Tuesday & Wednesday, July 23rd & 24th - We've driven the route from the northeast to Florida many times and we have always taken I-95 through Baltimore and Washington and it has always been a pain. This time we decided to drive down the DELMARVA Peninsula. For those not familiar with it DELMARVA stands for Delaware, Maryland and Virginia the 3 states that make up the peninsular. It is on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay. In Maryland they often refer to it as the Eastern Shore and it is where Rehoboth Beach and Ocean City are located. Here is a map showing the peninsula.
Once you pass through Wilmington, DE, or cross the Delaware Memorial Bridge from New Jersey, you veer east on US-13 or DE-1 towards Dover, DE, the state capital. Once you get past Dover it becomes fairly rural with lots of farm fields. About 1/3 way down there is a bridge that crosses the bay just above Annapolis, MD. After that, the only way off the peninsula is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel at the very bottom of the peninsula which takes you over the entrance to the bay and into Norfolk, VA. That is the way we went.I can tell you that not having to face the traffic around Baltimore and Washington was really nice and the bridge-tunnel was interesting to see.
The bridge-tunnel is 23 miles long with 17.6 of those miles over the bay. Depth of water varies from 25 to 100 feet with 12 miles of low-level trestle, 2 one-mile-long tunnels, 2 bridges, 2 miles of causeway, 4 man-made islands and 5-1/2 miles of approach roads. Here is an aerial photo of the bridge-tunnel showing some of the trestles a bridge section and a tunnel section.
That was the end of the excitement for this vacation. We stopped outside of Fayetteville, NC, for the night and made in home the next day. Great trip but as usual, it's always nice to get home and sleep in your own bed.
Hope you have enjoyed this blog as much as I have enjoyed putting it together.
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