2006 Chesapeake Bay Bridge Walk

Once we reached the western shore, staff members standing in the roadway handed each of us a certificate, suitable for framing, congratulating us on completing the walk. I thought it was a nice touch, although of course the governor had to stick his name on it to get some publicity. The certificate says that the walk is 4.3 miles, but the actual mileage is closer to 5.2 if you include walking to and from the buses (I think the shore-to-shore distance is 4.3 miles).

Way back in the beginning, before boarding the bus at the stadium parking lot, we were encouraged to buy a bus token for $1.00, to help defray the cost of the bus ride. It's a pretty nice souvenir, made of wood, and 1.5" in diameter. The funny thing is, all the buses were Metrobuses from Washington, D.C. At the end of the walk, we needed a short bus ride from the western end of the bridge back to the parking lot in Annapolis. The Metrobus driver was clueless and didn't know how to get there. He wound up getting on Route 50 East, which is the wrong way! Once we complained that he had gone the wrong way, he finally took out a sheet of paper to look up the directions. Instead of a short trip, we wound up driving all the way over to the eastern shore, making a U-turn, then driving all the way back, all in the congested traffic of the northern span. Oh well, it could have been worse, we could have wound up in Philadelphia!