Day 27 - Suffolk, VA to Salisbury, MD

Trying to get from Suffolk to downtown Norfolk was maddening.  Every crossing was a cashless toll, which meant we couldn't use it.  We spent 90 minutes working our way around the city.  At least we got a good unintentional tour of the naval shipyard.  It turns out this is the capital of the US Navy.  It's weird to see so many naval ships at once just sailing around.

Not much else happened before going to Virginia Beach.

Erin specifically requested a vegetable sandwich, so we found one.

Taste was fine.

Afterwards we went to the beach.

Virginia Beach "Boardwalk".

Massive hotels all the way down.

Not sure what this is, but it looked regal and Virginian.

Overall, we were disappointed with Virginia Beach.  The area seemed nice enough as a beach, but there was really no retail to go along with it.  There were almost no restaurants and only a few shops selling cheap souvenirs.  Two blocks off the beach are normal-looking buildings and homes.

We left and headed to an engineering marvel.

Looking down at the first tunnel.

The restaurant built on the bridge.

Fancy blue ice cream from the restaurant.

Erin really wanted this odd picture for some reason.

Container ship coming through.

The road goes way off to the right.

View from the pier.

You can't really tell from pictures how amazing the drive is.  Look it up on Google Maps and you can see how much of a feat its construction was.  Water on both sides for miles.

We drove on the eastern Virginia shore which was uneventful.  The real highlight of the day was Ocean City.

A real boardwalk!

Erin tries famous Thrasher Fries.

No ketchup allowed.  Salt and vinegar only.

Quite the sand artist.

Even more sand sculptures.

Hard to see, but the workers had great costumes.

This was the boardwalk we had hoped to see in Virginia Beach.  It was packed with all sorts of people.

Famous popcorn.

People dressed up as characters.

Amusement park rides.

Haunted House ride.

A few interesting items for sale.  (Who buys this stuff?)

Fish caught here.  I would not want to catch this shark.

Erin wanted me to get her a prize, so I tried really hard to win a Coach purse.

Trying my best.

No luck.

Trying to win me a stuffed animal.

A very excited Erin.

View from the end of the boardwalk.

One of the side streets off the boardwalk.

Looking at the beach from the pier.

Pier panorama.

Major waves at this beach!

Making some fried Oreos for someone.

For Erin!

Erin had french fries and Oreos for dinner.

I had tuna.

Rather than drive into Delaware, we headed to Salisbury to our hotel.  Tonight is our most questionable hotel.  The Budget Inn in Salisbury has decent reviews, but it's an older motel and the cheapest one I have stayed in for many years.  The woman in front of me paid $32 (including tax) for her room.  Ocean City is very expensive, so this was as close as we could get.

Tomorrow we take the ferry to New Jersey and go to Atlantic City!