April 23, 2015.  Having passed over and through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel twice in 24 hours, I now have some updated facts and observations about the well-loved CBBT. First, it is not 27 miles long, as I reported yesterday.  It is really just 23 miles long, end to end, consisting of 12 miles of low-level trestle, two one-mile tunnels, two bridges, two miles of causeway, four man-made islands and 5.5 miles of approach roads.  It is 51 years old, first opening to public traffic on April 15, 1964, when I was finishing up the second grade (with perfect attendance).  They completed the original project with $200 million in revenue bonds (no tax dollars were used).  In worldwide competition with more than 100 other major projects in the running, the CBBT was selected as one of the Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern World.  It was such a success that in 1995 additional bonds were sold to finance the Parallel Crossing Project, in which they built a parallel bridge to make it a stunning four-lane engineering marvel, except that the two tunnels were not replicated and still bear two-way traffic.   That is the scary part!  The signs in the tunnels tell you to keep up your speed at 55 MPH, even when the guy barreling down on you is pulling a yacht and you are pulling an Airstream.  Also, as I mentioned yesterday, there is actually a restaurant and gift shop in the middle right after the tunnel.  We decided in advance to stop and check it out.  So the flashing sign right as you enter the tunnel says make a right turn after the tunnel to visit the gift shop, but keep up your speed at 55 MPH in the tunnel.  Fine.  Except that the right turn is actually a 180-degree U-turn IMMEDIATELY as you leave the tunnel.  Try doing that pulling an Airstream after having just passed a yacht going 55 MPH in the opposite direction two feet to your left! Brad screamed and we nearly flew into the CB, but we made it and enjoyed a pleasant shopping excursion for 10 am.  Here are some pictures of the CBBT and central gift shop.

There sure is a lot of water in this part of Virginia!   To get the rest of the way to Chippokes Plantation State Park in Surry VA (a total of 78 miles), we went over two more extremely long bridges and one more tunnel.  Before every tunnel, Brad had to stop and run turn off the propane tank (which powers the refrigerator while driving) and then go re-set the refrigerator afterwards, which gets confused when you do that.  But no harm done.  We got to our destination before noon, even stopping along the way to peep at Smithfield VA and load up on salted hams.

Chippokes Plantation has been a working farm since 1619 (that is not a typo) when Englishman William Powell received patents for 740 acres of land on the Surry side of the James River (just across from Jamestown).  Not surprisingly, it is one of the oldest continually farmed plantations in the US.  The land grant lay in the village of Algonquian Chief Chipoakes, a lower-ranking chief under paramount chief Powhatan, who incidentally was Pocahontas’ dad.  The last person in the last family to own the beautiful Chippokes plantation property died in recent years and left the now 1400 acres, including the lovely antebellum mansion and all the related outbuildings and farm structures to the Commonwealth of Virginia, which turned it into a state park so that people like us can come enjoy it.  Plus, it is still being farmed by lessees, so the tradition continues!  We had a great tour of the old barns filled with ancient farm and household implements, most of which were made right here by Powell and his successors.  Our guide was a 91 year-old former pilot for Piedmont Airlines.  He seemed to be quite familiar with the old ways, having lived without electricity himself until 1938.  Then we toured the lovely mansion and the river house and, because I just can’t get enough of such things, we drove 5 miles further and toured Bacon Castle, the oldest brick dwelling in the US, built in 1665.  It is one of only three remaining high-style Jacobean architectural examples in the western hemisphere.

In honor of the ancient ways, we concluded the evening by playing cards by candle light, dining on Smithfield ham and mulled cider (actually, pinot grigio, but in opaque mugs).