Maryland - Day 11 - a trek around Chesapeake Bay

Point Lookout State Park

Monday, 11 February 2019

today's route

The morning TV weather said it not only had snowed in northern Maryland but it was also continuing to snow there. But they also said the roads were clear, though with a few patches of ice, and the temperature was gradually going up.

It was raining in the southern part of both sides of the state, including where I was, and the rain was expected to take over from the snow statewide during the morning. I knew it would take me well over an hour just to get to Cambridge, the town on the Choptank River, and even as much as an hour from there to the Bay Bridge, which I had to cross to get to western Maryland. (The alternative was a land route that would require driving far enough north that I was certain to run into snow, so not an option.)

I decided to go ahead. If it looked too bad I could always turn around and come back. But I had great faith that I would be traveling slowly enough to benefit from the melting effects of rain and above-freezing temps. Which is what happened.

This time across, the Choptank was no longer peaceful and calm but instead gray and choppy. But the bridge was clear, which gave me encouragement.

By the side of the road I saw a flock of Canada Geese and I swear it looked like one of them was scouting out the traffic to find a break for them to cross the road. At this point the highway had 6 busy lanes so this was an unlikely event, but that’s what it looked like.

The farther north I went, the more I started seeing snow on the trees. I didn’t realize at first that’s what it was – it looked instead like a different species of pine with pretty silvery colored needles, like seeing a silver-leafed maple instead of the usual ones. It was only gradually that I realized I was seeing snow. And even more gradually I realized there was snow on the ground under the trees. No snow on the roadway, no ice, and traffic had clearly been driving with no trouble along that route all morning so I didn’t worry, but I did keep it in mind.

The Bay Bridge was an event that I would prefer not to repeat. It’s not The Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which is that extremely long one that runs from the Virginia end of the Delmarva Peninsula down to mainland Virginia. This bridge is called the Bay Bridge and is plenty long enough for me – much longer than it looked on the map.  I looked it up later and learned it's 4.3.  I knew it was long.

Driving that bridge was a bizarre experience. There were 3 lanes going westbound; I have no idea what was going the other way because my entire attention was focused on what I was doing. For one thing, I was worried at least a little about ice. And for another, I was worried about possible crosswinds. And for a third, I was worried about keeping in my lane because the road needed repaving and the patched pavement made driving jerky. For a fourth, I was worried because I’d picked the far right lane as usual, but then I worried about getting too close to the side railing of the bridge with my right-hand mirror (which has happened with trees and signs in the past), so I drove as close to the left lane line as I dared without cramping other traffic, which I probably did anyway, though they drove by me without honking or making gestures so I guess it was okay.

But the biggest problem turned out to be the sheer length. On other bridges I’ve had those same worries, but those bridges always ended relatively quickly. This one didn’t. It kept going on and on and on. I was too terrified to have any spare attention to give to looking ahead to see how much farther away the opposite shore was: I was 100% focused on what I was doing and nothing else. And after a bit of that, it was as if I were getting a little hypnotized and I started to think about not worrying but just to drive as if none of these problems existed, and to see that I might hit the side railing but so what. I’m not a suicidal person and these thoughts were at least as scary as the driving conditions. The whole thing was truly an event I wouldn’t like to repeat.

I now know that not only is it called the Bay Bridge, but it's also known as America's Scariest Bridge.  (It appears on a list of the 10 scariest bridges in the US.  I think it should rank #1.)

I found on the other side that my brain felt scrambled. I wasn’t shaking as I sometimes have been, like after those ghastly bridges over to Cape Cod. It was more as if my brain was shaking, but not my body. My driving plan had me turning off that highway onto Rt. 301 S to head south to Point Lookout, and once I’d done that, I stopped at the first shopping center I saw for a break. We’d already taken one earlier at Easton, but this time it was for me, not the dogs.

We ate lunch, we walked around the parking lot, we dried off afterwards because it was still raining, I calmed down, we got back on the road south.

We passed a place with a sign saying Summerseat Farm, founded 1678. That’s 340 years ago. It’s still a farm.

We passed through the towns of Hollywood and California. I swear. They’re about 5 miles apart.

We came to Patuxent River Naval Air Station, where the Patuxent River flows into the Chesapeake Bay. They have a Naval Air Museum there that I’d like to visit while I’m in the neighborhood. The NAS is next to the town of Lexington Park, which I’m guessing grew up to accommodate the base. Many of the businesses and housing looked to me like they were specifically catering to the military personnel and their families.

I passed a sign telling me I’m on one of America’s Byways: the Religious Freedom Byway.  www.fhwa.dot.gov/byways  I'm not going to take the time to follow it but I'm sure it'd be interesting to do it.

Not far from the campground, I passed a place labeled Confederate Memorial Park, separate but not far from a tall monument that didn’t have a label visible from the road. I’ll have to stop off there sometime.

We got to the campground by about 3:00, a 7½ hour drive which I regarded as remarkable considering the distance we drove – 220 miles with little of it on limited access highway. Most of it was 50 mph stretches interspersed with towns of 30 mph sections and traffic lights. We’d only stopped twice and were all ready for a break.

My plan is to stay very still for 24 hours here in the campground and recuperate a bit.