First Days ... Hey there's a beach here!!!

It's been a busy few days since arriving in Virginia and I just now feel like I can stop and catch my breath. I'm about as settled into my apartment as I'm going to get and the dogs really seem to have adjusted without any problems. On Sunday, I started the day by taking the dogs to the beach for the first time. I'm about a mile and a half from Chick's Beach which is on the Chesapeake Bay. The ocean side is about 10 miles down the road but apparently the locals avoid it like the plague because of the sheer volume of tourists, difficulties parking and overall craziness. Unfortunately I can't walk to the beach because of the sporadic nature of sidewalks, but either way it's super close. Dogs are allowed before 10 a.m or after 6 p.m. so we went nice and early in the morning - well early for me which is 9 a.m.. It wasn't crowded but there were a lot of folks walking, throwing sticks into the surf for their dogs, and even leisurely drinking their coffee on a beach chair. It has a really laid back feeling and I'm looking forward to starting my days off here. From where I'm at, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel which takes you up to Delaware is visible and to the south the tall resort hotels. The waves are nice little rollers and the beach is by no means pristine, but it beats the hell out of Lake Michigan or Lake of the Ozarks. As we walked along there are some fabulous houses on the other side of the dunes, sailboats in the sand, and people just hanging out everywhere.

Both dogs were a little leary of the water, and when it would creep up by their feet they would instinctively take a step back. Tosca kept trying to sniff the washed up jellyfish while Oakley was just happily trying to say Hi! to every dog we passed. I was so wishing that I had well behaved dogs ... you know the type that will listen ... even off leash. But anyone who's met my dogs knows that's not the case which is why there aren't any pictures that include them, they were busy wrapping their leashes around my legs as I tried to snap these shots.

I'm not beach savvy, but for a midwestern girl like me - it's absolutely beautiful!