US 60 pretty much parallels the coastline until it intersects with US 13 going north and east across Chesapeake Bay to eastern Virginia. As 60 turns west, just before getting to 13, it passes through First Landing State Park, where, on April 26, 1607, Christopher Newport and the Virginia Company colonists first stepped ashore prior to establishing themselves in Jamestown. The road through the park is beautiful, even on a rainy morning!
US 13 heads north across the Bay, but first we had to pay the $15 one-way toll. Yep, $15 to return also!
The bridge/tunnel complex has two "islands" where the road either dives down into a tunnel, or rises out of one. The reason for the two different types of road is, of course, simple: Bridges are much cheaper to build, so that approach is used wherever possible, but tunnels are necessary to provide an unimpeded route for ships into and out of the Hampton Roads shipping lanes, and of course, for military vessels going into and out of Newport News, one of the Navy's most important shipyards.
We pulled over and stopped on the first "island" to get a photo of where Chesapeake Bay joins the Atlantic Ocean. Quite a sight.
Back aboard the cross-bay road, we dived down into the first tunnel.
The tunnels were constructed by excavating a huge trench in the bottom of the bay, packing two feet of rock on the bottom, and then slowly sinking a prefab metal tube down onto the rock. All the excavation and rock work were done from the surface using draglines and excavators, and were guided by divers. Each 50 foot section has an inner and an outer shell, with concrete filling the void. Ends were welded on to make the unit watertight, and were cut out after the section was joined to the previous section using hydraulic rams. More welding and more concrete, and away they went! It took a month to set each of the 15 sections that make up the tunnels, and each was set to a tolerance of 1"!
And then we climbed back into the sunshine (well, a little anyway).
After drifting down into, and then out of, the second tunnel, we drove on north.
We ended up in the quaint burg of Cape Charles. This photo doesn't even come close to doing the streets in Cape Charles justice, but just look at those Crepe Myrtles! The roads and lanes were lined with huge plants in full bloom!
Established in 1884 by railroad and ferry interests as a shipping terminus, Cape Charles by 1912 was handling 2,500,00 tons of freight a year. The towns' claim to fame these days is that cement factory that ships bulk cement via rail up and down Virginia's Eastern Shore. There are a number of interesting homes along the waterfront.
We had lunch at The Shanty, a local seafood hangout. A dozen on the half-shell, peel-n-eat shrimp, clam dip with toast points cooked to perfection, and a house salad completed the meal. Extraordinary food and excellent service! Along with a patio table overlooking the marina....what more could you want>
On the return trip across Chesapeake Bay, we began to notice the gulls perched on the light poles. It was almost as if they could count, because there would be one bird on a light, then two, and then three! Smart little beggars!
There is much more to see and do in Virginia Beach, but, as usual, we become annoyed at the commercialism of nice places like this. Tomorrow we'll try to exit the park and continue north. I say "try" because the people in the neighboring site, who are from Quebec, have erected a "pop-up" canopy within inches of the drivers window on our coach. If I were to exit without bringing in the slide, the pop-up would be trashed, along with parts of our motorhome. Yesterday, when I suggested removal on Monday, the gentleman suddenly couldn't understand English. We'll see how this works out!
No comments:
Post a Comment