The Chesapeake Bay Area

Discover the unique lifestyle and communities around the largest estuary in the country

By Kim O'Brien Root, FrontDoor.com | Published: 12/28/2010

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge (commonly known as the Bay Bridge) crosses the bay at the northern end in Maryland. Photo courtesy of the USDA

In the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, two peninsulas just out into the bay. The Middle Peninsula, divided by its lower neighbor by the York River, is comprised of the counties of Gloucester, Middlesex and Mathews, which includes the tiny hamlet of Susan, where DIY Network's Blog Cabin 2011 is located. There isn't a single stoplight in Mathews County's 85 square miles, but waterfront living is plentiful.

The more-populated Lower Peninsula, between the York and James rivers, includes the cities of Newport News, Hampton, Poquoson and Williamsburg, and the counties of York, James City and New Kent.

Fresh Food

So much is available: There's fishing, including for oysters and crabs. Fishing piers are plentiful and popular up and down the bay, and deep-sea fishing ventures leave from Virginia Beach. It's not unusual to see fishing boats anchored at nightfall near the two bridge-tunnels that connect the Lower Peninsula with South Hampton Roads, where Virginia Beach and its popular oceanfront lie along with the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth.

There are peanuts -- Suffolk is the home of the Planters company, and peanuts are grown in vast quantities south of the James River. There's ham -- in Smithfield you'll find the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. There are daffodils -- celebrated each spring in Gloucester to recognize what was once a major cash crop on the Middle Peninsula.

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