Titusville Trip Day One | Bella Rossa Fabrica

Day One

Up at 5:30 AM and finally on the road at 6:40 AM. I hit heavy traffic on the Merritt Parkway in Bridgeport, CT. It was still dark, and the rain was very heavy at times (very monsoon-like). The kind of traffic was normal in the pre-Covid and work from home era. Well, it’s back. It was stop and go all the way to Norwalk, CT when a sign stated it was 80 minutes to the New York state line. I decided to get off at the next exit and try Interstate 95 instead. When I finally reached the route 7 exit, my car’s GPS told me to exit. I was a little confused by this because the traffic option stopped working 4 years earlier. Traffic was moving slowly on I95 but was moving better than the parkway. Traffic on I95 is usually slow until Stamford, CT then it would be clear sailing through Greenwich, CT. I always assumed Greenwich pays to keep their highways clear. Not this time; a sign said the right lane was closed due to an accident just beyond exit 2 in Greenwich. When I finally got there, I saw that a semi that had crashed into the trees just past exit 2.

It took 2 hours and 10 minutes to make it to the New York line. When I took the next exit for I287 North heading to the Mario Cuomo Bridge (it is still the Tappan Zee to me), I found out the reason the GPS sent me to I95 South; it wanted me to go over the George Washington Bridge. No way was I going that way, as it can be a traffic nightmare, and I was already over an hour behind schedule. So the GPS and I decided to agree to disagree for the next 25 miles until an exit before the Garden State Parkway. The only traffic I hit was in East Orange, New Jersey. This caused a flashback to 1976 when my buddy Doug and I were hitchhiking to Florida. We were dropped off in this same spot, and we had to walk through East Orange with duffle bags on our shoulders.

There was no more traffic, and I made great time to Fort Handcock in Sandy Hook, NJ. As soon as I crossed the bridge to Sandy Hook, I was completely overwhelmed by the beauty of the place. My friend Lance told me about the place, so I changed my itinerary and made this my first stop. It is a long, thin sandbar that overlooks the New York harbor with an old fort. I saw three deer in the half hour I was there. Because there is no hunting allowed, they are fearless, and one casually strolled by 10 feet away from me. I took a 15-minute walk towards the beach at the tip of the island with the intention of seeing a gun battery. Unfortunately, all the emplacements I saw were closed off to the public because they are hazardous. As I approached the beach on a very sandy road, which made for slow walking, I met up with a park ranger. He told me where to find a gun battery that was open to the public, so I slogged back up the road back to my car. I arrived in the area by another beach that the ranger had directed me to see an emplacement with two large guns that appeared to be WWII vintage. There was a plaque on the battery marked circa 1904. It was nearly noon, so I ate my lunch in the parking lot. I was now 2 hours behind schedule, so it was time to go.

Connecticut Traffic

I headed down the Jersey coast, and I was impressed by the huge seawall on my left and the beautiful houses on my right through the towns of Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach all the way to Asbury Park, where I drove by the Stone Pony. Asbury Park was clearly a middle-class town versus the towns I had just driven through. From there I headed inland to pick up the New Jersey Turnpike, where I was able to drive between 75 and 80 miles per hour to try and save a little time. I kept pace with traffic because I didn’t want to get a speeding ticket. As I crossed the Delaware Memorial Bridge, I had another flashback to 1976. I can’t believe Doug and I walked over this thing because it is huge and the sidewalk is so tiny.

My next stop was Battery Park in Delaware City, DE. It is a very pleasant small town. I took a 15-minute walk and was back on the road again. For the next 2 hours I cruised down the coast of the Delmarva Peninsula. It was a beautiful drive, but I was surprised by how long it took. I followed US1, which has a 55 mph speed limit and two lanes in each direction with 35 mph speed zones mixed in. This route took me through Ocean City, MD, which has lots of crab houses and saltwater taffy stores. This brought me to my next stop at the Indian River Marina, just a boatyard with lots of sport fishing boats

One last stop, Parksley, VA, and the Eastern Shore Railway Museum. My butt is really starting to complain, so I take a 15-minute walk through the rail cars, and then I’m on my way to Norfolk, VA. It took about an hour and a half driving 65 to 75 mph on secondary highways in the dark to reach the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. From there it was only another 17 miles to reach Norfolk, and I was done driving for the day

I arrived at Cure Coffee at 8:28 PM. it was just too bad; they closed at 8:00 PM. It was a short drive from there to Saltines, the restaurant I had planned on eating at. It turns out it is in the Norfolk Hilton. I sat at the bar (always my choice when I eat alone; no fun sitting at a table by myself) and ordered two appetizers, fish wings and a medium order of truffle fries. I asked Cassidy the bartender (I hope that is her name; I'm getting old, and remembering names is getting tougher) if that would be enough. She agreed that it would be, but if it wasn’t, I could order some chowder. I told her not chowder but dessert; this got a smile from her. The fish wings are actually Cobia fish cheeks with a peanut sauce. They are very good, but they are a freaking mess to eat. The medium order of truffle fries was huge, and I barely made a dent in them (much to my shame, I always try and finish everything I order). At that point I commented, “You southerners sure don’t understand portion size because this order of fries is huge!” This got a laugh from everyone; I then asked, “What’s for dessert?” When she reached key lime cake on the dessert list, I said, “Stop there; I want that.” It came and was a piece about 1 by 1 by 3 inches, and when I tried to cut it with my fork, it didn’t cut; it was as hard as a rock. I asked the guy sitting next to me, “Is it frozen?” and he just shrugged. It turned out it was not cake at all but key lime pie filling (I don’t think it came out of a can) encased in white chocolate. It was quite good, and the filling was tart, not sweet, right up my alley. I gave Cassidy one of my business cards and told her this blog would be up on my website in 2 or 3 weeks. Maybe she is reading this now. Use the email link if I got your name wrong.

It was 15 minutes to my hotel in Suffolk, VA. I made a new hotel reservation for a hotel in North Carolina and canceled my reservation in Titusville, FL, because of hurricane Milton.