Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel

We got off the Cape May Lewes ferry at 11 am and continued traveling down the Delmarva Peninsula. It is about 140 miles from the ferry to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

This drive is through Delaware, Maryland, and then Virginia. The countryside is beautiful and filled with lots of really nice farmland.

You will pass two very smelly chicken processing plants (Tyson and Perdue) on your way down the peninsula.

Somebody is probably eating these guys right now.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is a four-lane 20-mile-long bridge tunnel which will take you from the Eastern shore of Virginia to Virginia Beach near Norfolk which is Southeastern Virginia.  The cost with EZ Pass is $14.00 for one way. The speed limit is 55 and it takes about 30 minutes to cross.

The US Navy relies upon the deep channel for its warships to get to the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, the bridge tunnel was designed so that the US Navy could get their ships in and out of the Norfolk Naval base. If a bridge alone had been used, there would always be a chance that the bridge could be compromised and the naval war ships would be blocked from entering or leaving that naval base.

When you first go through the toll you will be on Fireman’s Island. Here you will find a place to stop, park, and get a great view of the bay, bridge and tunnel scenery.

If you are in luck you will see some very large ships. Today there is a huge car carrier traveling through.

Then you go through the Chesapeake Tunnel,

another bridge, the Thimble Shoal Channel Tunnel, and then the last bridge. The Thimble Shoal Channel Tunnel crosses the old channel of the James River. Each tunnel portion is anchored by a series of four man-made islands which each are the size of a football field.

When driving on the bridges check out the light poles. Sometimes you will see a seagull sitting on the top of everyone. There are also quite a few dead on the road.

I read that about 4 million vehicles use the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel each year. Traffic is fairly light today though (Friday, October 2, 2020).

There is a full-service restaurant, the Chesapeake Grill, with restrooms and a gift shop on the bridge after the second tunnel. Along with a scenic overlook and 625 foot fishing pier. We have stopped many times to fish on this pier, but today the pier, restaurant, and gift shop are closed due to a new parallel tunnel being bored. These facilities and the new tunnel are planned to be opened in 2023. Currently the bridges are one way traffic, but the bridges merge into a tunnel with 2 way traffic. This new tunnel at Thimble Shoal will eliminate the 2 way traffic and there will be a separate tunnel for north bound and south bound traffic. No more merging to 2 way traffic. That will be so nice. The two way traffic in the tunnel is scary.

But normally it would a good stop to use the monocular telescope or do some fishing. You will have a great time. Bring a cooler for those drinks. See below if you need these supplies.

And in no time at all we are coming to the end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel into Norfolk. This is a must do trip for everyone in their lifetime. There are only nine bridge-tunnel systems that cross a body of water on the earth. How cool that we are able to drive to this one so easily.

Next up is a night at the Hilton Garden Inn Chesapeake/Greenbrier in Chesapeake, VA. before we head to Avon, NC. OBX – yea.