Rediscovering America_ Exploring the Small Towns of Virginia & Maryland - Bill Burnham [105]
One of the town’s best assets is a mile-long public beach right in downtown, with a boardwalk and gazebo where most events are centered. Since the town is on the western side of the Eastern Shore peninsula, it’s possible to catch a beautiful sunset over the water. “Just like in Key West,” says Felix Torrice, president of the Chamber of Commerce, which came up with the “Applaud the Sun Harbor” parties. The idea for the monthly sunset parties with food, beer, bands and boaters was taken from the Florida island.
Cape Charles wasn’t the first to market the great Eastern Shore sunsets. South on Route 13 about eight miles, Sunset Beach Resort has been drawing travelers for decades, catching them right before they head over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to the resort of Virginia Beach. The area is known as Kiptopeke. There’s really no town, it’s more of a place name, but there’s plenty to do.
Kiptopeke State Park has camping, hiking trails, fishing and a beach for swimming and sunbathing in a harbor protected by sunken concrete-filled ships. This is the spot where the ferries to mainland Virginia docked before the bridge-tunnel opened in 1964. (tel. 757-331-2267)
The friendly guys at Southeast Expeditions (next door to Sunset Beach Resort) will hook you up with a kayak or kite-board (the newest water sport around), gear, and a guided trip or lessons if you need them. (tel. 757-331-2660, www.sekayak.com)
Paddling access is either on the bay side from Sunset Beach or on the ocean side from the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge, straight across Route 13 from Southeast Expeditions. The 750-acre preserve at the tip of the Delmarva Peninsula is a haven for migrating birds during inclement weather. Each spring and fall brings hundreds of species on their north-south route. The visitor center has exhibits of waterfowl carvings and the migratory birds, including endangered species like the bald eagle and peregrine falcon. Outside, hiking trails lead through a butterfly field and to a World War II bunker turned elevated bird-watching platform. Admission is free. The refuge grounds are open year-round, from a half-hour before sunrise to a half-hour before sunset; the visitors center is open weekends only, 10 am-2 pm in January and February; daily, 10 am-2 pm, in March and December; and daily, 9 am-4 pm the rest of the year. (tel. 757-331-2760, http://easternshore.fws.gov)
At this point, you are so close to the northern terminus of The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel that you should explore one of the world’s greatest engineering achievements. The 17.6 miles to Virginia Beach is the world’s largest bridge-tunnel complex, and crossing it is an experience you’ll never forget (particularly in rough weather). It’s literally like driving out into the ocean – you can’t see across the bay here at its widest point. The toll is steep: $10 each way, but if you stop at one of the two manmade islands and turn back, you have to pay only once. Also, if you return within 24 hours, the return trip is only $4.
Eating at The Sea Gull Fishing Pier and Restaurant, on one of the islands 3.5 miles from Virginia Beach, really is like sitting in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. You can shop in the gift shop, fish from the pier, bird-watch, or wait for one of the huge cargo barges or Navy ships to cruise over the tunnel. Once we were lucky enough to be crossing at the same time as an aircraft carrier. It was so massive and so close; we could wave to the sailors on the deck. Call ahead in high winds for any restrictions on rooftop cargo or bike racks. The bridge-tunnel has been known to close during hurricane warnings. (tel. 757-331-2960)
Attractions
The Cape Charles Museum and Welcome Center is on the left as you enter town on Route 184. It opened in 1996 in a former building of Delmarva