Virginia – North Carolina Trip – Part 2 of 2

This post is a long time in coming. The trip was in June and I am just getting around to adding info about the second portion of the trip. (see 1st installment here)  I left off in the first installment on our way to Williamsburg, Virginia. We drove straight through from the Durham area of North Carolina. (good we visited when we did)

Driving towards Richmond looked very familiar, and after heading north, you need to veer off right to head towards Williamsburg on the 60 (or I-64), which takes you to Williamsburg. We got off on Richmond road, which is where our hotel for the night was. We checked in and then got some lunch and then went directly to the assisted living facility where my aunt was receiving hospice care for stomach cancer. My aunt had hoped to have family together at some point, something she mentioned to me on the phone several times, and this turned out to be a fortuitous visit.

K Richard Douglas Dorrine Douglass Williamsburg Virginia
A Visit Long in the Making

This was the first time she had seen my son since he was about 16 months old and now he was 19 years old. Because of the disease, my aunt was down to 105lbs and looked much different than the last time I saw her in person several years before. Despite her condition, she was very happy to see us. After we had visited for an hour or so, my sister and my cousin from California (my aunt’s daughter) joined us. This was the first time I had seen my cousin in 20 years in person. I had not seen my sister in two years. Here we all were visiting with my aunt at a time when she would only live for two more months. My aunt still had her usual funny and spirited personality even at 88 years old and with such a health challenge.

As if having my aunt, cousin and sister and son together wasn’t a rare enough event, my brother drove down from Ohio and joined us as well. It was the first time in two years seeing my brother, so this visit really made the trip worthwhile. I knew it might be the last time I saw my aunt but I was praying anyway to hope she would have longer.

We all planned to get back together and have dinner at a local restaurant. It was a good meal and gave us all a chance to talk. Unfortunately, my brother received a call during the meal and learned that his oldest, best friend had just passed away. Here we were visiting my aunt who had cancer and his friend had just lost his battle with the disease.

My brother has always owned several “cool cars” and he drove his bright blue late-model Corvette down to Virginia. After we had dinner, my son was invited to take it for a drive by his uncle, so that gave me reason to say an additional prayer.

2023 Corvette cool car K Richard Douglas KR Douglas
Bright Blue Corvette

This gave my cousin, sister and myself time to talk out in the parking lot. Every time we heard a roaring car go by in the distance, or heard a police siren, we held our breath. Hopefully, this wasn’t the result of a 19-year-old paired with a new Corvette.

My son and me had a good sleep at the hotel, which was very nice, and then we had some breakfast, which was included. We headed off towards Virginia Beach and left Williamsburg and my family members behind. I informed my son that he would be seeing some interesting sights as we headed back from the Tidewater Peninsula to the Southside.  I order to get back to Virginia Beach, you have to take I-64 down through Newport News and Hampton, Virginia, before you reach the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnels that take drivers both over and under the mouth of the James River/Hampton Roads harbor, where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The bridge-tunnel is 3.5 miles long and is and interesting experience for the first time visitor. The Norfolk International terminals and Navy ships are within view.

One thing I wanted to do on the way back was to stop at the graveyard where my Dad’s father is buried in Virginia Beach. During my years living there, I had no idea that any blood relative was buried in the city. It wasn’t until many years later that my research would turn up the burial place. Coming back in this direction takes a visitor to the cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, PortsmouthGrave of Joseph Meredith Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. I went into the office at the cemetery to try to determine where the gravesite was. It was a very large cemetery and and directions would have to be specific to find one grave site out of thousands. I wanted to at least make the attempt since we had to pass so closed to this location on the way to our oceanfront hotel.

Virginia Beach Boardwalk tourist area Virginia
Boardwalk- Virginia Beach

We made our way to the oceanfront area of Virginia Beach and to where we would be staying the next two nights. The oceanfront resort was called the Oceanfront Inn at Atlantic Ave. and 30th street. Since we were driving a larger SUV, the parking lot wasn’t ideal (and they have a small parking garage across the street), but we made due. I mean, two more days on the oceanfront, right on the boardwalk, and very good weather, so no complaints.

Mellow Mushroom salad Virginia Beach good food
Salad at the Mellow Mushroom

We drove around for a while and I showed my son one of the places where I used to live. When we got back, we walked down Atlantic Ave. to the Mellow Mushroom, one of the few restaurants that had something that would work with my diet. They had a really incredible salad; so good that I decided to return the next day and get another one. It is also a nice restaurant. The salad is so big, it would probably feed two people who were salad lovers.

Virginia Beach is just much different than when I lived there. There are some areas of the oceanfront/tourist area that have been improved with more modern buildings. Some of the really old hotels I remember are here and there. I don’t get the sense that it is a safe place; at least not walking around at night. It still has a nice beach and the northeast part of the beach is still nice with nicer neighborhoods and large houses.

I thought I would surprise my son the next day. I had really wanted to go to the Waterside (now the Waterside District) at the Norfolk waterfront, and I wanted to surprise my son and buy tickets for the USS Wisconsin. We ended up doing both, after taking what used to be the Virginia Beach toll road (not any longer) to Norfolk and using the parking garage on the north side of the street. Waterside was a big disappointment and wasn’t anything like it used to be; a “festival marketplace.” All it offered now were some good views from behind the building on the Elizabeth River side.

USS Wisconsin Norfolk Hampton Roads Naval Museum
Wisconsin’s 16″ Guns

We walked down the street to the entry to the Hampton Roads Naval Museum and got tickets to tour the USS Wisconsin battleship. You can see the giant 16″ guns and really understand they’resize when you are on the deck looking up. We toured below deck as well and saw the various quarters that were for bunking, food preparation and service and other functions to keep the crew well-served during a deployment. The ship saw service from WWII through October of 1988, when President Reagan had the weaponry upgraded and modernized. There is also Town Point Park in-between the Waterside and the Museum.

We ran into something of a problem the remainder of this day and the next.  I caught something, maybe a sinus infection, and was miserable and really feeling lousy. The next morning, we had an early check-out. The property was not very flexible, so we had to be out by 10am, but had an evening flight out.  There was really nowhere to just kill time. All the libraries in the city were closed. I had wanted to visit with some old friends on that last day, but I wasn’t sure if I had something they might catch.

While the flight going out to Virginia wasn’t bad.  The flight back took forever and I still needed to hail a ride share when we got back to the airport in Phoenix. After dropping my son off, it was around 1am. A long day.

After 37 years, I had to go back and see my old stomping grounds. I even got up at 5 am the last day to watch the sunrise over the Atlantic. That may be the best picture to end with since I was able to wake my son and he could see his first sunrise on the east coast.

Sunrise Virginia Beach June 2024 sunrise over the Atlantic
Sunrise – Virginia Beach

 

 

 

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