Welcome to Ches Bay Life!
About Cat and Eric
Our life is centered around the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia Beach, and the Eastern Shore of Virginia. We believe life is a daily adventure, which is a wonderful mindset and a great relationship builder!
I’m Catherine, better known as Cat. I was born in the Portsmouth Naval Hospital. Our family decided to stay and call the Hampton Roads region home. Eric is also from a military family. His family eventually settled in the area once his father retired.
Our Virginia Beach Home
Our primary home is in Virginia Beach along Shore Drive, which sits directly on the Chesapeake Bay. The area is a group of several beaches, Chesapeake Beach (Chicks Beach), Baylake Beach, and Sylvan Beach, but to visitors it is known as Chicks Beach.
Life here is very relaxed. Neighbors convene on the beach during good weather to watch sunsets while dining on hors d’oeuvres, sipping wine, strumming guitars, and watching children and dogs play in the tide pools. During cooler weather, you’ll find neighbors gathering over firepits on driveways or having chowder contests in garages.
Neighborhoods along the Shore drive corridor have active civic leagues. Parades, oyster roasts, visits with Santa are seasonal activities. Street medians are delightfully decorated for the various holidays.
Yards are not landscaped, instead left to nature to provide and grow local fauna. Live oaks are prevalent and loved by young and old, alike. Although we live along the coast, palm trees are not prevalent due to the region’s northern proximity.
First Landing State Park
We are streets away from First Landing State Park, with miles of walking and biking trails, campgrounds, and pristine beaches. Connected to First Landing state Park is Fort Story, a military base operated by the Navy, and Cape Henry, the site where Jamestown settlers first landed in the New World on April 27, 1607. Two lighthouses stand at Cape Henry, acting as guardians to the Chesapeake Bay. Shore Drive is the corridor that leads to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. A lovely drive through the state forest and down through the resorts main strip and back in our 1999 Mazda Miata M6 convertible is a delightful time.
Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge tunnel is the only direct connection between our home in Virginia Beach and US 13, the main north-south highway on Virginias Eastern Shore. The Bay Bridge Tunnel is an engineering marvel of 20 miles from toll plaza to toll plaza. Northbound construction began on September 7, 1960 and opened to traffic on April 15, 1964. Southbound construction began June 16, 1995 and opened to traffic on April 19, 1999. Construction features include 12 miles of low-level trestles, 2 one-mile-long tunnels, 2 bridges, 2 miles on causeway, 4 manmade islands, and 5 ½ miles of approach roads. It takes approximately 25 minutes to cross the bridge. We love our commute across the bay, whether by car or boat.
Our Eastern Shore Home
Our secondary home is in Melfa, on the bayside of the Delmarva Peninsula known as Virginias Eastern Shore. The Virginia side of the Eastern Shore is a 70-mile, fertile peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay, with a “Bayside” and a “Seaside’.
The Eastern Shore is unique with an irresistible charm. Seaside towns offer an afternoon of walking old fashioned main streets lined with charming, historic homes, quaint shops, and small marinas all with a wonderful change of pace. Fishing and crabbing boats line marinas, alongside visiting personal pleasure craft.
Visitors utilize golf carts as a main mode of transportation throughout main fares and side streets. You’ll find an occasional owner-occupied Bed and Breakfast holding court with the trendier Air B-N-B’s. Downtowns are rich with antique stores, cafes, small artisan shops. Holidays invoke memories of a bygone era, with streets lined with lights and yesteryear parades. The Shore is also home to the longest stretch of wild coastline remaining on the entire eastern seaboard.
Eastern Shore Farming Industries
The seafood industry is one of the oldest industries here. Generations of weathered watermen provide for their families by aquaculture. Seafood packing, oyster shucking, and crab picking houses prosper, giving life by way of work for residents, towns enjoy a healthy economy. Clam aquaculture, or water farming, is a multi-million-dollar industry, with several multi- generational employers lining the seaside from north to south.
The mild climate of the area allows for bountiful crops and a second sowing of plants throughout the season. Although soybeans and corn are produced on greater acreage, potatoes are the largest vegetable crop. No doubt you’ll pass acres of cotton on Route 13, the major highway that runs down the peninsula, any quick turn off the highway will have you driving by fields of tomatoes or other vegetables picked by seasonal workers. Small, family-owned farms are often visited by local restaurateurs for the freshest pick of the day.
Our land is currently leased and farmed for livestock corn, soybeans, and rotated with winter wheat. We have several miles of water frontage, with two docks and a third planned.
Recreation
Living on the Chesapeake Bay gives way to great recreation. We spend as much time as possible on the water, boating with friends and family. During permissible weather, you’ll find us going to one of the various waterfront restaurants by boat, catching a fabulous sunset, dolphin watching or cruising to a marina for the weekend. We have recently decided to start visiting out of the way marinas in small towns.
Fishing is a year-round event in Hampton Roads, with anglers vying for Rockfish, Speckled Trout, Spot, Croaker, and Drumfish. Blue Crabs are a specialty, which I am hoping to have a few pots to set on the farm. There is nothing better, in my opinion, than a jumbo lump crabcake!
Our Current Vessel
Our current vessel is a Hatteras M60 2020. It’s fantastic to cruise the Chesapeake Bay from Virginia Beach to the Eastern Shore. https://bluewateryachtsales.com/inventory/yachts-for-sale/hatteras-m60-2020/2793313/ This is a fantastic yacht. It’s loaded with options, and it’s simple enough for the two of us to handle without having to hire crew. I love the open, elegant interior with the Full Beam Master Suite. It is truly a fantastic vessel to entertain friends and family on. We still need to find the time to learn how to use the yacht controller!
We hope you will check back on us, many adventures await, and we certainly hope you will be here to follow along! Maybe our travels can inspire you to visit an area we write about! Many cheers to the New Year of 2023 and Anchors Away!!