Kybabe Posted September 1, 2017 #1 Share Posted September 1, 2017 We will be sailing out of Baltimore for the first time on Sept. 21st. What are the "not to be missed sights" that we should looked for as we sail through and out of the Chesapeake Bay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ocean Dancer Posted September 1, 2017 #2 Share Posted September 1, 2017 We will be sailing out of Baltimore for the first time on Sept. 21st. What are the "not to be missed sights" that we should looked for as we sail through and out of the Chesapeake Bay? The bridge tunnel near Norfolk should be about 4 to 6 hours once you sail. Someone should chime in with a more exact time frame. Have a great cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retiredgram Posted September 1, 2017 #3 Share Posted September 1, 2017 Get on top deck when going under Key Bridge, about a half hour after sail away. Looks like you are not going to make it. Also watch for the Bay Bridges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djyellowsub Posted September 1, 2017 #4 Share Posted September 1, 2017 I waited until 1:00 am to sail over the Norfolk Bridge tunnel because I heard how awesome it is to see car lights go under the water as the ship passed by. By that time, there was only one car that went on the bridge. Still fun to see. It was the first night of the cruise, so I wouldn't have slept anyway. I thought of all the times I have been in major traffic jams in the same spot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spookwife Posted September 1, 2017 #5 Share Posted September 1, 2017 Key Bridge and Ft McHenry. Bay bridge Tunnel is like at 11 pm or later, depending on when you start down the Bay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarpeCerevisi Posted September 1, 2017 #6 Share Posted September 1, 2017 Less than a mile after leaving the dock Fort McHenry is on the port side. If you are interested in nautical history, a couple of miles along on the port side you may notice an almost all white cargo vessel moored at a dock. This is the NS Savannah, the first nuclear powered cargo ship, completed in 1961. Both these sights are well before the ship passes under the Key Bridge. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breezy_carol Posted September 1, 2017 #7 Share Posted September 1, 2017 Also on the port side, after Fort McHenry, before the Key bridge, is a buoy that marks where the Star Spangled Banner was written. http://midatlantic.coastguard.dodlive.mil/2014/06/the-star-spangled-buoy/ It is a little hard to spot but for a native Marylander, it was worthwhile. The Key Bridge was about 45 minutes after leaving the dock, the William Preston Lane Memorial (Bay) Bridge was about an hour and 15 minutes after that. I thought it was funny that the captain kept calling it the Memorial Bridge when Marylanders call it the Bay Bridge. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel was about 5 hours after that. (I am a bridge geek.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Click Posted September 2, 2017 #8 Share Posted September 2, 2017 There are a number of lighthouses along the way in addition to the bridges others have mentioned. The two that stick in my mind are Thomas Point Light http://www.thomaspointlighthouse.org/ is about 8-10 miles past the Bay Bridge's twin spans on the starboard side, Blood Point Light http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=427 will be on the port side another 8 to 10 miles down the bay. It marks the entrance to the Eastern Bay, one of the major waterways of Maryland's Eastern Shore. I know there are other lighthouses but those were my two navigation keys when I was a Chesapeake Bay boat owner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ocean Dancer Posted September 2, 2017 #9 Share Posted September 2, 2017 Also on the port side, after Fort McHenry, before the Key bridge, is a buoy that marks where the Star Spangled Banner was written. http://midatlantic.coastguard.dodlive.mil/2014/06/the-star-spangled-buoy/ It is a little hard to spot but for a native Marylander, it was worthwhile. The Key Bridge was about 45 minutes after leaving the dock, the William Preston Lane Memorial (Bay) Bridge was about an hour and 15 minutes after that. I thought it was funny that the captain kept calling it the Memorial Bridge when Marylanders call it the Bay Bridge. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel was about 5 hours after that. (I am a bridge geek.) The Memorial Bridge connects Delaware and New Jersey!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dixieva Posted September 2, 2017 #10 Share Posted September 2, 2017 The Key bridge will be 45 minutes from the time you leave the port. The Chesapeake bay bridge will be two hours from the port. That is the double span bridge, not the bay bridge tunnel. Try to be up on deck for both. Have a great cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cb at sea Posted September 2, 2017 #11 Share Posted September 2, 2017 You should also be able to see the lights from the Va. Beach Resort area, as you head out to sea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GottaGetAway42 Posted September 2, 2017 #12 Share Posted September 2, 2017 The other approach is to look for the Chesapeake Bay bridge-tunnel on the return to Baltimore; I saw it when I happened to go up on deck after dinner (late seating) on the last night of my first cruise - probably around 9:30 pm or so. I waited until 1:00 am to sail over the Norfolk Bridge tunnel because I heard how awesome it is to see car lights go under the water as the ship passed by. By that time, there was only one car that went on the bridge. Still fun to see. It was the first night of the cruise, so I wouldn't have slept anyway. I thought of all the times I have been in major traffic jams in the same spot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare DragonOfTheSeas Posted September 2, 2017 #13 Share Posted September 2, 2017 Yes--I would wait to see the Bay Bridge Tunnel for the return trip. You will know you are getting close when you see the resort lights from Virginia Beach. It will be between 8 pm and 10 pm. It will depend on how fast the ship is going. for example. We have sometimes run into rough weather around Cape Hatteras. [it is known for this] If so, the Captain will be in a hurry to get into the protected waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kybabe Posted September 2, 2017 Author #14 Share Posted September 2, 2017 Thanks for all of your responses. Really looking forward to sailaway and the whole cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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