope to make it back to this part of the world again someday. Perhaps not in August, though. 😎 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Dismal_Swamp The parts of the canal that I saw (thanks to a quick decision to not take a recommended freeway exit that was boringly backed up) were really gorgeous. I'm used to canals in California being concrete. This canal was brimming with vegetation and full to the brim with dark, mysterious-looking, clear water. I drove alongside it for several miles, catching glimpses when there were breaks in the trees. Then it was back to more 4-lane highway for the last 25 miles or so into Elizabeth City. 

The trip from Elizabeth City to Havelock (the next day) held opportunities for more sightseeing, but I was tired and wanted to get where I was going. It was a pretty drive, and I'm happy to be hunkered down for several days again.