Landed at Virginia Beach...via a tunnel..or two!

I left West Fenwick Island, Delaware today...so muggy and hot and nothing to do.  I hit the road and and traveled to Kiptopeke, Maryland, which is the very tip of a land mass surrounded by water.  The only way to get from there to Norfolk..(I still can't say that right, I prefer "Nor FOLK versus Nor F***). Ha Ha.  You have to go over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.  Okay, so I figured I could do this.  Well, let me tell you, the above water bridge is a breathtaking drive.  It is beautiful, like you are driving to the Florida Keys.  The tunnel, not so much. Very small tunnel, only two lanes, one for each direction of traffic, each not much more that one car's width, let alone an RV!  I sweated it out as I went in.  No barrier either and that means one false move and BAM! there could be a head-on collision.  When a big truck was coming the other way in the tunnel, I held my breath.

 

La la la la....having a great time.  Wait...the end of the bridge looks weird.

 

Wait....it looks the bridge just....ENDS!

 

OMG...I am dropping down into a tunnel. Time to put the camera down.

NOTE:  I DO NOT look into the lens when I do stuff like this...I hold the camera up, point and shoot (and hope for the best).

 

Here's the deal....I thought this was the ONLY tunnel under the water.....I was wrong!!!!

 

Another one.....REALLY?????  Okay, I gripped the steering wheel and sweated out another few miles underwater...yeah, that's right, another underwater tunnel.  You would think I would be okay with this after riding the BART train in the SF area.  NOT!  This time...I was the driver!  Well, another adventure and a bit of an adrenaline rush.

 

To my sister Kathleen and all vegetarians out there...you may want to skip this next section.  :-/

A bit of advice for those traveling through Delaware.  There is something called "scrapple".  I went to a little breakfast place near a gas station and it was on the menu. I asked what it was and they told me. Gosh, I wish I'd never asked.  It is the leftover bits of the hog that are left over after butchering. It is compressed into this grayish looking, tightly-wrapped piece of gook and sold to unsuspecting, innocent humans.  The "chef" there said he didn't have any cooked.  I said, "That's okay".  He said he can fry it up real crispy-like and it's good.  I don't believe him. Here is the Wikipedia definition...ewwwwww!

Scrapple, also known by the Pennsylvania Dutch name panhaas or "pan rabbit,"^[1][2] is traditionally a mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and wheat flour, often buckwheat flour, and spices. The mush is formed into a semi-solid congealed loaf, and slices of the scrapple are then pan-fried before serving. Scraps of meat left over from butchering, not used or sold elsewhere, were made into scrapple to avoid waste. Scrapple is best known as a rural American food of the Mid-Atlantic states (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia). Scrapple and panhaas are commonly considered an ethnic food of the Pennsylvania Dutch, including the Mennonites and Amish. Scrapple is found in supermarkets throughout the region in both fresh and frozen refrigerated cases.

Also in Delaware...the term "Helopen" is used everywhere, street names, sports teams, etc.  I cannot find what a Helopen is or what it means.  Any faithful bloggers know?

Last advice of the day I saw on a sign today.... "Don't ever ask a starfish to point you in the right direction."  Damn, that's funny.

Love,

Laurie