Virginia Beach, Virginia

Virginia Beach, Virginia

Savannah, Ga. –Sunday May 19th, 2013

We were up early at 4 A.M. We had coffee in our room, packed our things and set out by 6 A.M. for Virginia Beach. We sailed through the Carolinas without incident. The roads (Rte. # 95) were sparsely travelled this early in the day. The rows of fir trees, in front of speckled plots of farmland, seem endless in these parts. I remember once driving through the area and listening to John Steinbeck’s “ The Grapes of Wrath” on tape. It was both powerful and poignant, given the surroundings of other poor farmers eking out a living from the land.

In southern Virginia, just before Richmond, we came upon exit # 64 for Virginia Beach. The sign said it lay 90 miles due east. The highway in towards the beach is a mix of rural farmland and the suburban areas surrounding the slew of military bases in the area. Nearby Norfolk is basically a “Navy Town.” It was cloudy with a light rain falling, so the beach traffic was light. We found our way to the beach area near 18th street and parked in the Country Inn ramp while we checked in. It had taken us eight hours and we had driven some five hundred miles from Savannah this morning.

The room was not yet ready, so we sat in the hotel’s beach restaurant “Stringers” and had some decent crab soup and a salad while we watched the cyclers, joggers, walkers pass by on the raised boardwalk or the bike path, which lies next to it.

The rain had let up so we set out along the boardwalk for a three-mile stroll. The entire Virginia beach area is probably in the 15-20 mile length range, but the boardwalk area is a three-mile stretch of multi story hotels of varying price and category. Public access spots were interspaced along the row, allowing the thousands of day-trippers who come to cavort on the huge beach. Several public monuments, small squares with statues in them, decorate the public access areas. One such collection is a tribute to Naval Aviators, another to law enforcement officials and one to “surfers” of all types. I guess the locals were trying to please several large constituencies. They might as well have erected a few statues to the homeless who sprinkled the pier in numbers larger than we were used to. Near the far northern end of the boardwalk, a giant statue of Neptune, surrounded by fish, turtles and replete with a large trident and crown dominate the skyline.

It was the late afternoon as we returned to the hotel. We checked into our third-floor room and settled in. We opened a bottle of cabernet and sat on the balcony, enjoying the panoply of blue ocean, white, frothy surf and deep, gray-blue sky, laden with clouds. It was a picturesque panorama. The beach was crowded with the residue of sunbathers who had gathered for “Pirate’s weekend.” We had seen a few actors in pirate garb earlier in the day but not really been able to figure out what that was all about.

The older tourists and younger families were riding in those silly four wheeled surreys or using rental bikes coasting up and down the boardwalk. Lots of joggers and strollers, of every imaginable type, passed us by. The homeless seemed to have taken up camp in front of our hotel. They drank beer, smoked dope and argued with each other. Even paradise has flaws.

We were tired from the day and chose to have dinner on the covered beach patio of the hotel. Decent crab cakes, with rice and a salad, made a relaxing repast. Afterwards, we settled in on the balcony to read our kindle books, sip another glass of cabernet and then be carried off by Morpheus to the rhythmic crashing of the surf.

Monday May 20th, 2013- Virginia Beach, Va.

We were up by 4 A.M. the sound of the surf crashing upon the beach and the faint smell of salt air rousing us. The beach grooming tractors were doing their work, dragging screens up and down the beach by 5:30 A.M. We watched the sun rise out over the Atlantic Ocean just before six A.M. It was a spectacle we never tired of. The sky was cloud-laden. It was a cool 63 degrees out.

We had coffee in the room and watched the morning news on television. By 6:30 A.M. we had a breakfast of fruit and yogurt in the lobby of the hotel and then set out for a three-mile walk along the boardwalk.

There were a goodly number of joggers already making their way up and down the beach. We walked north enjoying the variety of differently styled hotels and businesses along the boardwalk. It looks like the northern half of the boardwalk area holds the pricier hotels.

The 20 ft tall statues of Neptune again captured our attention and is a favored photo op for all tourist who this way come.

We stopped by the room by 8:30 A.M for coffee and to chill out. It was 70 degrees and muggy out with a promise of rain this afternoon.

9 A.M found us renting single-speed bikes on the pier. We rode them south, past the huge fishing pier, to the boardwalk’s end at Rudee’s inlet. There, life sized statues of both child and adult surfers greeted visitors at the end of the boardwalk. We watched a dredging operation, of the inlet, and a beach renourishment project across the small inlet. Then we cycled across a few local roads and a small bridge to the Rudee’s Inlet area. Three restaurants, “Rudee’s,” “Rockafellers” and the “Wharf restaurant” make up a collection of fine seafood dining for the entire area. Two of the places are asphalt-shingled, clapboard affairs that could have easily fit into Portland or Kennebunkport Maine. Though most visitors to the beach aren’t aware of it, Virginia Beach is a concentration of some 500,000 souls. The small streets in the area sport aging cottages that must have once been “post card cute.” Now, most of them are showing their age. A few newer condo projects in the area gave notice that some gentrification of the attractive inlet area is in progress.

By noon, after a three miles walk and a six-mile bike ride, we were tiring. We turned the bikes back in and settled in on our room balcony to watch the bums carry on, get some sun and chill out. Mary did some laundry while I caught a brief nap. Ozzie Nelson has always been my hero for making popular the afternoon siesta.

Heavy rains swept in from the south during the mid-afternoon. The beach people scattered in all directions as the rained teemed onto the beach. We could see the blue-black clouds drifting by on the far skyline over the ocean. It is impressive to see such elemental natural forces at work.

Late afternoon found us driving north to reconnoiter the area. Camp Story is a small Army base just north of the beach. Within lies the old Cape Henry lighthouse. We submitted to a full car search by soldiers. We also had to show drivers license, registration and proof of insurance to get in. The base is small and holds the usual assortment of married housing, drill areas and office buildings. The 19th century lighthouse looked interesting, but I wasn’t interested in the climb up the three-story, winding staircase within. We did a “Chevy Chase” there and drove over to a small headland. A short walk up a wooden walkway led to a raised platform about twenty feet above the ocean and beach. On are displayed a small memorial to the Battle of Cape Henry. A few metal plaques explained in detail the course of what was the probably the deciding engagement of the American Revolutionary War. In 1781, British Lord Cornwallis and his forces were backed up against the ocean in the area and surrounded by American forces under George Washington. A British resupply fleet, of seventeen vessels, sailed from New York City to relieve Cornwallis with reinforcements and added naval gun power. As the British ships neared York Town, they were met by French Admiral DeGrasse and a fleet of 21 French ships of the line. The two armadas faced off for a few hours that afternoon and traded naval gunfire with out doing much damage to either fleet. The English fleet, seeing little chance to defeating the French or rescuing Cornwallis, veered off and retuned to their base in New York City. Cornwallis, on land, realized that there was little hope of reinforcement by sea, and facing superior forces encircling him on land, surrendered to Washington and the Americans. That virtually ended the American Revolutionary War. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 sealed the end of the conflict until it broke out agiain during the war of 1812.

We stood on this small dune of sand and looked out over the ocean, imagining the great armada or ships lobbing huge cannonballs at each other in the late afternoon sun. Here on this site, which most Americans have never even heard of, our national fate was decided. In a mind blink we returned to the breezy and wet afternoon on a Virginia Beach.

It was nearing dinnertime, so we drove back to “Rudee’s Inlet” to the restaurant of that name and settled in for some of the best seafood I have ever had the pleasure of consuming. A platter of broiled seafood, lobster tails, shrimp, clams, oysters, scallops and some exquisitely seasoned snap peas and red potatoes had us drooling over the meal. Key lime pie made it an over the top affair that we will long remember.

After dinner, we drove to the hotel and sat on the balcony watching the day end and the bums argue with each other. One of the unfortunates must have overdosed on some substance, because the police and rescue squad soon arrived. They managed to revive the unfortunate and take him off to the hospital. The hoopla drew everyone’s attention up and down the beach. Though the bums were off putting, we tried not to be too judgmental. Every one of these unfortunates was a human tragedy. Some unfortunate course of action or tragedy had reduced these folks to denizens of the night and occupants o various underpasses in the area. The beach was where they came in daylight to beg for small change and eke out a remembered existence among normal people.

Night settled upon us and even the bums left as we relaxed and read, until we drifted off asleep to the sounds of the surf crashing on the sands, not to far from us. It is a pleasant way to end the day.

Tuesday, May 21,2013- Virginia Beach, Va.

We were up by 4 A.M. It was cloudy and cool out at 65 degrees. The bums were out already. We had coffee in the room and watched the t.v. news. It was our forty-second wedding anniversary today. We enjoyed a breakfast of eggs and fruit in the lobby before setting out on a three-mile walk south along the boardwalk.

A small group of Navy cadets were running in formation along the boardwalk and singing out a marching song. The kids all looked young and fit and in the prime of life. A police cruiser drove along the boardwalk and the bums scattered for safer territories until the squad car passed. Then, they reassembled. I can see that this is a long standing, never-ending process for both parties.

By 8:30 A.M., we had returned to our room to read and chill out for a bit. Then, we set out for another three-mile walk north along the boardwalk. It was windy and warm and bum-ridden. Futuristic looking Navy jets screamed high overhead as they prepared to land or take off at the nearby Naval Air Station. We walked, people-watched and enjoyed the sounds of surf and the feel of wind and salt air on our faces. Any day at the beach is a good one.

Mid-morning found us in the family chariot, headed inland in search of a restaurant that we had seen in some ads. We stopped by a small plaza, had coffee in Panara Bread's and then visited a Total Wine store to pick up a bottle of Mondavi Cabernet to celebrate our anniversary this evening. It was sunny and hot inland.

In the early afternoon, we read our Kindle books on the beach for a time, enjoying the sand and surf. The Navy jets screamed by overhead. The beach was crowded with bathers and sun worshippers. We walked over to a frozen yogurt store and had one of their wonderful concoctions. You really do need to exercise here with so much food around. We read our books and had an early afternoon nap. Then we cleaned up for dinner.

We returned to Rudee’s inlet and had an early dinner in “Rock a feller’s.” Caesar salads, grilled tuna and a slice of key lime pie made for another wonderful repast. Back at the room, we watched heavy rains and a lightning storm wash over the beach, again scattering everyone in all directions. As the rains blew by, we were treated to a wonderful natural phenomenon. An enormous rainbow, stretching some 1,000 yards across the ocean and rising maybe 400 yards tall, in a giant semicircle, appeared and amazed us. A swath of bright purple made up the inner ring. The bright green, orange, yellow and lavender rings lay atop it. It was magnificent! And even better, another though fainter, second rainbow surrounded the first. It was separated from the first arc by a few hundred yards. It was a magnificent visual spectacle against the backdrop of the gray-blue waters and the semi-cloudy sky. We watched the visual feast if until it faded with the light. What a cool sight!

The sun made a brief reemergence by 7 P.M. With it arrived a whole array of joggers, walkers and bikers. We savored a last glass of cabernet on the balcony and appreciated being together here on our 42nd wedding anniversary. We enjoyed the evening spectacle of looking out over the ocean until Morpheus summoned us to sleep. It was time to head north.

-30-
(2407 words)
Joseph Xavier Martin
June 3rd, 2013
Amherst, N.Y.