Fast Times in Virginia Beach

I haven't posted much about my temporary home since first getting here, so I thought I'd talk about Virginia Beach a bit. For those of you who haven't been here, the Virginia Beach metro area is the most populated part of Virginia (D.C. metro is larger but consists of two states and the District) and this area is known as Hampton Roads. The towns of Norfolk, Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News, Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach are all kindof blobbed together here, and just a bit north is Williamsburg, Yorktown and other historical touristy type sites. My job is in Norfolk but I live in Virginia Beach right next to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel which crosses the Bay to Delaware. Norfolk is home to the world's largest naval station and is surrounded by the Chesapeake Bay, while Virginia Beach has Bay on one side and Atlantic Ocean on the other. It's the major tourist destination - or I should say tourist trap - for these parts.

Other than the tourism aspect, there is a HUGE military presence in this area. The vast majority of the jobs around here revolve around the many bases scattered through the area. There's the aforementioned Navy station in Norfolk, Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, a Navy hospital in Portsmouth, Langley Air Force Base up in Hampton, I'm right next to Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, and there's a small Army outpost Fort Story just down the road from my apartment which is part of the large Fort Eustis in Newport News. I'm sure there are more but those are some of the big ones off the top of my head. Seeing people in camouflage or uniform is a routine occurrence at the gas pump, as is hearing jet noise in VA Beach. When sitting on the beach, the F/A 18s are constantly flying maneuvers and appear to be cruising right behind the hotels, and you see the occasional big ship heading off to places unknown. This definitely isn't a place where my "Send our kids to college - not Iraq" bumper sticker would have fit in as evidenced by the fact that most of the staff in the NICU have some connection to the military - their spouses, significant others, parents, children etc.

I've spent most of my time in Virginia Beach so that's the part I know best. I live right off the Chesapeake Bay but those beaches aren't the best. The water is murky and a bit smelly and the beaches are not as wide. It's not very commercial though, so nice for walking between the water and the nice homes. The ocean front is where all of the "action" is at. When I first moved here, the tourist season was in high swing. The resort area along the ocean front is just a nightmare to navigate when the tourists are around and parking is ridiculous. Now that we're approaching Fall it's a lot easier to get in and out. When you walk down the ocean front, the only description I can think is "tourist trap." It reminds me of Branson, MO or Gatlinburg, TN where there is just shop after shop of souvenirs and crap. You can walk for blocks and it all seems to repeat itself. I'm sure there are some nice restaurants, but mainly you see ice cream shops, Dairy Queen, pizza and the like. It's not that it's bad, I just can't imagine hanging out there for an extended period of time. The beaches themselves are pretty nice. They're clean and wide and there's plenty of space. The water has a less polluted feel, but from what I'm told in no way compares to the Pacific or the beaches further south. Now that it's not as busy, it's fun to drive down to the oceanfront on my days off - take my beach chair and a book (not to mention floppy hat and TONS of SPF 30) and relax.

One funny thing about Virginia Beach is these signs posted everywhere ... apparently referring to no swearing. They crack me up and are on practically every street corner and at all of the malls in the city.

This week, I visited my first non-beach related site with another travel nurse, the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center. I have to say I wasn't wowed - it in no way compares to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, but it was an interesting afternoon. I did get to see stingrays up close and I suppressed the urge to take exacting revenge on those who killed Steve Irwin (why oh why you bastards!!) They had a shark tank and other exhibits, but none of my pictures really turned out except for these strange looking moonfish. It seemed more like a museum than an aquarium with lots of science/oceanography exhibits, and again it was interesting - I've just been to better.

After the aquarium we went to the oceanfront so that my friend could see the World's Largest Sand Castle. It was built last week for the big Neptune Festival and I had already seen it but was happy to get pictures without hundreds of people in my way. Here are some shots and one with my friend to give you a perspective on it's size.

Only the front is carved but the details are quite stunning and the whole thing was sculpted and built using only sand and water. Pretty cool. Another familiar site on the boardwalk is the statue of King Neptune. I got a good shot of it yesterday.

I'm hoping to see some more sights in the near future and spend more time posting pictures that you might find interesting to my blog! Let me know what you think.