Thank goodness for a better nights sleep last night, mostly due to exhaustion but I’ll take whatever I can get!
Despite the better sleep we were still up pretty early and tucking into our continental breakfast by 7.30am. It was already warm when we hit the road and drove south of Reheboth Beach. The plan today was to head down along the seashore communites of Delaware to take in a little more of the beachside atmosphere.
However, we never have a trip without finding SOMETHING to appease Neil’s love of military history, and that had seemed a bit unlikely on this trip until we happened to catch a news report on the breakfast room Tv screen. It turned out we were very close to one of the 11 observation towers that were built along the coast of Delaware and New Jersey in WWII. Fortunately ( from my point of view) we didn’t have to go out of our way to see one of them. They’re not open to the public but you can’t miss them as you drive down the coast.
WWII observation tower on the coast of Delaware.
The small coastal towns along this stretch were really very pretty, with tidy “Hamptons” style homes, many of them bult along canals with small boats docked at their back door. I really do love the look of those homes with their pastel siding, crisp white trims and a nautical feel about them.
As we drove on further south it wasn’t long before we crossed the border into Maryland. The big coastal holiday town here is Ocean City and it really did look like Surfers Paradise, lots of high rise condos, not a bit pretty!
Maryland was not given a lot of love, it wasn’t many miles more before we crossed the border into Virginia. Yes, three states in one day! The next hour or so was a long straight green stretch taking us down to the tip of Virginia on Chesapeake Bay where we drove the extraordinary Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to cross to the other shore of Virginia. It’s a 17.6 mile long engineering marvel, with three sections of dual bridges and two tunnels crossing the Chesapeake Bay. It cost $14 to cross but was worth it just for the wow factor.
After we hit solid ground again we drove along the southern shore of the bay past the Naval station at Norfolk , which is the headquarters and home port of the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Forces Command. There were also many more of those pretty “nautical” style houses that I just love.
Finally we arrived at Historic Jamestowne, the original site of the first permanent English settlement in America. In 1607, 104 English men and boys arrived in North America to start a settlement. On May 13 they picked Jamestown, Virginia for their settlement, which was named after their King, James I. The settlement became the first permanent English settlement in North America. The legend of the settlement includes the ( somewhate disputed) story of Captain John Smith being saved from death by the Native American princess, Pocahontas. The area is now managed by the National park Service and includes a reconstruction of the original fort as well as extensive archeological dig sites and a fabulous museum.
After Jamestowne we had a short drive on to Williamsburg where we are spending the next two nights. On the way we drove through the William and Mary College , a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and the ninth-oldest in the English-speaking world! We drove past several of the Fraternity and Sorority houses with their Greek names posted on the front of the building. All I could think about was the movie “Animal House” !
We’re stayoing at the Embassy Suites for the next couple of nights. They offer an evening “Reception” of free drinks and snacks which we were glad to participate in and also stayed in the hotel for a light dinner from their bistro. Tomorrow we visit Colonial Williamsburg.