August 23, 2025–Dover, Delaware to New Bern, North Carolina

On Wednesday we stayed in Dover, Delaware, and then Thursday drove to Virginia Beach, Virginia where we stayed the night in a hotel on the beach.  The beach thing didn’t actually work out that well due to Hurricane Erin.  We began this trip on August 3rd with the heavy rain and winds from tropical storms Debbie and Dexter, and we are ending it with Hurricane Erin. Such are the joys of travel.

We came from Dover down the Delaware Peninsula so we had to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to get to Virginia Beach.  My geography was sketchy here, but Delaware is part of the Delmarva Peninsula, which encompasses most of Delaware, along with parts of Virginia and Maryland. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel connects Virginia’s Eastern shore (where we were) with the Virginia mainland, near Norfolk and Virginia Beach.  It’s about 18 miles long, with twelve miles or so of bridges and two tunnels under the bay.  

So, we would have arrived at our hotel early afternoon and spent some time on the beach, but there were level one winds, and we couldn’t go over the bridge-tunnel until said winds dropped down to an acceptable level.  Regular cars could cross, but no semis, trailers, and you guessed it, RV’s.  Vanna is such a pain in the rear at times.  There is a huge parking lot/visitors’ center by the toll plaza, so all of the semis, trailers and us were stuck there for a few hours.  We asked the truck driver next to us when we would know it was safe to go across, and he told us the police would come and tell us when to move out.  So, after we had sat there for what seemed like forever, our friend knocked on the door and said “Let’s go, we have the signal!” Everyone jumped in their rigs and hightailed it out of there. It was so strange.  The first photo is an aerial picture of the bridge.  The second is a picture of the beach when we arrived in Virginia Beach. By the way, when we went over the bridge, it didn’t look like the picture. There were giant waves sloshing up on the sides.

Yesterday we drove to New Bern, North Carolina where we spent the night in a hotel on the Trent and Neuse Rivers. New Bern is a lovely historic riverfront city known as the “Birthplace of Pepsi” and the site of the first North Carolina State Capitol, Tryon Palace.  So, as you have probably surmised, Pepsi-Cola was invented in New Bern.  Specifically, it was created by pharmacist Caleb Bradha at a drugstore on the corner of Middle and Pollock Streets.  He initially called it “Brad’s Drink” in 1893, but later renamed it Pepsi-Cola in 1898.  In my book Brad was wasting his time because Diet Pepsi doesn’t hold a candle to Diet Coke.  And neither are as good as Diet Dr Pepper.  Just my opinion.  

As an aside, did you know that Dr. Pepper (1885 in Waco, Texas), Coca Cola (1886 in Atlanta), and Pepsi Cola were all invented by pharmacists at their corner drugstore’s soda fountains?  

New Bern was side trip due to the storm.  We were going to go to Cape Hatteras, but NC Highway 12, the main road through the Outer Banks, has been closed because large sections are covered in sand and water due to overwash and dune breaches.  Also, the ferry we were taking to Ocracoke Island has been cut off due to the dangerous conditions.  We have been to both places several times, so it wasn’t a major disappointment, but we had to reroute.

By now you are probably thinking, “Ann’s blog is turning into a gripe fest about storms and Vanna.”  Traveling is like that.  Even with meticulous planning it doesn’t always quite work out like you thought it would.  Today we head to Georgetown, South Carolina where we will see Sara and Carrie for a couple of days before heading back to Georgia.   Sadly, my blog is at an end. Haha! So, until next time, safe travels wherever you may go.