Monday, 18 February 2019
(I've just managed to delete this post and have spent 20 minutes trying unsuccessfully to recover even a glimpse of it. So this re-creation won't be as detailed as the original. Sorry.)
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| today's route |
This morning we drove over to Historic Annapolis, which is the same as today's Annapolis, only today it's surrounded by lots more houses and shopping centers. But the main part of town is old: it was founded by the Puritans in 1649 and today still has more 18th century buildings than any other US city.
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| State House |
Maryland's State House ior a legislative body. (Some states have repurposed their original capitols as museums or something). It was built in 1772 and has the oldest and largest wooden dome not containing nails in the US. It's the only state house that has also served as the US capitol (Nov. 1783 - Aug 1784).
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| State House dome |
The dome is topped by an acorn that supports a lightning rod designed by Benjamin Franklin. The original acorn rotted (though it lasted 200+ years) and was replaced in 1996, but I think the lightning rod is still the original.
All these photos are off the internet as there was no place whatever I could even pause. The driving directions I got online were clearly designed for compact cars, "clearly" because they told me I could drive down the downtown streets which are still of brick and very narrow and winding. I can say with confidence that they weren't laid out with modern vehicles in mind - I think even some SUVs would have trouble navigating those streets. (They may have started as cow paths, as far as I could tell.)
In my RV I was inching through streets with cars parked on either side of roads so narrow that all those cars had their side mirrors pulled in. If they hadn't, I'd have certainly scraped one or more of them.
Fortunately, the cars behind me - including a police car at one point - were very patient, because I kept encountering one-way streets that were going the wrong way and I couldn't get out of the maze and kept inching along for what seemed like forever. I grabbed the first street I came to that was one-way the right way, and then had to figure out where I was because it wasn't where I'd intended to be.
The US Naval Academy is only a few blocks from the worst of the maze and I'd originally wanted to at least drive by the entrance. By the time I got myself reoriented, I found I was just a block away and could see it through the side streets, but there was no way at all I wanted to risk trying to get closer in case I got sucked into another maze.
In a more appropriate vehicle, I'd have enjoyed parking and walking around town for a bit because it seemed to be a pleasant place with a nice old feel to it. Next time.
Shopping
I went next to Macy's in a shopping center, looking for a new mattress in the Presidents Day sales. I've always liked Macy's, have bought furniture through them in the past, and didn't know which of the multiple mattress stores now proliferating I could trust. I told the nice Macy's salesperson that I unfashionably wanted a mattress I could turn over, because I'm certain I can get better wear and a longer period of good sleep by turning the mattress. Apparently, nobody wants to bother any more except me, because he said they don't carry them. But he directed me to a small mattress store across the street, and it turned out to be a great tip. (I can always count on Macy's.)
The Mattress Store is a small family-owned business who explained that the reason I can't find a mattress that can be turned over is that they aren't being made any more. (I should say I'm looking for a decent mattress - not just some little foam thing like I currently have on my bed.) But The Mattress Store has gotten Serta to agree to custom-make what I'm looking for and will order one for me if I want.
But then I ran into a logistical problem: I intended to go back to the Eastern Shore on Friday for the rest of the month, but a special order would take at least till Friday to fill. I explained to the very nice ladies in the store that I'd been terrified by the Bay Bridge so planned to drive back using Maryland's northern route, which meant I expected to be gone from the Annapolis area by early- to mid-morning. Well, they have a 2nd store just on the other side of the Bay Bridge and suggested an option of having myself driven across and picking up the mattress on the other side. And they pointed out that the northern route crosses the Susquehanna River and has bridges too.
Back out to the RV for lunch and online research. There are in fact 3 bridges in MD across the Susquehanna: 2 are toll bridges and one of those is only 2 lanes wide, both are a long way above the water to accommodate seagoing vessels, both are over a mile long, and both are subject to high winds (2 semis were turned over a couple of years ago by winds); the 3rd crosses a dam and is so narrow truckers aren't allowed on it.
Three lousy options, given my current frame of mind. I called the Bay Bridge driving service and they agreed to do it for $40 with 24-hour notice because of needing to get a driver who could drive oversized vehicles, but I'd have to drive part way onto the bridge first to meet the driver.
By this time my head was starting to pop open and I went back to the store and said I definitely wanted the mattress but would have to spend more time thinking about my travel plans before I could be definite about delivery. Very nice people. Very accommodating.
I went from there to a nearby PetsMart for supplies and then drove back west on state route 450, aka Defense Highway, aiming for a grocery store. Only it turned out part way along the road I saw a sign saying road closed ahead, local traffic only. I've seen those signs before and I've found they nearly always mean it, especially when it comes to larger vehicles like mine. So I turned around and went back to the main highway and cut north back to Rt. 450 when I thought I might be past the blockage.
After the grocery store I made a slight adjustment northward and ended driving past the Goddard/NASA Space Center. If I have time, I'd like to go to their visitor center before I leave.
And then back to the campground where I started an internal battle over my various options for the rest of the month.
Travel Decisions
My plan had been to spend the last week of February back at Pocomoke River State Park on the Eastern Shore and drive down to Virginia in March from there. Having learned my lesson, I looked up the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel that runs from the southern tip of Delmarva to mainland Virginia. Pete and I drove that bridge/tunnel 45 years ago and my memory of it appears to be pretty accurate. But what's changed is the vehicle I'm driving and my bizarre experience of partial hypnosis on the Bay Bridge.
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| part of the bridge part |
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| a view of the tunnel part |
It's really a remarkable bridge, with the tunnel sections allowing for ocean-going vessels to connect the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. I'd love to drive it again, but my fear level is now too easily triggered. Maybe later in March I might drive to Delmarva from Virginia Beach - when the weather might be better. But not right now.
The campground I'm in is really nice but a lot more expensive than I'd prefer, so I considered going back down to Point Lookout State Park for at least the last few days of the month. Now that I've ruled out the Bay Bridge-Tunnel, I have no choice but to cross the Potomac River to get from MD to VA, so I checked the bridge closest to Point Lookout. It turns out that this bridge is described online as 1.7 miles, 2 lanes, narrow and steep.
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| Rt. 301 bridge |
This isn't a clear photo and the one that illustrates the bridge best is copyrighted so I can't use it, but maybe you can see the abrupt and very steep climb of this bridge.
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| Arlington bridge |
The next bridge along the Potomac is the one that runs right through Washington, DC, to Arlington and I know that one well - everybody does because it shows up all the time on the news and in TV shows.
See? Nice and flat. And it's got a bunch of lanes, too, because it's a major traffic artery. That's my kind of bridge.
All of which led me to the only sensible conclusion: I should just shell out the money to stay here for the extra week. This campground is only about 20-25 miles or so from the bridge, making it easy to go to Virginia next week.
And since we're being told to expect a major snowstorm Wednesday and maybe Thursday this week, staying here next week would give me more time to see things in this area.
It took quite a while to come to this result and I decided I'd better sleep on it a few days before calling The Mattress Store back about a delivery location.
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