Beach or Bust

Our family vacation began very early in the morning and brought us through five states before the smell of sand and salt water signaled our arrival to the beach, our first stop of a two week trip.

I decided to photo-journal our way through 8 hours of driving and I loved it! As a novice at car- speed photography, I did miss some good shots, but I hope they are tucked away into the memory bank somewhere and make their way back to consciousness or at least a dream or two.

One shot that I missed early on was that of a huge coyote. I mean HUGE. I would say wolf, and who knows, it could have been. He was just hanging out on a hill to the right side of the highway. What was disturbing is we came to the toll plaza and the hustle and bustle of civilization just after passing him. This dude was WELL FED and close to development. Yikes.

Soon over the border into NJ, I saw a “Really??” category! I missed this shot too- a lady in blue and yellow curlers. Anyone who has driven on the NJ turnpike knows that traffic is at the speed of light pace and the lanes on the highway are narrow. It’s the one state that I white knuckle it through whether as a driver or passenger! She passed by too quickly and we could never catch up enough to get a good shot. Oh, well. Seems this practice of hairstyling is making a comeback.

Driving through Northern/mid- Jersey, you get that tough, don’t mess with me kinda feeling; like Tony Soprano is going to pass by at any minute and you sure as heck don’t want to make eye contact. Just drive. That seems to dissipate as you get closer to the shore points, thank goodness. Once you pass into Delaware, it’s like every man for himself. There are crazy intersections cutting across 4 lane, bumper to bumper traffic. It’s nuts. Once past Dover, we got off route 13 which would eventually bring us to our destination of Virginia Beach. Here I could finally feel that nice, relaxed, Southern country, laid- back, sit on the porch and watch the world go by attitude and was able to take a quick cat-nap.

Into Maryland we went and now came the old gas stations, old country stores and fields of peach trees and corn. It seemed the day we were travelling through was a day for a big county garage sale. These folks were serious- they didn’t have just tables of stuff, they had flat-beds! It is in this state that the billboards started getting interesting and they started to make their way into the camera lens.

We then crossed into Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay area. Did you know that the beginning of the Chesapeake Bay actually begins in Cooperstown, NY? Yup, it’s true. We started to make our way across the Bay Bridge Tunnel, 13 miles of engineering that takes you through 2 tunnels under the bay. It is absolutely beautiful.

We soon reach the beach and I am now in full vacation mode. After a two month stint of rain and cool weather, summer has finally smacked me right in the face with hot, sticky air and I love it. Jimmy Buffet’s “Margaritaville” was on the radio as we drove past beachcombers with arms full of straw bags and beach chairs. Could vacation start out any better?

Our visit begins at my mother and step-father’s home which is a few blocks from the beach. My mom is the ultimate make-you-feel-at-home type of hostess, offering coffee or lemonade to help us unwind from our long journey. The kids could not change into their suits fast enough to go hop in the pool for a quick dip before going to dinner with my brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew. Dinner was lovely and I was so glad to be surrounded by family.

The next few days were beach days and my, oh my, it was hot! Heat indexes were topping 105 degrees and full humidity, so beach time was spent mostly under an umbrella. Our kids were in dire straits for new flip-flops, so we decided to walk the boardwalk to a shop close by as we were in the perfect setting for such footwear. It didn’t take long to find what we searched for and we were soon on our way back to the house and a cold pool.


We came upon the coolest statue of King Neptune (or Poseidon depending on whether you are following Greek or Roman myth). I’ve seen King Neptune from a distance, but I have never actually been up close and personal. It was absolutely beautiful and I could not stop taking pictures of him. The camera did not capture how striking this was against the deep blue sky and surf just beyond. A true treasure on the Virginia Beach shore.


Our next stop was my brother and sister-in-law’s home. The kids were itching to hang out 24/7 with their cousins and the adults felt the same way too. I really miss seeing my brother and his family. My niece and nephew are growing up so fast and it makes me wish we lived closer to one another. But, time happens in the here and now so we filled our visit together with stories, games, food (my brother makes a kick-ass salsa and guacamole!) go kart races and roller coasters. We even snuck in a 5:40am spin class with my sister-in-law!

The first leg of our vacation came to a close way too soon. That old saying “Time flies when you’re having fun” certainly rang true for this visit. I felt that little pang in the gut as we drove off blowing kisses and waving good-bye. I can’t wait to have them visit us during the winter to ski, build snowmen or just catch snowflakes on our tongues.