trip advice / geography experience quiz - delaware, virginia

 hi folks,

i got itchy feet and i'm thinking it's only a handful of hours to
cross half of the eastern seaboard

so why not?


trying to pick out spots worth seeing, not in a touristy way, but in a
"oh, this is what life is like here in these parts" kind of way ... or
as close to that as is possible when you're just sort of passing
through

and so i'm thinking, if i want to come down, i'll go through PA/NJ and
eventually end up in this wackly little state called delaware

anything to see? anything to do? places to avoid? cool rite-of-passage
things to take in? i don't actually know what i'm asking but what
would you keep in mind if you wanted to spend part of memorial day
weekend looking at a new state?


and ditto virginia ... more specifically, highway 13 running by
chesapeake bay ... is that a 1-lane nightmare, or a pleasure cruise,
or a tourist trap, or what?

see here: http://tinyurl.com/655foy

the dot right below the center is a custom waypoint ... i stuck it in
because i'm pretty curious what that area looks like, but if i hear
it's a godforsaken hole, or a traffic bottleneck that will ruin the
rest of my trip, or just flat and dead, then i might be persuaded to
take another route

(and skipping DC is a good idea, right? traffic wise? i'm not that in
the mood to see the federal lawn)

and if it's full of pirates or indians, don't ruin the surprise, k?


much appreciated,

c

 
There's a nice new racetrack being built in Millville NJ (
http://www.njmotorsportspark.com/  ); and there's an old WWII army air
force airport there that has a museum that looks interesting (http://
www.p47millville.org/) and which I intend to visit when I am up there
fopr the Moto-ST race later this year.

I would suggest considering riding through Bridgeton and Cape May and
then taking the Cape May/Lewes  ferry.  The ferry is a blast, and I've
taken it several times on motorcycles.  The Delmarva peninsula is
flat, mostly agricultural and small towns, and some of the roads are
VERY crowded with beachgoers during the Memorial Day holiday.  Lots of
Mom & Pop country stores and gas stations, fruit stands and vegetable
stands and occasionally crabstands.  Route 13 is fine.  In particular
I would advise staying away from U.S. 50, Route 404, and Route 16, and
staying as far away from Ocean City, Maryland as possible.

Chincoteague is nice during the week; I would avoid it during the
holiday weekend.   The Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel is COOL to ride,
and is a real engineering masterpiece.

Riding through Portsmith, Suffolk, Norfolk, Chesapeake, and/or
Virginia Beach is simply endurance; other than getting a sub at Zero's
on Granby Street in Norfolk (and then only because I've been going
there since 1977) I can't think of a reason to ride through that built-
up area of Tidewater.

Riding south on 17 or 32 on either side of the Dismal Swamp is
isolated and desolate and feels more like Mississippi or Louisiana
than Virginia or North Carolina.

Tim

 c wrote:


It isn't called "delaware" it's called "del-a-WAY-ah".

SQ
ps. Get some travel guides from the library. Those states are full of
interesting attractions such as some guy's private winery with tours
(and free samples) and some other guy's private museum of Patagonian
marsupials and some other restored colonial settlement featuring
dancing girls in authentic 16th century Dorsetshire village costumes.

 
As in Nablis or Bomber, Merlin.

 
I don't know where that comes from.  My father was born in Delaware
and raised in Wilmington and Cape May, and neither he nor any of my
aunts, uncles, or other Delaware born and bred relatives had any
accent that I could distinguish.