| To go south from Cape May, it is necessary to cross
the Delaware River which at this point is about 17 miles wide. The ferry
takes about an hour and a half and cost us almost $60. |  |
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We had booked but probably didn't need to. There was plenty of space even
for a vehicle our size. It was a very pleasant crossing in the sunshine,
provided you could get out of the wind. |
| The coastline (and even the hinterland) is very flat
around here. The whole peninsula is really little more than a sandbank. One
puzzles why the Americans who live or have holiday homes along this
coastline, are not more interested in global warming. A couple of feet of
sea rise would wipe out a lot of real estate. |  |
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The other side of the estuary is in Delaware which was one of the (childish)
reasons for going this way. It was one of the few states we have not been in
before.
Actually it would be tax advantageous for us to register our camper here but
probably too much hassle.
This coastline is littered with replica sailing ships from jacobean times
particularly since this is the 400th anniversary of the founding of
settlements on this coast. |
| The coastal drive down US1 through Delaware and
Maryland is boring. You can't see the sea because of all the hotel
blocks. The beaches are all private and it is very busy with geriatric
drivers. This is one of America's retirement zones. |  |
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At the southern end of this section of our journey is another water crossing. This time it is
Chesapeake Bay which is traversed by a 17 mile bridge with a couple of
tunnels to enable ships, particularly naval warships from Norfolk, to pass
overhead. |
| The whole thing is a toll road which cost us $17, a
lot cheaper and quicker than the ferry. The bridges/causeways are dual
carriageway, often separated, but the tunnels are two way and quite
restricted. There are upper and lower speed limits (55/45), the latter was
quite hard to maintain. |  |
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It is really quite a feat of engineering and was the longest of its type in
the world when completed. |
| We stopped at the southern end to watch a couple of
ships pass. This is the Ever Deluxe owned by a company in Singapore, 55000
tons built in 1998 and currently en route to Kaohsiung in Taiwan. |  |
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This one was inbound but not identified. Maersk Sealand is Danish owned and
one of the largest shipping companies in the world. |
| And so back to the mainland and Hampton Roads. The
traffic here is horrendous and very slow. This shot was just to show that
not everything the Americans have is huge. It could almost have
fitted in the back of the pickup. |  |
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As we head north to Williamsburg we can just see the huge Nimitz class
aircraft carrier Dwight D Eisenhower which had arrived back from the Gulf
today after an 8 month deployment. The 6000 men sent 6.8 million emails on
this trip. Amazing what you can discover on the internet! |
| This is the Hampton Roads Coliseum used for all sorts
of events from Boxing to Jazz to American Idol. Perhaps I'm glad we pass by
on I64. |  |
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