Tuesday, 29 July

Today our goal was to head north from North Carolina, go through the Chesapeake Bay tunnel and wind up near Atlantic City.  Well that didn’t work – but ultimately was such a good surprise for us.  First we headed to Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay tunnel.  This was something that James really wanted to do.  It is the main connection between Virginia and Delaware.  We learned it is 26 miles of bridges PLUS two tunnels that are each 1 mile long.  That is a lot of water under you and over you!  This engineering marvel was paid for without a penny of tax money.  Bonds were sold and they are being paid back with the toll – It shouldn’t take long since the toll was $13.00 for a car to go one way.  Even with that expense, cars and trucks were lined up at each gate.  Maybe a toll bridge over the Tennessee River would work if smart decisions are made.  

 
We stopped at one of the sightseeing areas and watched a large Navy ship head to the ocean and saw large freighters coming into port. 

 As we were there I noticed a special needs young boy with a red and white shaker.  I spoke to him and said with that shaker he must be an Alabama fan.  His mom said that he was the Tide’s biggest fan.  We talked for a while and I learned that her husband is in the Navy and they were waiting for the ship to come in that he would be leaving on shortly.  I also learned that she has been to Huntsville and is now living at Norfolk.  As a matter of fact she had visited Athens a couple of time.  Before we left, her special needs child looked at me and said “Roll Tide.”  It was really good to hear someone supporting one of the major teams from our state.  As we continued to drive we passed through Virginia, Maryland and into Delaware.  By the time we got to Dover, Delaware we were tired and decided that would be another unplanned stop.  As you will see in tomorrow’s post, that was a GREAT detour.  Tired but really glad we had been through the tunnels and had met such a nice young couple.  It had been a good day.