Spending three days in Norfolk, Virginia is a great thing any time. Spending it with a grandson recently stationed there as a Naval helicopter pilot makes it truly special and even a lot more fun. And traveling the six hours by car with my daughter means fun and games, as well as education, start as soon as you get in the car.
It’s an easy route to Norfolk from Monmouth County, traveling to the Delaware Memorial Bridge, through the length of Delaware to Maryland a short piece, . then into Virginia, and the magnificent Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. Once across the Chesapeake Bay, you are pretty much in the middle of the Navy presence in this part of Viriginia, with Naval Station Norfolk, Naval Air Station Oceana and Joint Expeditionary Force Little Creek Fort Story in large part much responsible for all the apartments, shops, and activities in this part of Virginia.
Virginia Beach has always been a great vacation area in the summer along with Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge and is just a short distance from all the naval bases.
Right from the start, my daughter Tracie made the trip special and memorable.
When our youngsters were young, we took numerous camping trips all around the United States, from Maine to New Mexico, it was a tradition that each of the four got a small gift as we entered each state. But they only got the gift after they had given me three facts about the state we were entering, or some facts about the state we just left that they learned on the way. The gifts were generally little puzzles, books or snacks, and the practice was routine throughout their growing up years.
Tracie remembered those trips and did the same for me! Though she did not insist on my giving her facts about each state, as we crossed the borders and saw the Welcome to…. signs, she handed me a wrapped gift.
So by the time I got to Virginia, I had a new book and pens for my never ending habit of keeping notes, a pair of sunglasses because I inadvertently lose mine so many times, and a bag of sweet and savory Trail Mix of peanuts, pretzels, and almonds which has instantly become a favorite snack food.
Aside from the good fortune of enjoying spectacular weather the entire time, temps in the 70s with no humidity and sunny skies with puffy white clouds, it was also great to see the amount of open space still surrounding the highways in much of Delaware, something, like New Jersey, bound to change when people realize the benefits of living in the First State. For now, the forests of pine trees and rows of corn fields are signs that not everything has been concrete-covered and towns overbuilt.
Crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel is an incredible experience no matter how many times you do it. Seeing the bridge in front of you from the northern side that appears to end abruptly in the middle of the Bay, then seeing another bridge further south on another man made island is enough to make you wonder. Traveling it you understand.
The bridge was built in 1964 with the tunnels built on man made islands to ensure ships can pass through the Bay and out to the ocean. The bridge itself from Delmarva to Hampton Roads is 17 and a half mile long, including the two tunnels, each about a mile in length. The Bay Bridge is the largest one of only 14 bay bridges in the world, three of which are in Hampton Roads, Virginia.
It’s said it took seven different engineering marvels to create it.
Judging from all of that, and knowing the tunnel costs in the New York area, it’s a surprise that the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel only costs $20 to cross, with additional discounts for a return trip in a specific number of days, and off season travel. A real bargain by anyone’s standards.
The restaurant and parking area midway across the bridge is closed at this time for construction of yet an expansion to the highway.
Once on the Virginia side of the bridge, it was a short drive to my grandson’s apartment and an introduction to how spectacular apartments are in the area and the fact that a Naval officer can certainly enjoy better accommodations than the enlisted sailor in a barracks.
Dinner was at Stony’s, one of several terrific restaurants Angus had already discovered in his two months since he was transferred from Pensacola, Florida to Virginia. And casual conversation, as it usually dies, was proof that it truly is a small world. The Stony’s who own this restaurant with outdoor dining right on a gorgeous marina, are Stony and Laura Johnson, formerly from South Orange where they owned their restaurant for a quarter of a century before moving to Virginia, Stony was trained at Johnson & Wales Culinary University had run in several restaurants before opening Stony’s in South Orange decades ago But they fell in love with the Eastern Shore and saw the need for a great restaurant in the area when they visited their daughter and son-in-law who was stationed with the Navy aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. That was six years ago and Stony’s has been a popular ding spot since then.
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