We walk Virginia Beach on a gorgeous blue day.

The tidewater town of Hampton, where our campground sits, is located on the north shore of where the Chesapeake Bay spills out into the Atlantic Ocean. There is a lot of water, beaches, cities, peninsulas, bridges and tunnels, historical sites, state parks, and military bases in the area.

Even within the urban sprawl, there are some amazing wilderness opportunities. Bordering the spread out city of Virginia Beach is an equally spread out First Landing State Park with miles of trails weaving through the tidewater swamps, dunes, channels, and cypress stands. We spent hours walking the enchanting trails. We looked over the campground at First Landing and we were impressed. Even though it has a zillion sites, it did not feel cramped. Each site was nicely isolated within a thick forest. It was pricey, at $45 a night, but comfortable.

We logged 5 miles over various trail loops starting with Bald Cypress Trail in First Landing State Park. It is amazing to find such a wilderness in the middle of the metro Virginia Beach - Norfolk area.

I can never get enough of those Cypress trees and their knees.

At one point, the trail emerged from the forest to follow the linked backwater shores that includes Lynnhaven River, Broad Bay, and Linkhorn Bay. It was low tide and some of the swampier areas were just mud.

I love Spanish Moss. The first time I saw Spanish Moss was when I lived in New Orleans as a teenager. I found it to be exotic and enchanting. It was great to run across it in Virginia.

Later, we dropped down into Virginia Beach to walk the famous beach boardwalk. They call it a boardwalk, and perhaps at one time it was, but it is really a cement-walk. In the summer, I imagine the beach is bustling with sun-seekers. As we near Halloween, we had the beach almost to ourselves.

As a flight attendant, Wanda has had many lay overs in Miami. American Airlines put their flight crews up in nice hotels on the water. Miami’s ocean front is poorly laid out. The hotels hug the beach and consequently, hog the beach. Public access is severely limited. Not so at Virginia Beach. The hotels are built back, away from the beach by one or two hundred feet leaving a nice public corridor that parallels the ocean. A wide cement walkway and a narrower bike path spans three miles along the corridor.

The pristine sugar-white sand is luscious. The endless deep-blue Atlantic Ocean contrasts beautifully with the sand. We moseyed our way up and down the boardwalk, adding another couple of miles to our total for the day.

The boardwalk that parallels the Atlantic Ocean at Virginia Beach. Technically, it is a cement-walk.

They were charging a serious admission price to fish on the pier. It was $10 to fish from the pier and $4 just to walk on it.

Looking down the pier.

Conch shells for sale on the fishing pier.

These smaller shells are Scotch Bonnets and happen to be North Carolina’s state shell. I hope to find one on the Outer Banks later in our trip.

These fishermen chose not to pay the $10 fee for the pier and just cast into the surf from the beach.

We came across the Virginia Beach Naval Aviation Monument next to the boardwalk.

I learned that the first decked landing was in 1911. That was only 8 years after the Wright Brothers first flight - amazing!

And, right on cue, as we were admiring the Naval Aviation Monument, a military jet, presumably from the Norfolk Naval Base, flew right over us.

Unfortunately, an art market was just packing up as we walked by. This was the only artwork still showing, waiting to be packed on the side of a booth.

Some shops along the street running parallel to the beach had that Coney Island feel. This gaming shop had Skeet Ball, pinball, classic video games, etc. Does that stuff still attract kids?

In the summer, parking must be atrocious. As empty as the beach was, we struggled to find a spot. When we did, I had to fumble with the parking meter. The meters were designed to take credit cards. The price wasn’t too bad, something like a dollar per hour, but the credit card readers were complicated and finicky. I had to try three different meters and four different cards before my payment was accepted.

Glossary of terms used for newcomers: 1) V-Jer. The name of our camper. 2) Saturn. The name of our Van. 3) Duende. Our mischievous gremlin that breaks things. 4) Tata. The good gremlin that helps us fix Duende’s dirty work. 5) The Black Hole. This is what we call Walmart because every time we go in for just a couple of items, we come out spending way more than we figured. 6) QT. Quaint Town. 7) Little Buddy. This is what we call our Dyson cordless stick vacuum.

Dave and Wanda

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