Our Trips: Virginia Beach. July 29

This is the third year that we as a family stayed for a week in a rental house. It started in 2020 as a way to get together as a family during the COVID pandemic. It was the Poconos for both 2020 and 2021. For this year we decided on a place along the shore. Joe Jr had to work his way down the eastern seaboard before he found a place in Virginia Beach that would meet our needs.

For this blog entry I will for the most part simply post photos from each day and annotate them.

Friday 7/29. The drive down to Virginia Beach typically takes about 6 1/2 hours without traffic (or stopping), and involves a stretch called the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. We started after lunch and avoided traffic for the most part, until we come to the toll plaza for the Bridge Tunnel. The agent explained that when cars are too close to each other the EZ Pass reader would get confused. So I had to hand the tag to her for her to enter the information manually. Not sure the explanation made a lot of sense, but that 20-minute delay was the only traffic I encountered, so not too bad ...

We even stopped by Costco in Norfolk (just after the Bridge Tunnel) to pick up supplies for the week.

Ellie's family visited DC for a couple of days prior, and arrived before we did. Joe took his family back to Boston when Anne tested positive again for COVID (which she shouldn't have done, according to CDC guidelines at that time), so they lingered in South Amboy for another day; they got in late Saturday.

The house has six bedrooms plus a sun room for the twelve of us. Joe's three kids shared this room, and Everly slept in the sunroom.

Accommodations: 2808 Bluebill drive, Virginia Beach. (7 nights)

Saturday 7/30.

There is a salt-water pool at the house. We made great use of it.

Reid challenged Grandpa to a game of chess. Both Everly and Maisie felt the need to be part of the game. I lost.

Sunday 7/31.

Checking out Monopoly: Virginia Beach. I found the game exceedingly complicated.

Meanwhile, the other three were happy to be around Grandpa.

Anne got a photo of this sandpiper on the beach (Sandbridge).

At the beach.

Salmon for dinner. Kids looked happy enough, although I have no idea why Reid felt the need to cover his ears.

Monday, 8/1.

The rental comes with two one-person kayaks, and two stand-up paddleboards. Anne took Reid (pictured), and I took Emmie on a ride along the canal. There was a small outgoing tide, and rowing back was a bit difficult.

BBQ steak for dinner. Everyone enjoying it.

Or they can play Nintendo video games. Everly perfectly happy with a non-working control.

Tuesday 8/2.

We rented a 22-foot pontoon boat for 4 hours from Bay Venture. Spent some time on the beach, and sometime towing a floating tube. Everyone had a good time. It was a lot cooler on the water.

All six kids accounted for.

When we returned to the house, we saw this osprey with a catch too heavy to haul a long distance. It (he/she?) spent a lot of time eating as much as it could before flying off with the rest.

Wednesday, 8/3.