Untitled

We have made the decision to head south. It’s getting colder here and we are ready to leave the north behind. We left our campground outside Philadelphia (in Clarksboro, NJ) on Friday morning, October 27 headed for Marmora, NJ where we would camp for the night at the Whippoorwill Campground. Marmora is just south of Atlantic City and would provide a good starting point for our Saturday trip to Virginia Beach, VA via the Cape May -Lewes Ferry and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. We followed state highways 536, 47 and 557, arriving at Marmora early in the afternoon. After setting Bubba up for the night, we headed north to Atlantic City. We had heard that the City was not very appealing but we just had to see for ourselves.

We reached Atlantic City by following coastal roads. We couldn’t believe so many houses, condos and hotels could be located in one area! I can’t imangine what the streets must be like in the summer . . . gridlock, for sure. Atlantic City is not a pretty place. It is very overbuilt, a lot of it is really old, and there are way too many people. We dropped in at Harrah’s, one of the new casinos being built in the marina area, where we had lunch and left them some of our money in the casino. It didn’t take long until we were ready to move on. It was interesting to note that we didn’t hear a lot of bells and whistles going off which told us that no one was winning at the machines. Another thing we didn’t like was that the machines didn’t pay off in real money. Instead, you received a voucher that you had to go cash in. I, personally, like to hear the jingle of the coins, even if it’s only the sound of change being given!

I did want to see where "The Donald" counts his money so we drove by the Trump Marina (his new hotel and casino), and the downtown sites, Trump Plaza and Taj Mahal. We decided to go into the Taj, since it was Donald’s original, and help him with his debt. The crowd downtown was distinctly different from the marina casino crowds - I would liken the downtown casino crowd to the crowd you see on Las Vegas’ Fremont Street and the marina crowd to the Las Vegas Strip crowd. Interesting. Linesteen wasn’t happy that Donald charges $5 just to park in his deck so we showed him . . . we parked across the street for $2! Never mind that it was raining. The chandeliers in the Taj were worth the trip.

Heading back down the coast on a rainy night, we got a little lost - just like old farts do! But we stopped and asked directions (hooray for Jerry . . . only REAL men ask for directions, you know) and made it home without a hitch.

Saturday morning, we arose early to finish our drive to Cape May where we had reservations for the 11:00 ferry across the Delaware Bay to Lewes, Delaware. At a cost of $75 for an 80-minute trip, it was pretty expensive but Jerry loves ferries so here we go! After driving Bubba on board, we walked upstairs to the passenger lounge in anticipation of spending our trip there. However, not long after we cast off, the Captain announced that everyone should remain seated as we were facing high seas. I was not thrilled since I’m prone to motion sickness. We decided that I would do better back in Bubba who was planted securely in the middle of the lower deck. And the view from Bubba’s big old windows was superb. However, the seas did, indeed, get rough and I did, indeed, get green around the gills. Jerry loved the trip so it was worth it but I was happy to be back on soil, even if it was in Delaware!

From Lewes, we took Highway 1 south along the Atlantic coast and, in only about 30 miles, we entered Maryland. At Ocean City, we turned inland via Highway 50 west, then 133 south to cross into Virginia, just south of Pocomoke City. We knew we were back in the South when, at the Virginia border, we saw a large Rebel flag with the word "Dixie" over it and "The South Starts Here" under it! It was good to be back in our beloved South again!

Since we had chosen the coastal route, that meant that we would have to traverse the Chesapeake Bay Bridge - scary! The bridge is 17 miles in length and has two tunnels that go under the water beneath the shipping lanes. It is an engineering marvel and is described as one of the world’s seven man-made wonders. All of the bridge is four-lane except for the tunnels which are two narrow lanes. We were thankful to get through them without losing one of Bubba’s side mirrors! Of course, it was very windy that day, adding to the excitement of crossing the water. But we made it just fine and pulled into Virginia Beach in fine style.

We checked into the Holiday Travel Park. It was a nice park on the southern outskirts of town so we decided to spend a few days here recovering from our time in Philadelphia (big cities wear us out!) and catching up on a few personal things. It was time to find a laundramat again (oh, joy!), Jerry needed a haircut, we needed groceries, Bubba needed a little exterior cleaning and our website needed some attention. From VA Beach, we would head next to North Carolina’s Outer Banks and we weren’t sure what the level of services would be there. So, we checked in for five nights. Saturday night and Sunday were pretty quiet as we saw only a couple of Naval fighter planes go over. But all hell broke loose on Monday and we found ourselves bombarded with overhead noise, mostly in the morning and late afternoon. We surmised that, with Norfolk nearby, the "Flyboys" were practicing their aircraft carrier take-offs and landings. Made us proud . . . drove us nuts.

We did spend some time seeing a few local sights including First Landing State Park at Cape Henry and the world’s largest naval base at Norfolk. First Landing commemorates the 105 colonists who established the first permanent (note "permanent") English colony in America. On the morning of April 26, 1607, after four months at sea, three English ships, the Susan Constant, Discovery and Godspeed made landfall at the Chesapeake Bay’s southern cape. They spent the next two days exploring the lower bay region. On the 29th, 30 of the colonists gathered to raise a wooden cross claiming the land for England and naming it Cape Henry for Henry, Prince of Wales, son of King James I. As the colonists were instructed, they sailed inland and, on May 13, 1607, established the colony at Jamestown, VA. A stone cross was erected in 1935 by the National Society of the Daughters of the American Colonists, commemorating the landing here. Cape Henry is now located within Fort Story, an active Army base, but it is technically part of the First Landing State Park.

Also at Cape Henry are two lighthouses. The first Cape Henry Lighthouse, octagonal in shape, was built of sandstone in 1792. It was the nation’s first Federally funded lighthouse, authorized by our first Congress in 1789, and the first public works project. It was built at a cost of $17,500 and served until 1872 when cracks in the masonry doomed it. It is still in its original location and you can climb the 190 steps to the top if you wish. The second Cape Henry Lighthouse was built in 1881 and was the first lighthouse to have a synchronized radio beacon and air fog signal. It is 100% cast iron and the tallest of its kind in the country and is still in use today.

Also acknowledged at Cape Henry is the last great naval battle of the Revoluntionary War which took place here. During the fall of 1781, the outcome of the Revolutionary War was still very much in doubt. British General Cornwallis and his 8,000+ troops were besieged by 17,600 American and French soldiers in Yorktown, VA. Cornwallis still had several tactical options, but all of the assistance of the British Navy. Coincidently, a fleet of 19 ships under Adm. Graves was on its way from New York. In August of 1781, 24 French ships, commanded by Adm. De Grasse, anchored at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. These two enemies clashed on September 5 just off Cape Henry. Though damage and casualties on both sides were light, it was a battle heard around the world. The British fleet was driven off, Cornwallis was now totally isolated, his surrender at Yorktown was imminent and the creation of the United States became a certainty. Today a statue of French Adm. DeGrasse and a granite relief of the battle is part of the First Landing Memorial. So, when we get "down" on the French, we should remember that, without them, we might still be pledging allegiance to the Queen of England!

Our next "touristy" activity was to see the world’s largest Naval base aboard the Victory Rover. But first, lunch in downtown Norfolk at Todd Jurich’s Bistro, where we each enjoyed one of the specials - fried green tomato BLTs - another sign that we were in the South . . . and a delicious one, too!

At Nauticus, the National Maritime Center and home of the Battleship Wisconsin, we boarded the Victory Rover for a 2-hour Naval Base cruise that took us near aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, guided missile cruisers, and all of the other ships that form the world’s most powerful armada. While enroute, we also passed the spot where the Monitor and the Merrimac, two Civil war vessels, had their infamous battle.

We saw several notable ships during our tour including several that fire Tomahawk Cruise Missiles and cost $1 - 2 billion to build. We saw the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier that is 1,000 feet long and 250 feet wide. It can hold up to 110 aircraft and 6,000 crew members. It’s nuclear generator creates enough steam to provide 280,000 horsepower and, when underway, the Roosevelt can travel up to speeds of 65 miles per hour. It has 14 catapults that can hurl planes off it at 165 miles per hour. The average price to build a carrier like this is $5 billion. We also saw two nuclear submarines that were in port, each 360 feet long. They can run for 15-20 years, or about 1½ million miles, on one nuclear fueling - spooky! We saw tanker ships that resupply other ships with fuel while they are enroute.

Within the Norfolk Naval Base is the Fleet and Industrial Supply Center and Defense Distribution Depot, the second largest military building in the U.S., behind the Pentagon. We also saw a coal pier that can load 16,000 tons of coal on a ship in one hour! And, finally, we saw one of the world’s largest petroleum tank farms, supplied by a pipeline from Texas.

Following our cruise, we toured the USS Wisconsin, built in 1944. It has nine 16-inch guns that are each 60 feet long. Each gun can fire a 2,700 pound projectile up to 23 miles away - that the size of a VW Beetle! The ship was staffed with 2,900 sailors at its peak. The two anchors on this ship weigh 30 tons each. Each chain, holding the anchors, weighs 35 tons. Each link in each anchor chain weighs 120 pounds - big, BIG chains! The metal hull is 17 inches thick in the middle of the ship. It is 3½ football fields long and, when fully loaded, the Wisconsin weighs in at 57,000 tons. The entire deck is covered in beautiful teak wood - 4 acres worth - that’s how big this ship is! Some of the ship’s doors were open, but covered in plexiglas, so you could see in but not enter. We learned that bathrooms came to be called "heads" because, long ago, they were always at the front of the ship. This is the ship that fired the first Tomahawk missiles that initiated the Gulf War in 1991. The Wisconsin is currently on the inactive list but can be called back into duty at any time.

Tomorrow is Thursday, November 2 and we are headed for North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

Happy trails to you . . . til we meet again!

Church signs south of Virginia Beach:

Those who stand best kneel most.

A backbone is better than a wishbone.