Our Trip

I'm back. We had a really good time over the weekend. We got home Sunday evening and my feet still hurt from all the walking this morning.

Saturday we went to a festival in downtown Norfolk. It was sorta lame but we got to see some animals and that's always fun. From there we went back to the Nauticus and toured the USS Wisconsin again. The first time, we didn't have enough time to see the whole thing so we made up for it this go around. After that, we checked into our hotel, which was really nice, and then we went to the Botanical Gardens. I love botanical gardens and this one was really huge. In addition to plants and flowers we got to see tons of Canadian geese, a red fox, a toad, and a turtle. The turtle was the first one I've seen since we moved down this way that wasn't a pancake in the road. Next, we had dinner which was the funny part of the day.

See. I absolutely HATE buffets. I've never been to one that had good food that wasn't dried up and nasty from sitting under heat lamps. And the last time we went to Virginia Beach, we had this completely inedible seafood buffet that was overpriced. You had to pay for soda refills for pete's sake. But, M wanted crab legs. I looked through the hotel restaurant guide and couldn't decide on what sounded good so we asked the guy at the front desk for a recommendation. He immediately named this seafood buffet and I mentally groaned. But, he promised it was good so we tried it out. IT WAS GOOD! Talk about being shocked. And the funny part...M ate FIVE sets of crab legs and that's not to mention the crawfish, shrimp, scallops, and other stuff she ate too. And people try to claim I don't feed that child enough, lol. And the really funny part is that we got to pay the child price for her, heheh. Little did they know that she can pack away the seafood. She ate more than both me and C. The three of us also tried something new: softshell crab. It was...ummm...good. Alright. None of could get past what it was to eat it so we didn't eat it. Sue me.

After all that, we hit the hotel for the night in total exhaustion.

Sunday, after breakfast, we decided to go ahead and start off for the Outer Banks. There, we went down through Kitty Hawk to Kill Devil Hills where we saw the Wright Brothers National Memorial. That was fun. It was a lot of walking but knowing the history made it neat. Plus, having grown up in Ohio and in the Dayton area where the Wright Brothers are from made it all the more special. Kind of like book ends. From there we drove down to Jockey's Ridge State Park where the tallest sand dunes on the east coast are located. That was pretty cool. Then we drove home through Nags Head to Roanoke Island and Manteo.

All in all, it was a good time. The weather on Sunday was perfect, the kids were well behaved, and we didn't have to worry about the dogs destroying the house. The one downer is that I forgot my digital camera. I really could have kicked myself. But, we bought a disposable so I'll have pictures eventually but I have to get them developed. I have no idea who has good picture developing. I also have a few pictures that I took with my cell but the quality won't be that good. See what I mean?

That's the view from the top of the Wright Bros. Memorial.

Much to Look Forward To

I have exciting news. One won't actually be news unless you don't pay attention to my events thing on the right.

First, we're going to Virginia Beach this weekend. I am so looking forward to going. We're going to go to a festival, the botanical gardens, the zoo, and I don't know what else while we're there. What makes it even more fun is that we're going to drive home through the Outer Banks. Of the four of us, M is the only one that's been to the Outer Banks because she went last year on a school field trip. So, I'm totally excited about this trip.

Secondly, and this is my biggie, in November, I'm going to a Nora Roberts book signing in South Carolina!! She's on a book tour to promote her latest In Death book which I'll get at the signing and she'll, of course, sign if for me. I CAN'T WAIT!! And what's more is that I've sorta turned it into a getaway for a friend of mine and myself. Originally, C, the girls, and I were going to go until I found out that it's not just a book signing but an event that will take at least an hour and a half and you can't get in without a ticket. I didn't want to buy the girls a ticket since they could care less about Nora Roberts and C doesn't read her books either, heheh. So, I got to talking with a friend of mine who I turned onto the In Death books and it turns out she can go so we're driving down together and leaving the men with the kids. Woot woot!!

I can't wait!

I'm Back

Did ya miss me? I had absolutely no time to post over the weekend. We were gone all day long and didn't get back to our room until late and we always went straight to bed. Here's a run down of our weekend...

Friday: We didn't end up getting on the road until 5. C had a meeting at work that ran over and then there was a fire in his shop. No damage and nobody was hurt, it just caused a delay. So, we didn't get to Virginia Beach until 8 and we just stayed at the hotel and visited with C's mom.

Saturday: C, the girls, me, C's mom, her husband, his son and wife, and his daughter all went out for breakfast. Then, we went our separate ways until it was time to go to the reunion. C, the girls and I headed to downtown Norfolk. First stop, we went to the Naval Station Norfolk and checked out all the big ships. They are so awe-inspiring. The base was cool too. It's the largest naval base in the world. And gas on station was only $2.61!! Next, we went to the Nauticus and toured the USS Wisconsin. What's really cool is that a friend of the family actually served on the Wisconsin during Desert Storm. It was neat knowing that we knew someone who had served on the ship we were on too. There's a lot to see at the Nauticus so by the time we were done, it was time to go to the reunion. The reunion was actually for C's step-dad's family and we had never met any of them before. They were nice and a lot less crazy than our own families. After the reunion, we went to Virginia Beach, the actual beach. That's a happening place. We had a lot of fun at the beach even though we didn't swim. It's definitely a party type of beach.

Sunday: C's mom and her group left bright and early for the 9 hour drive back to Ohio. We stayed and drove out to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. That was soooo cool! We had watched on the History Channel or some channel about how it was built so it was neat to actually get to drive on it. It's one of the seven engineering wonders of the modern world ya know. And the Chesapeake Bay is just beautiful. Next, we drove to Fort Story to see the Old Cape Henry Lighthouse. All four of us were set to climb it until S saw the spiral staircase she'd have to climb to get to the top. M and I were the only ones that went up. C sat with S at the bottom, lol. It was HOT yesterday and inside that old lighthouse was awful. By the time M and I got to the top, I was ready to die. Awesome views though. My legs are so sore today I can barely walk, lol. After that, we drove back to the base, grabbed lunch in their humongous NEX (that's the Navy Exchange for you civilians), and filled up the gas tank with cheap gas.

Home: I was really looking forward to getting back home. It had been a long weekend with no downtime and we were all pretty tired. And as I had cleaned the house spotless before we left, I couldn't wait to sit in the peace, quiet, and comfort of my own house. Alas! It was not to be. We walked in to a complete and total mess. The dogs had not behaved themselves while we were gone. You remember that sofa that we had agonized over buying when we first moved here? Well, it now has a hole chewed in it. I had a wicker basket that I kept all of our game controllers in...Chewed to bits and spread all over the living room and kitchen. Pee? Everywhere. Smells?? BAAAAAD!!! It was horrible. Thankfully, we had gated them into just the living room and kitchen, I rolled up the rug and put it down the hallway, we took all the furniture cushions and put them in the dining room, and I put all of our books up onto a high shelf. Lesson? Learned. Next time we go somewhere, they either have to go and stay with someone or someone's going to have to come and stay with them. Having someone come a couple times a day to let them out and feed them isn't enough. I cleaned and mopped everything but there's a pee smell that's lingering and I can't figure out where it's coming from. I HATE smells in my house.

Conclusion: Despite my idiot dogs and a rough start, it was a fabulous weekend. Norfolk and Virginia Beach is a lot of fun. We're already making plans to go back. There's so much history and so many things to see and do there that we only got to see a fraction of it all. Next time we plan on going to Busch Gardens since we get in for free, Colonial Williamsburg, Washington's birthplace and a whole host of other things. It's only a three hour drive and we can stay pretty cheap on one of the many bases in the area.

So, there ya go. I'm going to post pictures later. I have a LOT and I'm trying to figure out the best way of sharing them.