Virginia Beach and the rest of the second day

As most of our relatives live around the Puget Sound area, my kids have been around the water, on the water. However, Washington is hardly known for its warm, sunny, white-sand beaches. We've not had a lot of beach time.

Three years ago on San Juan Island. It's further north than that tropical resort, Victoria, BC.

August 2005

In fact, even in August, it was so cold that Trevor wrapped himself in seaweed, trying to keep warm. And note the rocky beach.

2005

They never complained; it's the only beach they know. But I can't help but think they miss out. Growing up in California, we were just a 40 minute drive over the hill to Santa Cruz. I have countless great memories of the Boardwalk, Twin Lakes, friends and family, sun, sand, heat exhaustion, sunburns--plenty of beach time, even occasionally in the winter.

A year and a half ago, while visiting Williamsburg, Robert and I decided against driving the additional hour to the beach. We've regretted it ever since. In Jamestown this week, when Holly and Trevor asked again to go, how could I say no?

Looking at the map, I was excited to drive over the 3.5 mile bridge spanning the James River...


...until it turned into a tunnel.


I've never been overly fond of tunnels, but this wasn't that long.


We passed Norfolk Naval Station.


Parking was a cinch at the beach. There is metered street parking, along with lots of lots (!), and at 10:00 on a weekday morning, we got a front row spot--just $.25 per 15 minutes. I don't think I can park this cheaply in Roanoke.


This was my first time at the Atlantic Ocean too!


It was gorgeous, already in the 80s.


We were totally unprepared, no swimsuits.


Trevor had only tennis shoes;


Holly had only jeans.


The kids collected shells.


We wandered about 3/4 of a mile down the beach.


It.Was.Wonderful.



Adding to the thrill were the fighter jets that circled around two dozen times.


Just when we thought it couldn't get any better, Trevor spotted something in the water.


Bottlenose dolphins, a very common sight. They were all over, in groups of two to five, just beyond the breaking waves.


I was hopeless at catching them with the camera, but Holly snapped away.


A perfect end to a perfect morning.


We hopped into the car and headed toward Richmond. We knew of a few malls, but we didn't have much of a plan. We found Einstein's and picked up a dozen bagels to surprise Robert!





And, of course, found a Q-Doba for lunch.


We had another four hours until home...where it was raining!


It was good to be home, but our hearts stayed behind.

♥ ♥ ♥