I left Assateague Island and drove down route 13 to the 17 mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. This combination bridge and tunnel crosses the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, connecting the eastern and western Virginia shores. Two tunnels each about a mile each go under the bay itself.
I saw a tow truck stationed at one end of the first tunnel and at least one guy looking out a little window in at least one tunnel. I wonder how he got in there or if they ever let him out?
While on the bridges, I saw a couple of warships chugging away. I dunno what kind they were but they looked much bigger than the ones I saw up close at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Fighter jets fly around continuously. It was pretty neat watching the first couple fly over head. After that the noise becomes deafening. Virginia Beach and surrounding communities are pretty upscale but that noise is a major detriment.
I stayed at the First Landing Sea Side Park just north of Virginia Beach. There had been some recent flooding of the park and the Virginia Beach area. I wonder if it was the same flooding that got me on my first night in Maryland on 11/02.
The camping area was really pretty with sites amongst some really knarly old tree many covered with vines. Unfortunately half the sites were located right next to route 60. You could even see the cars going by. The whole camping area was way to noisy. The route 60 noise carried to all areas of the campgrounds, airplanes and helicopters were flying overhead, there were a couple of large tankers anchored offshore a little ways blowing their horns occasionally and the constant drone and occasional roar of generators or something some where. I wouldn't go back and I wouldn't live in Virginia Beach for the same reason.
I went looking for two put in the Back Bay area south of Virginia Beach but had a hell of time finding the road. There's a Navy Amphibious Base and another Anti-Air Warfare Training Center right where I wanted to go and they had big, ugly guys standing by the gates that didn't look any to friendly as I made a Ubee to get out of there. It took me a while to find my way around them and by then I was developing an attitude problem. When I found the first put in the tide was out. This created an unpleasant looking carry in that I didn't want to tackle. The second put in looked to be down any one of a dozen roads so I quit looking.
Instead I went to the Virginia Marine Science Museum for a couple of hours. This is a pretty neat place with live seal, jellyfish, turtle, sting ray, crab, snake, river otter and fish exhibits. The highlight for me was a 10-15 pound lobster that looked like it wanted a piece of me. The Maine record is 40+ pounds. That one could be a man eater. Speaking of which, they had a life size mock up of a great white shark head. There's no doubt in my my mind that could chop a grown man in two with one bite. There was also a nice nature walk and an aviary where I saw a wild tom turkey chasing a turkey vulture. That must have been a switch but the tom was about twice the vulture's size.
Trivia:
Some of the younger humpback whales winter at Virginia Beach, Virginia rather than the Caribbean.
Some Manatees migrate to Virginia Beach in the summer. One with a radio attached went all the way up to Rhode Island in 1995. I never heard of them being anywhere other than Florida.
I think I'm heading for the Westmoreland State Park north of Richmond in the morning as I work my way towards the northern Virginia mountains