[MSCW list] MSCW 2024 Destination Drive #8 – Drive-In Dining with Optional Balloons, bridges, and lighthouses

[Timothy Metzinger]

Some of us are old enough to remember when drive-in restaurants (rather than drive-THRU restaurants) were popular and plentiful.   Sonic, A&W, Dairy Queen, Tasty Freeze, and others had places where you could pull in and park your car, and place an order with a live person or through a speaker, and they'd bring out your food on a tray that would slide over your car windowsill.  Some places offered ice cream only, and others offered a full range of food.  Sadly, they're rare today. But we're lucky.  Doumars (https://doumars.com/#)in Norfolk still operates, still offers in-car dining, and is credited (by the Smithsonian, no less!) as the inventor of the ice cream cone in 1904.   They STILL use the original waffle irons to create the cones, 120 years later.  It's not like the giant slabs of iron wear out, after all.

We'll start our drive in Fredericksburg, VA at the Falmouth Park and Ride, and take a series of back roads for a fun drive, and will bypass Richmond on our way to Jamestown, where we'll cross the James River on a ferryboat to Scotland (which is free and runs 24x7) before making our way to Norfolk and Doumar's.

After we enjoy lunch at Doumar's (and the ice cream, of course), folks are free to head home if they wish.   But another option is to come with me to the Military Aviation Museum (a 45 minute drive) to arrive at 5:00 PM for a balloon glow and laser show (https://www.militaryaviationmuseum.org/event/the-balloon-glow-laser-show-virginia-beach/2024-09-07/).  There will be plenty of things to do and at 9:00 PM, they will illuminate the balloons with lasers.  by 10:00 PM the event will end, and folks will probably want to have lined up a place to stay overnight in the Virginia Beach/Norfolk Area.

On Sunday morning, I'll be making my way home via a vist to the Cape Henry Lighthouse in Fort Story, then around First Landing State Park, and North on US13 to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, then stay on US13 until it merges with US50 near Cambridge, MD (where I'll check out the Choptank Lighthouse), and then up and across the Bay Bridge where I'll stop at the Davidsonville Park and Ride to collect any radios from my fellow travellers, and everyone can head home from there.

You'll be able to sign up for the main drive and the two options.  If you spend the night in Norfolk/Virginia Beach, you need to arrange your own lodging.  You can of course sign up for all three legs and change your mind later.

Logistics:
Assembly - For the first day (9/7/2024) we'll gather at the Falmouth Park and Ride (just west of the intersection between US17 and I-95) at 8:10 AM, giving folks time to eat breakfast and fill up their tanks.  On the morning of the second day (9/8/2024), we'll gather at the Pembroke Mall at 8:30 AM (near Old Navy and Bahama Breeze)
Departure - 9/7/2024 - We'll depart at 8:40 AM.  9/8/2024 - We'll depart at 9:00 AM.
Time/Distance - For the 9/7 drive to the drive-in, it's 244 miles and will take us around 5 hours and 30 minutes, with one or two bladder breaks enroute.  The trip to the museum is only 24 miles, and about 40 minutes.   The 9/8 drive back via the eastern shore is 245 miles, and with the lighthouse stops and bladder breaks will take about 6 hours and 30 minutes, getting us to Davisonville by 3:30 PM.
Food - Drive-in (obviously) on day 1 and food is available at the museum as well in the evening.  On the way home, I'll plan a quick food stop enroute.    You can bring your own chairs/blankets to the museum for the balloon event.
Fees - The ferry across the James is free.  Tickets to the balloon glow are $20.  The Cape henry Lighthouse has an admission fee of $16 or less, depending on if you want to climb up the inside of the tower.  While folks with government IDs (military and fed employees) can drive on the base directly to the tower, I think we'll all park at the base gate and ride the shuttle bus.  You must have a valid ID and pass the quick background check.  For more information, see https://preservationvirginia.org/historic-sites/cape-henry-lighthouse/.  The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is $21 (EZPass preferred).
Car limits – The limit will be set at sixteen (16) cars.  We may break up into four subgroups, but the route is not terribly complex.
Rain Date - No rain date, as the balloon glow is Friday and Saturday and it's unlikely that people can get the Friday free.
Technology - I will bring nine extra Midland GMRS radios.  If you want to bring your own GMRS radio, we will be using Channel 30 on Midland Radios, or 462.7000 MHz frequency and CTCSS 17 for the privacy code.  In Glympse, we'll use the !mscw_cruise tag to keep track of each other.  I'll have GPS units for subgroup leaders as well.

RSVP via signup genius at https://bit.ly/mscw2024-dd-8
Visit www.midatlanticscenicdrives.com for maps and KML/GPX files, they'll be published by August 15.

Timothy (Tim) Metzinger
tim.metzinger at outlook.com
703.963.3015