Some remnants of the past remain

As the days go by, the upcoming Sunday (November the 10th) when I will hopefully be walking the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is drawing ever closer. About a week ago I received a packet in the mail from the organizer of the event. This contained a parking pass, a numbered tag and a t-shirt with a rather uninspiring design commemorating the event. I was hoping at least it would be something cool looking, but sadly that’s not the case. It was just a stylized image of what might be the Bay Bridge with a sailboat in the water in the foreground. Very generic looking. The special t-shirts for the last roller coaster event I attended at Kings Dominion were far better looking, though I did not purchase one as I didn’t want to spend the money. But this time I wasn’t given an option, other than to choose what size of t-shirt I’d be getting. Actually I plan on wearing one of my black goth t-shirts with a fire breathing dragon, or perhaps this other blue t-shirt I have that has water dragons on it. The latter would probably be more appropriate for crossing the Bay. But I will have to see what the weather brings for that day. Most likely I will be wearing a jacket, as the walk will take place early in the morning. Then whatever t-shirt I wear will be covered up anyway.

Regardless of the details, this will be an opportunity to revisit something very memorable from my past. Often times in life, people and places from the past can never be visited again. People move on, and contact is lost forever. And of course people die. Places and structures are destroyed, torn down or otherwise so radically changed that they are no longer recognizable as what they once were. The Bay Bridge is still there in all its glory, despite the fact that it bears the marks from the march of time. It’s gotten a bit rusty since I was a child, but then again, I did not have wrinkles and grey hair back then either. The newer span is basically the same age as I am, as construction on it got under way the year I was born. I won’t be walking on that one, but I’ll be able to see it as I cross the original span. When I visited the New River Gorge Bridge back in the spring, I had no history at all with it. But I do have a long history with the Bay Bridge.

There are some other things with which I share a long history. One of those things is the very first roller coaster I set foot on so many years ago back in 1976. Space Mountain was the first coaster ever built at Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida and it opened just a few short years after the park itself. As I had written about in a past entry, my first ride on it as a child was dreadful. What child – or adult – could imagine running across something scary at Disneyworld? Especially that which would inspire a multi-decade phobia. My mom was taken by surprise as well, saying that her friend suggesting we ride it was a “dirty trick”. I do remember her friend pleading ignorance afterwards, as she said she had no idea what sort of ride it was before boarding. The whole idea of coming upon something scary where such should be least expected seems to be a theme in my life. This was not unlike having the Key Bridge appear in my path as I traveled the southern most part of the Baltimore Beltway. While I was totally blindsided by Space Mountain in that I was expecting the typical slow and sweet Disney ride, the Key Bridge was a little different as I knew about it before hand. It was just that I wasn’t expecting it to be where it was, which was on the route I had chosen. Surely Baltimore’s boring old Beltway would not harbor such a fearsome crossing… Except that it did! But of course that didn’t stop it from being a nasty surprise all the same. In addition, there was also the Talmadge Bridge in Savannah which appeared out of nowhere. That one I did not know of until I laid eyes on its bizarre and towering form dominating the road ahead. And then there was that hidden looping coaster at what is now Six Flags America, out of sight until one ventured off the main path, turning a corner into that obscured part of the park. It was also a worse scare than the Key Bridge, as I was totally unaware of its existence until I was compelled to ride it that fateful day.