Virginia Beach

From D.C. I drove to Virginia Beach... in tons of traffic of course.  Reached the inner city first, it being the largest in Virginia, then went out to the Boardwalk area.  Here I spent the majority of the afternoon at the Aquarium.  It is said to be one of the country's best- it doesn't have penquins right now though :(  Nor do they have dolphins as an exhibit; instead, they offer rides out to sea for dolphin viewing (for like $20).

 

Other than that, it was a pretty impressive aquarium.  Giant sea turtles that come right up to the glass, a hallway that pretty much is a fish tank tunnel holding various fish and stingrays as they swim around you, otters, a nature walk, large alligators, and a harbor seal right out front of the entrance.  I was able to pet stingrays- they are so soft and smooth.  I also touched a horseshoe crab- he didn't seem to notice.  There were a lot of smaller exhibits about the Chesapeake Bay and diiferent animals that inhabit the marshes, like crabs and snakes and the different birds.  The nature walk takes you from the main building, through a marshy area, to the otter building.  The otters were so funny! I think I startled one with the flash of my camera while he was playing with a ball though...

I went down to the Boardwalk for just a little bit- this one was less lively than Atlantic City (no casinos), but seemed a lot cleaner.  Being off season, a lot of the eateries were closed for the approaching winter, but just to see the sky stretching out over the ocean was so so awesome.  People were fishing and bodyboarding near the pier.  I can just imagine how much of a complete madhouse this place must be in the summer!! 

I wanted to get a jump on the drive to the Outer Banks so I have as much light as possible to get some goods views, even if you've seen one beach, you've seen 'em all! Ha ha.

P.S. These beaches are supposed to be pretty remote, so I doubt to have internet access until at least tomorrow night: next blog post might be delayed. Fair warning :)