We spent a full week in Virgina Beach, VA and had an awesome time. The photos will pretty much tell the story but here are some highlights:
First Landing State Park
This is a beautiful state park - it quite reminds me of Holland State Park back home in that it’s right on the beach and probably impossible to get into in the summer. We spent most of our time beach-side with just a quick trip across the road to get a small taste of the walking and biking trails.
Beachcombing
Miranda was in pure heaven here finding treasures on the beach. She had just about the whole table filled, and even bought a $15 book with her own money to help identify what she had found.
Cape Henry Lighthouse
We were just exploring and had heard there were lighthouses in the area, so had the Ferguson (our Garmin) lead us there. Turns out the Cape Henry lighthouse is within a working Naval base, so we got a pretty good inspection going in. MsBoyink and I had to get out of the truck, I had to raise the hood, and a guy with a mirror on a pole looked underneath. What we didn’t understand is why they had no interest whatsoever in seeing inside our large toolbox.
Once in we paid $18 (in a rare touristy moment) to all walk up in the old lighthouse, famous for being the USA’s first civil-service project. George Washington himself reviewed the bids for the job. It was a nice view on a sunny day, but the hazy lighthouse glass filled with graffiti spoiled the photo opportunities available.
Virginia Beach Central Library
We spent nearly a day and a half in the library. I had a couple of work projects to try and crank out this week and the kids were hungry for library time. This was a very nice library with a teen-specific place that the kids really enjoyed.
Our plan is to head to the Outer Banks in North Carolina from here - but we may stay one day later yet. The park is getting some weekender traffic coming in and a family with kids close in age to Miranda and Data have moved in next door. They’ve already made fast friends, and we’re in no particular hurry to leave.
What a great area of the country to be in! We really loved that part of the east coast. If you want to see another REALLY nice beach, with wild horses running on the beach and in the campground area, and its not too far from where you are at right now, go up to Assateague Island National Seashore http://www.assateagueisland.com/ Should be about a 3 hour drive north along the coast.
If you don’t go there on this leg of your journey, hopefully you can stop there some other time. It really is an awesome place to visit, very protected and with the wild horses on the beach, very cool.
Oh, I forgot, we did the Fort Henry Lighthouse too. We pulled our camper into there and we all got out of the Jeep, they did the same check under the hood and with the mirror under the vehicle. I asked if they wanted to look inside our 21 foot camper - they were not interested! Really couldn’t figure that one out either!
Storybird and my wife would really get along, they both love to read and I have to pry my wife off the beach when there are shells to find!
3 hours *north* ? Not happening…:)
We read about the wild horses but they just don’t fit into this trip. We head south from here to the Outer Banks.
I figure the Navy folks have a list of things to inspect and anything off the list would be extra work and disobeying orders.
OK, then on the Banks, are you planning on going to Okracoke Island? Just another one of this countries natural beautiful spots. Not much to do there, not really much to see either, just peace and quiet. Bring your own provisions. I think there is a small convenience store there, a couple hotels and a couple bars. Just a place to really “get away from it all.”
On the way there, a stop at Kill Devil Hills is worth a stop. See and walk the path where the first Wright Brothers flyer took its first flight. Then on to Cape Hatteras to see the lighthouse. CLIMB IT! Its an awesome view!
Highway 12 along the coast is a really pretty drive with lots of picture opps.
God I want to go back! Have fun!
Yep-we think our National Park pass gets us into the Wright Bros stuff. Hope so. We will be camping in Avon so a daytrips over to Ocracoke & the lighthouse are definitely in the plans.