and the laundry and email are pretty much dealt with. About half of the weeds remain, and the dust will wait until tomorrow.
Where to start? My hectic week went quite smoothly despite several additional tasks. I had to clean the fish tank twice. The first time because it really needed it, the second time because of an overly zealous feeding by S that completely covered the gravel with food. I had to take the car for an oil change because the dealer discovered the source of the mysterious hissing, but could not get the part and then forgot to do the requested oil change. I shouldn’t complain, I even got to do two visits with grandma.
The boys enjoyed Boy Scout camp despite being underfed and J was asked to remove his “T” shirt at the pool because the rule was no shirts. J burns very easily, and the 30 min. in the noon sun was enough to get a burn that lasted three days. They got home hours before I expected them, and I spent the rest of the day trying to fill the void created by skimpy portions. Honestly, who ever heard of a camp fire with no snacks. (Seems pretty un-American for the B.S.A. to me.)
The next morning we set off for Virginia. Our schedule turned out to work pretty well and we had a really good vacation. Instead of slogging through all the details, I’ll just give you the highs and lows.
Highlights:
Day 1: Massanutten Resort,
wonderful! The rooms were clean, nicely decorated, lots of little touches that made it a really comfortable place to stay. The water park was really nice, immaculately clean and really fun. The room was very affordably priced especially considering all of the activities that were available. I would totally go back here for an entire vacation!
Day 2: Arrive Virginia Beach.
Another really nice hotel: Virginia Beach Resort Hotel We were able to get a great deal on one of the online travel sites. We had a suite (with actual separate rooms) right on the water for just over $100 a night. Now, I will have to say, the water we were on was the Chesapeake Bay. Which is lovely to look at . . . . More on that in the “Low-lights” section. Oh, can’t forget, an excellent indoor/outdoor pool!
Day 3: Nauticus and The Victory Rover.
Nauticus is a kind of “all things water” museum, but concentrates heavily on Naval history. The battle ship Wisconsin is also on display here as a free exhibit. The Victory Rover gave tours of the Naval Shipyards. J enjoyed showing S which ships he worked on, but S was pooped and spent most of the tour laying with his head in my lap.
Day 4: Virginia Beach and Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center.
Virginia Beach is GLORIOUS! S and I played for hours in the surf. Teaching him to body surf was really the best part of the whole trip for me. I love the fact there are some things in life that are just as fun after 40 as they were when you were 10. S loved playing in the waves and I was surprised how bold he was considering how timid he was at the water park just two days before. In the afternoon we went to the Aquarium, we had been there before and it is really a great place to go when a break from the sun is needed. BTW, the cafe at the museum is really good, (The black bean burgers ROCK!) better than most of the restaurants in VA Beach and the best museum cafe food anywhere. (And we are dedicated museum goers!) The one exception might be the cafe at the Carnegie Museum of Art, but it is NOT kid friendly.
Day 5: Mt. Vernon and Winchester, VA
Day 5 found us headed toward home, we stopped at Mt. Vernon as a way to break up the drive. The new education center is wonderful. The displays were really visually stunning and there was so much information displayed in ways to be appreciated by all ages. I wish we had not been so tired (the heat was sucking the life from all of us) so we could’ve enjoyed it more. J and I agreed a return trip would be in our future. We spent the night at a hotel in Winchester that we have used 3 or 4 times now. It is nice to have a place that is dependable stop.
Day 6: Home
We arrived about lunch time and began the task of getting back to real life.
Low-Lights, or what I learned on vacation:
1. Reduced rates for children are becoming a thing of the past. Remember when 12 and under always meant a reduced rate? I do! My father had me lie about my age the whole year I was 13. Since I was tall for my age I was frequently scowled at by cashiers. On two occasions my 6 year old son had to pay adult rates. The water park and at a seafood buffet. I kind of get it for the water park; he was tall enough to enjoy all the attractions so he should pay for all the attractions. (Too bad he doesn’t have the nerve of an adult, he stuck to the shallow pools and could not be coxed to try something more adventurous.) I also think this park is catering to families that don’t have budget restrictions. But the restaurant!?! Come on folks! The worst part was that the prices for the buffet were not “revealed” to you until AFTER you were seated at your table salivating over all the goodies you had seen on the steam tables already.
2. Route I-95 is the vacation killer! Every time we have set wheels on this road we loose a minimum of two hours. Avoid this road, go via West Virginia, take a bicycle, walk, but don’t use this road!
3. The Chesapeake Bay is stinky. We had a great hotel, but a beach on the Chesapeake is great for the view and not for swimming. The beach is littered with the carcasses of crabs, enough so that you really have to watch your step when you walk. The shallow water is full of plants and has that “fishy” smell. I thought that our relative closeness to the ocean would provide us with a bit of surf, but there was none. Occasionally a passing ship would cause a few waves and help tidy the beach a bit. If you swam out a bit you can normally find shallow areas on sand bars that are far cleaner for swimming. However, getting little ones out there requires a raft and an adult who is a strong swimmer. After J watched S and I swim at Virginia Beach he mentioned to me he would pay twice as much for an inferior hotel so we would have better swimming the next time we went there on vacation. ( I hope I can get that in writing.)
4. After 20 years of marriage I still have things to learn about my husband. Our definitions of fun are farther apart than I would like to admit. As we age there are somethings that require more discussion than they used to.
5. Beware of revisionist history. It is everywhere and quite prevalent at Mt. Vernon. J and I discussed the image of George Washington portrayed by the museum. We agreed that we would prefer that our child(ren) learn that he was a guy who made mistakes like the rest of us, but was still really a marvelous person. What the exhibits at Mt. Vernon showed us was bordering on historical fiction.
6. If you are depending on an attraction to be a major part of your vacation it would be worth your time to call ahead and ask, “Is there any construction or changes from your brochure I should know about?”. The restaurant at Nauticus is closed, pretty permanently it seemed. The only clue we had was when we walked up to the entrance and found it utterly vacant. We then had to walk three blocks with a tired and hungry child in the mid-afternoon heat, sun and humidity of Norfolk to a food court in a lame tourist mall. This definitely ate up more time and energy than we would’ve chosen. At the Virginia Aquarium about 1/2 of the exhibit space is under major renovation. Not only did it mean that there was a lot less museum to see, but that the same number of people were crammed into 1/2 the space. Fortunately, they have retained the most popular exhibits such as the sting ray touch tank.
7. The deck of a battle ship is very hot!
Returning home is always a let down. Additionally, I am disappointed that we have not had any adoption news, but not surprised. There are only 3 weeks left until school starts and I am grateful to be busy. Work and family have always been comforting distractions, and it seems both will be more distracting than usual. I will need it.
