17 mile bridge to cross the Chesapeake Bay anytime I head to NC, or SC, or wherever I’m going south. 2 tunnels along the way, one about a mile or so, and the other a bit longer. When hubby was offered the job up here, he and I drove up one weekend to do some house hunting. He had been over the bridge once many years prior, and his memory was a bit fuzzy about the details. I was driving this particular leg of the trip and, from what he was telling me, wasn’t real sure I wanted to drive over that bridge. He assured me there would be a place to switch drivers once we got thru the tool booth. Technically, he was correct. But in reality, it wasn’t IMMEDIATELY past the toll booth. You couldn’t see the water from the toll booth. You had to go around a curve to see it. Then, all of a sudden, you’re driving over the ocean! I FREAKED!!! No kidding - all out FREAKED!!! That has NEVER happened over something so simple!!! And I had to drive about 2 miles to get to where we could change drivers! Ugh!!! He and I were both shocked by my reaction!
Needless to say, over time I got used to the bridge. It was much easier than getting used to the tunnels. The tunnels had me freaked for a couple years. The first trip I made back home with the teenager-not-a-teenager who was 6 at the time was about 6 weeks after we moved. I didn’t want to freak him out about the tunnels by my ridiculous fears, so as we came to the first tunnel, I decided to sing to mask my fears. So I started O Holy Night (we were headed home for some Christmas activities). But the tunnels were so long, and I didn’t know all the words, so we had to make up some verses. O holy night, do seagulls sleep at night (remember, this is a bridge over the ocean, so plenty of subject matter there!), etc etc etc. We sang that version of O Holy Night for several years until I could do the tunnels without freaking, and we did a lot of traveling over that bridge those first couple years! He finally figured out that I was a bit of a wimp, but by that time he knew better than to be afraid.
We still laugh about it sometimes. And I have to say, all those years I had to slow down going thru the tunnels because I was still nervous even if not freaked any more. When the babies were born 3 years ago, we gave our old van to mommy and daddy and got ourselves a new one. The new one has all the video features on it, including a camera for right-hand turns. It comes on when you hit the right turn signal OR when you push the button on the end of the switch. So now when I go thru the tunnels, I turn on my camera and I have proof that I’m not going to hit the wall, so I can FINALLY do the speed limit thru those tunnels!
Love the song story. My family has an inside joke with that song, too. A lady used to sing it as a solo at an annual Christmas program that we went to. It was all operatic and made us giggle. One year after joking about it all year, we couldn't contain ourselves and were cracking up during the solo. "Fall on your knees..."
That bridge and its tunnels are intimidating - I love the use of song, we used to sing a lot in the car while driving. I still can remember and even sing some, not that anyone needs to hear me.:):)
@joansmor That sounds great Joan! Mid-April is possibly visit by Mommy & Daddy, and Memorial Day is possible trip to Atlantic Beach. Keep me posted as you start narrowing down your dates! Really looking forward to it!!!
@joansmor I did see this! And I had every intention of responding!!! :-)
I think that timing would be perfectly fine. I don’t see anything on our calendar, and the weather should be getting quite pleasant so that we could have plenty of playtime!
I think that timing would be perfectly fine. I don’t see anything on our calendar, and the weather should be getting quite pleasant so that we could have plenty of playtime!