Virginia Beach Vacation
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Yesterday we spent most of the day driving around looking at stuff. We had a fantastic breakfast at IHOP - I can't go there without getting that Stuffed French Toast.
We headed towards Williamsburg, about an hour away. There was a time in my life when I used to love that working historical village stuff, but not anymore. I know this is a super nice one, but it feels been there, done that, to me. And I know Steve would have been bored to tears. I wouldn't have minded going in some of the little shops, except I guess it didn't thrill me enough to actually do it. Just not a shopper, no matter what, I guess.
We thought about Busch Gardens, but only for the animal exhibits, not the amusement park stuff. Nah, we weren't feeling it.
I was feeling kinda guilty about wasting the gas and our time. But then what actually saved the day was the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, which Steve really wanted to see. It links Virginia Beach/Norfolk with Virginia's Eastern Shore. It's the largest bridge-tunnel complex in the world. It's 17.6 miles shore to shore - made up of 12 miles of trestled roadway, 2 mile-long tunnels, 2 bridges, 4 man made islands, 2 miles of causeway and 5-1/2 miles of approach roads. So actually, including all that, it's 23 miles. It cost $450 million to build and not a dime of local, state or federal tax money was used.
I'm afraid of water, but have conditioned myself over the years to be less so. Bridges like these don't bother me - I just don't let Bad Mind take over. Steve mentioned it would be cool if the tunnels were made of glass. There would not be enough money in the universe to get me into one of them if that were the case. (Besides, it would be dark, dingy water - not bright and fishy like he'd like.)
This kills me - this bridge-tunnel has a snack bar and gift shop in the middle.
So we (I) drove over that monster. Twice - had to get back. The only part that seriously freaked me out, like I-couldn't-look-at-it-freaked-out - was where the bridge part circled around to the right a little bit. You could see where the bridge stopped, nothing but water showing where the tunnel part is, then the bridge picked up again a mile later. So it looked like we were going to drive off the bridge into the water. Ewwww. Avert eyes! Avert eyes! I literally couldn't look at that part.
It doesn't bother me to drive in a tunnel under a mountain. So apparently the possibility of millions of tons of rock crushing me to death is a walk in the park, compared to water doing the same. (Yes, I go in the ocean, but just to cool off, not very far in. It's one of the universe's cruelest tricks, pairing me up with Steve, who loves the water. But he's patient with me, bless his heart.)
Back in the room, we chilled out, read, slept a wee bit - and then decided to order in pizza and wings for dinner. A bed picnic! The pizza came from Papa John's - delish. The wings were chipotle BBQ - good flavor but not crispy. I only ate one. Even on a good day, the caloric investment is too high in terms of flavorful reward, for me. Steve's a wing man, but he didn't care for these either.
We're staying in an Econolodge. It's about the only hotel on the beach that offers free wireless internet in the guest rooms, which is why it worked for us. Otherwise, the hotel is adequate, clean, just fine. But we are kind of spoiled because of the nicer places we stay - that have more seating, for one thing. I can't get comfortable sitting on the bed working on a laptop or even stitching. There's one comfy chair and one desk chair, so we make do. It's funny, I've read a lot of hotel reviews over the last few years - and for every single one you can find good and bad reviews for the exact same hotel around the same time. Depends on the person's expectations I guess. I mean, in this room, the furniture is dinged and the AC is louder than hell. But that doesn't bother me. Someone else could find that abhorrent, I suppose. (I see the loud AC as a good thing. We could be next to the Screamin' Baby Room for all I know. It's like white noise that makes me feel we have no neighbors.) :-)
That's it for now. The rest is on my Flickr page which is pretty much a blog entry in itself.
We headed towards Williamsburg, about an hour away. There was a time in my life when I used to love that working historical village stuff, but not anymore. I know this is a super nice one, but it feels been there, done that, to me. And I know Steve would have been bored to tears. I wouldn't have minded going in some of the little shops, except I guess it didn't thrill me enough to actually do it. Just not a shopper, no matter what, I guess.
We thought about Busch Gardens, but only for the animal exhibits, not the amusement park stuff. Nah, we weren't feeling it.
I was feeling kinda guilty about wasting the gas and our time. But then what actually saved the day was the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, which Steve really wanted to see. It links Virginia Beach/Norfolk with Virginia's Eastern Shore. It's the largest bridge-tunnel complex in the world. It's 17.6 miles shore to shore - made up of 12 miles of trestled roadway, 2 mile-long tunnels, 2 bridges, 4 man made islands, 2 miles of causeway and 5-1/2 miles of approach roads. So actually, including all that, it's 23 miles. It cost $450 million to build and not a dime of local, state or federal tax money was used.
I'm afraid of water, but have conditioned myself over the years to be less so. Bridges like these don't bother me - I just don't let Bad Mind take over. Steve mentioned it would be cool if the tunnels were made of glass. There would not be enough money in the universe to get me into one of them if that were the case. (Besides, it would be dark, dingy water - not bright and fishy like he'd like.)
This kills me - this bridge-tunnel has a snack bar and gift shop in the middle.
So we (I) drove over that monster. Twice - had to get back. The only part that seriously freaked me out, like I-couldn't-look-at-it-freaked-out - was where the bridge part circled around to the right a little bit. You could see where the bridge stopped, nothing but water showing where the tunnel part is, then the bridge picked up again a mile later. So it looked like we were going to drive off the bridge into the water. Ewwww. Avert eyes! Avert eyes! I literally couldn't look at that part.
It doesn't bother me to drive in a tunnel under a mountain. So apparently the possibility of millions of tons of rock crushing me to death is a walk in the park, compared to water doing the same. (Yes, I go in the ocean, but just to cool off, not very far in. It's one of the universe's cruelest tricks, pairing me up with Steve, who loves the water. But he's patient with me, bless his heart.)
Back in the room, we chilled out, read, slept a wee bit - and then decided to order in pizza and wings for dinner. A bed picnic! The pizza came from Papa John's - delish. The wings were chipotle BBQ - good flavor but not crispy. I only ate one. Even on a good day, the caloric investment is too high in terms of flavorful reward, for me. Steve's a wing man, but he didn't care for these either.
We're staying in an Econolodge. It's about the only hotel on the beach that offers free wireless internet in the guest rooms, which is why it worked for us. Otherwise, the hotel is adequate, clean, just fine. But we are kind of spoiled because of the nicer places we stay - that have more seating, for one thing. I can't get comfortable sitting on the bed working on a laptop or even stitching. There's one comfy chair and one desk chair, so we make do. It's funny, I've read a lot of hotel reviews over the last few years - and for every single one you can find good and bad reviews for the exact same hotel around the same time. Depends on the person's expectations I guess. I mean, in this room, the furniture is dinged and the AC is louder than hell. But that doesn't bother me. Someone else could find that abhorrent, I suppose. (I see the loud AC as a good thing. We could be next to the Screamin' Baby Room for all I know. It's like white noise that makes me feel we have no neighbors.) :-)
That's it for now. The rest is on my Flickr page which is pretty much a blog entry in itself.
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Labels: Vacation
posted by Stefani at 1:15 PM
5 Comments:
I'm so jealous! I want to go on vacation. Hope you enjoy the rest of your time away!
Sharon! I was hoping you'd comment because I wanted to email you, but this will do. Why do so many of the exit and entrance ramps to the expressways have those red & white striped crossing gate things?
(And you started a blog in May? Why no entries??)
I want you to know that I said hi to you when we passed Manassas on the way here.
And Mary - I said hi to you when we were in Maryland.
Just so you know. :-)
Sadly, I can't get to flickr from here. Anyway, are those, like, crop circles on the beach, or what?
I thought that same thing - crop circles! Dunno - maybe the Sandboni drivers went a little nuts until the boss showed up and made them get serious.
That beach photo is glorious. And I just love the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel!
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