East Coast Tour - Day 16

---

Day 16 - Virginia Beach

We took advantage of staying in one place and slept in a bit. We caught the first shuttle from the campground to the beach and spent a few hours floating in the Atlantic Ocean. The sand was scorching but the water was cool enough to feel good. The slope was gradual enough and the waves mild enough that you could walk out pretty far. Michelle and Tony enjoyed body surfing on the waves while Anne mostly avoided them (the waves). Once we were waterlogged we had lunch at a restaurant on the boardwalk and then headed back to the campground. Atlantic Ave (the street which the Monopoly property is named after) is a long road with dozens of resort hotels (and some very cheap ones), a hundred little shops, many restaurants, and a carnival. We definitely plan to return here on another trip. Back at the campground, Tony and Michelle spent some time at the pool and on the pool waterslides. There is a water park and aquarium just down the road, accessible by shuttle even, but that will be for another day. After some pool time for Michelle and Tony and showers all around we went back to the boardwalk to see some of the sights. We rode the trolley about halfway down Atlantic Avenue and then walked back looking at the shops and other attractions. We went through the Mirror maze and the 3D fun House. Michelle decided she didn't want to lead in the mirror maze after walking into herself one too many times. The Fun House was completly worth the cost. They used a combination of blacklight, optical illusions and 3D glasses to create several rooms of spectactular effects. If you have a pair of 3D glasses sitting around, try looking at our pictures with them on. Next we took a tour of a local Diamond property and then had dinner at a restaurant out on the pier. Michelle had seen a carnival when we were driving down the avenue last night and really wanted to go on some rides since we are going to miss the Mid State Fair this year. She rode several rides, including the ferris Wheel, gravitron, and the swings. The bumper cars were excptional at this carnival and we all took a ride on them. By then we had to catch the last shuttle back to the campground so we could get up early the next morning.

---

Photos

I'm on a bus
The $4.00 per day shuttle from the KOA was well worth the cost. We rode it twice, and parking on the strip is hard to find and expensive during the evening especially.

No Q-bert speak allowed.
What the #@$#!@#@!

Not Quite Bathwater
Certainly not California beach water, but we were expecting warmer. Turned out to be the perfect temperature when the outside head index is 108.

Beachside Dining
Ate at one of the many beachside grills (usually attached to hotels). Good food, and they played excellent rock music.

Which way?
Mirror Mirror on the wall... wait, mirror is the wall... umm.. anyway.. ... who is the prettiest of them all. Me, Me, Me, Me, Me, Me, Me, Me

Reminds me of BIG.
It would activate randomly, and scare kids standing nearby. Funny to watch. Does that make us evil?

Ready for the Fun House
Or perhaps we are making videos for 80's songs.

3D Fun House
One of the coolest things we have seen, and also quite simple. We could do this... hrmmm...

Michelle was dressed to match
I think Michelle's new friends from Roswell would enjoy this.

Virginia Beach Pier
Too bad you have to pay $$ to walk out onto it, even if you are just going to have a quick peer into the ocean.

I'm on a boat
Weeeee... Weeeeeeeeeeee. Oh, it's over? Ok, we can just go again (unlimited wristband)

Spin Zone bumper cars
These were some very cool bumper cars. Lots of control... kind of like that old tank game. And every once in a while, all the cars (even the empty ones) would start spinning in a dance syncronized with the music.