REFLECTIONS--THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP

We took a slow journey through the Eastern Shore of Virginia.  I've written about slow journeying before.  It doesn't take more time.  You see less, but see it closer.  Some people call this easy pace vacations, or smart travel or insight travel. Different from stealing some sightseeing time on a business trip, which most of us do when we can.  But sometimes, as we all know, less is more. Our plan this time was to stay on the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, less than a 4 hour drive away, and meet up with old friends.  

Chesapeake Bay Beach, Virginia

Sunset over the Bay the First Night

Then cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (17.6 miles of bridge and two one mile tunnels for shipping lanes), an engineering marvel. I'd been wanting to cross this bridge for ages.  There's no superstructure. It's low level trestle style with single tube tunnels.  The bridge begins in Virginia Beach and ends in Cape Charles by the Bay, a beautiful small town nestled in Virginia's Eastern Shore.  So worth visiting!

Then stay on Chincoteague Island, enjoy the National Wildlife Refuge, and view the wild horses on Assateague Island.  We had only 3 nights, so maybe that doesn't sound slow paced enough, but somehow it was.  An over-the-top nature experience.  Of course we saw the horses.  We caught them grazing at dusk.  I didn't get a good photo of the horses, but my snowy Egret is in a lovely setting, isn't it? More daylight. Delicate long legs on it's own slow journey. I love the reflections in the water.

Finally on the drive back we went through the Dismal Swamp on the Virginia-North Carolina Border.  It's a Coastal Plain Swamp.  These are the most wonderful photos to me.  The reflections made the swamp not dismal at all.  Buggy maybe, but so beautiful to see the clouds and trees upside down.  I read the history later.  What is amazing is that the water is only 6 feet deep.  When you are there it looks much deeper because of the reflections.  We weren't lucky enough to see otters or weasels, and didn't want to run into a black bear or bobcat.  But the birds and bald cypress were plentiful.  We enjoyed it all.  See what you think.

Canal at Great Dismal Swamp

Clouds and Trees, Dismal Swamp

Usually an upside down world connotes something stressful--politics maybe, or something askew at home or at work.  Not here.  Here the trees, clouds and water brought nothing by awe and wonder.  It seems misnamed for sure.