"When one thinks of where the ocean meets the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia Beach, Cape Henry comes to mind. However, another place existed where the two bodies of water connected, and it likely was a haven for the English explorers in 1607.
The ocean flowed into what is now Crystal Lake through a wide inlet at 49th Street, visible on a 1673 map by Augustine Herrman. A narrow creek at the northwest end of the lake joined with Linkhorn Bay and The Narrows, then onto Broad Bay, the Lynnhaven River and, eventually, the Chesapeake Bay.
Rainey’s Gut - referred to on more recent maps and nautical charts as Rainey Gut - meanders alongside the untamed landscape of First Landing State Park just past The Narrows. Egrets hunt along the tidal marshy shoreline. Recreational boaters can amble eastward into Crystal Lake, which is surrounded by private docks and stately homes. If they want to go to the sea, though, they’ll need to turn around."
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7 сен 2024
