This week was quite an adventure for many who call the Chesapeake Bay
region home!Wednesday, March 6th, while the rest of the eastern seaboard was getting hit with a snowstorm, the eastern shore and Hampton Rhoads area was taken by the surprise of a tremendous wind and rain event.
As I sat in my office Wednesday late afternoon, I noticed that the wind gusts seemed a bit stronger than normal but brushed it off to those great trade winds we get here on the shore. Soon there after, Jim called and said he thought he might be stuck on the VA Beach side for the night as he had just discovered the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (CBBT) http://www.cbbt.com/ was closed to ALL vehicles.
The CBBT staff are very good at identifying treat conditions so we are used to a level 1 or 2 restriction, meaning tractor trailers or trailers etc…but we had yet to experience this level of restriction and it came, as weather does, unexpectedly. Jim decided to hangout for a while to see how things progressed and we hung up with promises to stay in touch. Well, then the Bay Haven Inn phone started ringing for guests who were stuck on this side of the CBBT looking for a place to stay in Cape Charles, makes sense!.
The first group was two sisters from VA Beach on their way home from the Philadelphia Flower show, delightful woman and what a treat for me as I got to hear about the amazing show! Jim called back and said it looked like it was going to be an all-nighter so he reached out to my dear niece Jamie and her family (thanks Matthew, Jamie, Maddie and Noah, Uncle Jim felt so welcomed and cared for!) As the evening progressed the phone calls continued and by 10pm we were a full house and I felt like I soon was going to need to offer couch space! I felt so badly for the travelers but knew the Cape Charles B&B community and hotels were providing a warm bed and hot breakfast to as many as we could accommodate.
The adventure continued when I went up to our quarters to rest for the night. As I got to the third floor I noticed it was particularly drafty and cool and the ole’ gals windows were ah’ rattling! As I attempted to close our bedroom door I noticed there was quite a force of wind pressure and I could not close the door…. hummm and then I stepped to the left and my hair and PJ’s were blowing in the wind! Our skylight had taken sail and was no longer in place and air was blowing in steadily through the screen. I just started to laugh…and wondered what in the world can I possible do to fix this? I quickly determined that there was nothing I could do except prepare the area in case rain came in throughout the night (I was amazed that had not already happened), I hated to worry Jim but I thought he might have a temporary solution that had not occurred to me, he agreed that what I had done would have to hold until we could get someone in to repair. Amazingly I slept without problem (just a bit chilly J) and arose ready to feed the masses! As always in this business you have the opportunity to meet wonderful and unique people, on this occasion we were kindred spirits as we were all under the protection of this “haven” we call home, even without a skylight!
