Too big for their bridges

Maryland is virtually bisected by the Chesapeake Bay, and our Eastern Shore is the gateway to Atlantic Ocean beaches that offer fun, sun, swimming, boating, fishing, and french fries like you can't get anywhere else.

Speaking of not getting anywhere, it used to take forever to get to the ocean beaches via Cecil County and Delaware, so they had ferries to take vacationers across to the beaches, and that was hardly the solution.

So they built the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, and later on they built its twin, so that people could get to their vacations and leave their money behind before coming back over to home. There has always been a certain grind between the people from this part of Maryland and the folks on the Eastern Shore, and that is normal in any tourist-based economy. 

At least, there is a reason for the Bridge(s). People need to get here and there.

Let's talk about a bridge that is purely for pedestrians, and purely a tourist attraction, because I don't think anyone needs to go from point A to point B in this Czech Republic mountain resort. It's near the Polish border, in the Kralicky Sneznik mountain range, 125 miles east of Prague.

It's known as Sky Bridge 721, and it's the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the world, and it's just for the fun of it! It's  2,365 feet long and it hangs 3,610 feet above sea level, connecting two mountain ridges, 312 feet above the valley that walkers will look at before being reminded not to look down.

It just opened last month, offering breathtaking views for those with a head for the heights. They only allow 500 people on the bridge at a time, for good reason. And if the winds start blowing at 84 mph, the span will be shut down. 83 miles an hour, you're good to go, but 84 is the limit!

It took two years for the Czechs to build it and they spent 8.3 million on it, so they hope that tourists will flock to the bridge from all over and bring money with them to the village of 500 hardy souls.

 

And, if you ever wonder if people are the same most everywhere, well, yes, they are. The complaints are already coming in, from those who say the footbridge is too big for the local environment, and from those who say it will bring in too many tourists.

Just like Maryland!