VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WVEC) -- If you've driven on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (CBBT), you probably have seen or passed by Chesapeake Grill and Virginia Originals gift shop.
The combined businesses on the southbound side of the CBBT offer people an opportunity to grab a hot sandwich or a souvenir, three miles offshore in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay.
“Seen a lot of people coming through,” said Chesapeake Grill Chef Scott Pyles. “Best view in Virginia Beach.”
By the end of the month, that view, the burgers, and crab cakes, and the souvenirs will be gone.
“We have to be out of the building by October 1st,” said Pyles.
Construction of a new southbound tube means that the longtime restaurant and souvenir shop will close.
PHOTOS: Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel's restaurant and gift shop
The bridge-tunnel first opened in 1964. Two years later, Kathy and Larry Grube drove across it for the first time.
“I was a high school senior,” said Kathy as she and Larry visited the restaurant and gift shop Wednesday.
The Grubes are getting ready to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. They stopped in the shop to buy a t-shirt to remember their second trip across the bridge-tunnel which would also bring and their final stop at Virginia Originals.
“We didn’t know that,” said Kathy. “It was a shock to us.”