What a positively gorgeous day!!! Clear blue skies, 90 degrees but only 28% humidity and a nice breeze. We couldn't have picked a better day for relaxing and enjoying Virginia Beach. Of course our day didn't even start till 9:30 am when everyone was finally up and it wasn't until 11:00 when breakfast was done :-) But then it was midnight before we were all down last night. Vacations aren't for time schedules.
We decided we'd do a little biking along the boardwalk this morning and just see what there was to see all the way from the Rudes Inlet
The views were gorgeous as we rode along the boardwalk fronted by hotel after hotel, beautiful gardens, a wide walking path, wide beach covered with colorful umbrellas and cabanas and then the Atlantic Ocean.
Every couple of streets there is a wide mall area providing entry spots from the streets on the other side. Statuary, stages, and other eye catching items are placed in each of these such as the sand castle,
these fish,
and this huge shell.
This statue of King Neptune (much larger than the one at the campground) graces the beachside.
One area dedicated to fitness had these and several other challenging pieces of equipment
We saw kites,
drones, jets (they fly constantly across the sky),
After dropping off our bike and picking up a boggie board at a local store for Noelle to use later, we returned to the RV for lunch and a little relaxation and cooling down time before returning to the beach. We once again settled down with our chairs, camera, books and just had fun watching Noelle dash out into the waves with her board and began getting mastery of body surfing in on the waves.
She spent a good four hours running and swimming out to the waves and riding them back in taking only a very few minutes to stop and eat half of a Subway sandwich and catch her breath.
Ken and I would alternate keeping our eyes on her all the time as she often ended up moving way down the beach because of the wave action. As people began leaving and the fewer and fewer in the water with her she got better at staying near where we were so we could watch her -- after all that was half the fun having us see her catch a good one.
I had fun watching the sea gulls run in and out of the water and snatch bits of food left behind by those who had been camped out along the beach most of the day. This one found a bit of apple buried in the sand and kept rinsing it off in the water as it ate bites of it.
Yes, we were facing East since we were looking out at the Atlantic Ocean but the clouds still gathered some of the sun setting colors making the last hour before sunset truly a beautiful time.
But finally around 8:45, the life guard blew his whistle announcing the beach was closing - he was leaving - so we packed up our things and headed back toward the car. While Noelle was rinsing off her feet and legs, we looked back across the beach and notice this beautiful "strawberry moon" beginning to rise. The picture doesn't begin to show how huge it was and how very red it was too. We did read later that this full moon on the summer solstice last happened in 1948 and won't happen again until 2070. That really made it extra special.
We drove down to the 17th Street Dairy Queen for one last treat. This gal was crossing the street across from the parking lot. Later we saw her entertaining some kids with her small hula hoop.
Meanwhile we were treated to a bit more of the same circus acts we'd seen on our first night at the beach although this time there were far more people so lots more interaction between the performers and audience. What a fun way to end our time in this "happening" area.
Noelle took a quick shower and got ready for bed and then enjoyed Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune with us but after a short time all she wanted to do was go to sleep. Today really exhausted her -- that is lots more exercise than she is use to but oh how she enjoyed it!!
No comments:
Post a Comment