First Landing State Park
On the way to Virginia Beach we drove past a trailer park named “Superior Manor,” and a field full of cotton ready to be picked. I took pictures of my feet up against the truck window because I liked the way they looked against the scenery rushing past at 70 miles an hour while Neil Young was singing “After the Garden is Gone” on the CD player.
After sunset, the harvest full moon made an appearance and got my attention. I pulled out my notebook and scribbled like a blind artist sketching. “You’re writing in the dark?” Joe asked incredulously.
“All I need to do is decipher a word or two and the whole feeling will come back,” I told him.
We woke up the next morning at the First Landing State Park with sand between the sheets of our pop-up camper loft bed.
From the window we saw big barges heading for port in Norfolk, hauling stuff from China to Wal-Mart, Joe said.
He did his martial art on the beach while I videotaped a sand crab scurrying across the beach entrance walkway. It was better than a Saturday morning cartoon.
Our first campsite was too close to the road and the sound of passing traffic, so we moved to a quiet secluded one under an unidentified fruit tree. Later in the day we traded it for one with our own private beach in the backyard, big enough to play volleyball. From there we could watch the moonrise over the bay at night.
In one day, we watched a man windsurf with a kite, rode our bikes on trail, explored a Native American chief’s hut, swam in at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, just a mile from where it meets with the ocean, and had three campsites.
In the evening we headed for civilization by way of a camp bike path. I followed Joe, who lit the way with a miner’s lamp on his head. We ended up in a hotel bar that was supposed to have wireless. Not only did we not get online, Joe forgot his wallet and had no way to pay for the beers we had ordered. Short of leaving me behind, he left his laptop at the bar for collateral while we made the two mile ride back to our camper for some money. We had a good laugh at all the things that went wrong as we peddled home. “If this was a date, I probably would have dumped you by now,” I joked.
Post Note: This was blogged from the A.R.E. (The Association for Research and Enlightenment) Library.
September 29th, 2007 1:51 pm
I think we’re following each other! I was at First Landing just last summer. It’s a place I was hunting down ever since I was there in the 70s. After hooking up with Judy and going to Va Bch each year, I tried and tried to recall where I walked amid the cypress trees on a boardwalk. None of the locals I asked over the years ever thought of First Landing, but I didn’t give up my search until I finally found it last year – almost under my nose. Isn’t that always the way! Sounds like you’re having a blast. I got a real chuckle picturing your hotel without wallet adventure. Cute crab, by the way. Hi to joeyk…
September 29th, 2007 2:56 pm
I so enjoyed reading this. Sounds like you had a wonderful time!
September 29th, 2007 4:26 pm
Sounds like a fun adventure!
BTW: Were you enlightened while at A.R.E?
September 29th, 2007 6:25 pm
NO, NO! Those are the dates when you really decide you can deal with the worst.
I was in Virginia beach as a kid, I loved the waves, and the shuffleboard. That’s all I can remember though.
September 29th, 2007 9:50 pm
envious but I too was at the beaches of Florida and had a superior time !!
September 30th, 2007 1:46 am
Yeah, I have the same question: Were you enlightened while at the A.R.E.? You day does look like fun, in spite of the moneyless situation. I was at Virginia Beach in 1998, but we stayed at a hotel. Not the same, I know. Tonight I went to a Drum Circle gathering and stayed until midnight. We drummed up the moon … now THAT was fun! Some were camping overnight, but I came home. Have lots of fun at the beach.
September 30th, 2007 3:20 am
The c,mbination of Camping and leaving the Laptop as collateral really gives one the feeling of the contrast of the past and the present right here and now! Love that crab, Colleen…!
September 30th, 2007 11:23 am
Cotton fields, Neil Young, sand crabs, kitesurfers and camping – sounds wonderful, laid-back and chilled. Lovely!
By the way, I’ve tagged you for a book meme… 😉
September 30th, 2007 1:47 pm
Restful. Love the pic with half reflection of bicycle in the puddle.
September 30th, 2007 8:36 pm
what an adorable little crab!
September 30th, 2007 10:59 pm
Oh, you’re blogging from a place I’ve been in a million times, just not lately. I hope to remedy that soon.
October 2nd, 2007 8:13 am
It definitely sounds like ‘one of those days’ and one to remember too. We have yet to find the campsite ON the beach, good for you! Aren’t the crabs fun to watch, all walking sideways and diving into their hole in the sand. If you were looking to get away from it all, or to find something ‘different’, it sounds like you were successful.
~signed envious in Georgia a.k.a. Susan