Connecting Two Shores: The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel

NASA image of the bridge and tunnel connecting the two shores

Road trips. It seems as though our family spends a lot of time in our car traveling from one location to another. In recent years we've driven throughout the well maintained highways and back roads of Scandinavia and we've explored the narrow and winding roads of Romania, Bulgaria and Macedonia and everywhere in between. With both of us growing up along the east coast of the United States, we are all too familiar with the Route 95 corridor that snakes its way from Maine to Florida. I'd like to say that it is a pretty drive but it really isn't. Mile upon mile of multi-lane asphalt peppered with strip malls, industrial complexes and only occasional peeks of nature gets old fast. Add in the traffic that inevitably clogs the road regardless of when you travel and the trip is less than pleasant. Whenever the chance arises to actually bi-pass any of it, we take full advantage of the opportunity. And our favorite bi-pass is by far the rural stretch that is the Eastern Shore of Virginia and the Delmarva (Delaware, Maryland and Virginia) peninsula.

While much of the coastline of the Eastern Shore is nothing but nature preserves and small fishing villages, the interior route is almost as dismal as the 95 corridor. Here rural poverty is real and in your face; abandoned farms, dilapidated yet inhabited trailers and businesses doing triple duty as auto garages, bait shops and tourist traps with the occasional fast food joint are all you pass for miles. Here you can buy your tobacco, fireworks and Virginia hams at a single stop. And if you are passing through at the right time you can even throw in a church service or two. I can never decide if this area of Virginia, close to the beltway as the crow flies but miles away in culture, is trapped in time or simply forgotten by the rest of the world. Perhaps it is a bit of both. But the realities of the Eastern Shore aren't what this post is really about. Rather, it is about the highlight of the trip which is the drive across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. Those views more than make up for what is to come.

The series of high rise bridges, gracefully winding causeways and two tunnels that spans the 23 miles across the Chesapeake Bay between Virginia Beach and Cape Charles is what connects this remote part of Virginia with the rest of the state. Built on a series of artificial islands, it was completed as a two lane route in 1964. In the 1990s portions of the route were expanded to four lanes and today it remains one of only ten such bridge and tunnel systems in the world. To engineering fanatics, this roadway system is a modern marvel but to lay travelers like myself it is simply beautiful.

Whether you drive across the bridge at sunrise, sunset or in the middle of the day, the views are breathtaking. For drivers with time to spare, there is a small restaurant and pull off area midway across the Bay where you can stop to take in the views. And while the road itself may seem busy the waterways below are even more so. Cargo ships filled with containers, commercial fishing vessels and small dories and even kayaks are always moving about in the water. And the sight of a Navy vessel and even an aircraft carrier, making its way up the bay towards the base in Norfolk is not an uncommon sight.

It really is a pretty view and I've known many people who simply drive across the bridge and back just to see what they might see. Personally I've never done that but I can understand why one might. So last week as we made our way north from Hampton Roads we joined the long train of travelers and made our way across the Bay. We stopped at the pull off area and took pictures through the early morning summer haze. I looked back onto the sandy shores of Virginia Beach that were dotted with condos and then northward towards the winding expanses of the causeway that seemed to dip and disappear right into the water. Heading north feels like you are driving off into another time and place. And in a sense you are. But since getting to your destination is half of the fun we enjoyed our small piece of serene beauty while we could. After all, there are very few places in the world where you can do this.

Sunset view of the bridge that
leads right into the water

Mermaids On Parade

Mermaid on the rise

Norfolk, Virginia is a city of juxtapositions. Her grand old homes situated along crepe myrtle lined streets are reminiscent of the genteel old south while neighborhoods filled with scruffy tract housing are a reminder of her less than polished post World War II days when the Navy was the strongest, but least welcomed, influence in town. Newly built condo high rises and pre-fab cookie cutter houses are like the fourth face lift to a city that is past its prime but refuses to give up. Norfolk is home to the largest naval base in the world as well as PETA headquarters yet has the Pat Robinson religious empire in its Virginia Beach backyard. Religion is worn on one's sleeve and politics here are conservative. Being a local is valued while being an outsider is viewed with suspicion. Being a graduate of their failing public schools and attending a local university carries more weight than an Ivy League education. No government decision is made without an extensive series of debates with costs, morals with hints of race relations being a part of every equation. There is a desire to become a world class city but the a fore mentioned traits seem to really be holding the place back. Its a place that wants to be really nice but doesn't want to pay for it. This critique may seem harsh but I feel as though I can say it with some authority; as someone who definitely wasn't a local, I spent several years living in Norfolk and working for the city and after being away for awhile, my recent return visit reconfirmed all of these thoughts for me.

So given this backdrop, it has always amazed me that Norfolk embarked upon a forward thinking  branding and marketing campaign that revolved around public art. Mind you, this is the same community where city council members would unilaterally declare some pieces of work as art and others not worthy of the designation simply because they didn't like it or didn't get it. And this is the same city where a painting in a private gallery window had to be removed after a public outcry because a female breast was shown partially bare. (Opponents claimed that such an image would traumatize our children, cause them to ask questions and cause impure thoughts all around--I kid you not). Given all of this the fact that the city embarked upon a branding campaign where mermaids (yes, partially clothed creatures that are half fish and half woman) became the city symbol is particularly noteworthy. But I think it is probably one of the best things the city ever did and I absolutely love it.

The mermaid campaign first appeared fifteen years ago as the city struggled to revitalize itself yet again. Local civic leaders, influenced by Chicago's popular Cows on Parade, suggested that such an effort could help sell Norfolk to tourists, residents and businesses alike. The mermaids paid tribute to Norfolk's long relationship with the sea. One hundred and thirty mermaid forms were cast and artists were commissioned to create these life sized statues which were placed in various locations around the city. Business and community groups were able to "adopt" a mermaid whose design reflected their particular interests. Although the sizes and shapes were uniform their decorations were anything but. From American flags to glitzy gold sequins, from the realistic to the abstract and everything in between, the designs were varied. I personally loved the black and white cow one that for awhile found a home at the end of our street.

The Pagoda's mermaid

Even today, fifteen years after they first landed, the mermaids still reign supreme; their likeness is woven into the terminal walkways at the airport, plastered on flags and banners at all of the main intersections and discretely graces all of the neighborhood signs. And the mermaids themselves, they are everywhere. During my recent visit I spent quite a bit of time walking through some of the city's neighborhoods and spotting the mermaids. I found them in neighborhood parks and private yards, gracing the entrances to businesses and government buildings and traffic islands. These works of art are found in areas of the city-- affluent and lower income residential neighborhoods alike, in front of government buildings and commercial centers. This graceful symbol of the sea seems to be the single thing that unites this city of contrasts and I think that is pretty darn cool. And the funny thing is that I thought I knew the locations of so many of the mermaids. I do but then I would take another look and see one that was completely new to me. Because they really are everywhere.

So if you ever find yourself in Norfolk, be on the lookout for the mermaids. They are everywhere and are perhaps the best thing that happened to this city in a long time.

The education mermaid at TCC

Mermaid in a neighborhood park

Mermaid at the federal court house

A Sinking City?

A recent Washington Post article left me simply feeling sad. The article was about our old home city of Norfolk, Virginia and focused on the growing flooding problem in the city. Norfolk is a city surrounded by water and is low lying with many places being barely above sea level. It stands to reason that the area floods; I remember the flooding all too well.While hurricanes, tropical storms or Northeasters were reason to worry, a simple heavy afternoon rain storm was enough to cause the city's waterways to overflow, underpasses to flood and streets to become rivers. I quickly became adept at figuring out which streets were most prone to flooding and learned how to safely navigate from my downtown office to my house when the streets were flooded. But not everyone was so savvy. During our years in Norfolk I lost track of the number of times I saw cars floating in flooded underpasses. Yes, even under the best of conditions water was everywhere. It was simultaneously beautiful and scary but reminded me that despite all of our modern technology, Mother Nature was really in control.

Although we left Norfolk in 2010 I knew the water problem was only getting worse but I didn't realize just how quickly the problem was growing. And then I saw the article. Norfolk's water problems are two fold. First, normal tides in Hampton Roads have risen an average of 1 1/2 feet over the past century, reflecting an increase that is higher than the rest of the East Coast. (But the entire East Coast has been designated as a sea level rise hot spot). Secondly, Norfolk is actually sinking. Yes, sinking. 35 million years ago a meteor hit the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay creating a crater that is now slowly consuming Norfolk. Simply put, all of this water does not bode well for a city whose existence has always revolved around the sea.

But the Post article struck a particular chord with me when I saw the Reverend of the church we were married in talking about how the flooding problem was forcing her church to seek a new physical home. This made my heart lurch. The beautiful old Unitarian Universalist Church sits on the edge of the Hague, a basin of water abutting what I consider to be the most beautiful part of the city. The thought of this church, which holds such special memories for me, being flooded out was simply so sad. Water was a problem when we got married and I feared flooding on our rainy wedding day but fortunately for us, on that April day the water never overflowed the banks like I had seen it do so many times before.

Despite the vocal minority who still denies its existence, global warming is at the root of these water problems. Throwing a lot of money at the problem may offer short term solutions for today's Norfolk residents but it won't stop the ever increasing presence of the rising water. I don't want to sound like a fatalist but it would appear that there really isn't a long term solution to the problem. Mother Nature really is in charge. And while I believe her force is awe inspiring this dilemma makes me sad. Very very sad.