All Over the Place: Episode 1

It has been a pretty crazy week; here's a re-cap (in 2 parts):

My mom & Carl were going to come down to Virginia to spend Thanksgiving with Brian & me.  But, the Navy's plans changed, and my husband wasn't going to make it home in time...  So, I re-arranged some things :-)

A week ago today (Sunday), was my last day in Rochester.  I enjoyed church, and got to see many of the people I love dearly.  I came home and hung out around the house, and finished up my packing.  Around 8 pm that night, inspiration struck: since my parents canceled their plans to come to Virginia, I thought that maybe my mom would want to drive down to VA Beach with me to spend a day, and then I would put her on a plane home.  It didn't take much to convince her that this was a good plan.

Monday mom & I drove down to Virginia Beach.  We stopped at a couple places on our way:

- Messiah College, where Brian (and his sister Laura) went to school.  It is right on the way, so it was easy to swing by so she could take a look.  She thought the covered bridge was neat.  She didn't find the pedestrian bridge (that sways as you walk across) quite as cool.

- Gettysburg.  I'd visited with the Dahl's a few years ago, but my mom had never been.  We didn't spend nearly as much time as most tourists, but she did get to walk on a battlefield (Cemetery Hill).

-Steak 'N Shake.  This was my favorite restaurant as a kid, and since we don't have them in Rochester, visits there had been few & far between.  It had probably been 20 years since my mom & I were at a Steak 'N Shake together!

... also... I thought about stopping at Reptile Land on Route 15.  Does anyone else know what I'm talking about??  Anyone ever actually visited?  Every time I pass it, I say I will stop, and never do ;-)

Due to all our stops, when we reached Brian's & my apartment, it was getting late & we were both tired.  It was pretty much straight to bed for both of us!

The next day (Tuesday) I took care of some business things (we hadn't checked our mail in about a month, ugh!) and then mom & I drove over to the Naval Base.  I needed to get security decals for my car, so that was our first stop.  Once I got those, I could drive all over the base, and give her a tour.  The USS Helena (another sub in Brian's fleet) offered us a tour of their sub, but we declined ;-)  ...  I think her favorite stop was to the NEX (which is short for Navy Exchange), and is essentially a huge department store (with low prices & no sales tax!!).

Then we stopped for lunch, and headed to Virginia Beach front.  It was an ok day out; no rain, but it was overcast and windy.  We walked on the beach, and then went into some stores on the boardwalk, and then went back to the beach, back to the boardwalk, etc...

BTW- for anyone who has been to Virginia Beach, hurricane Sandy really did a number on the ocean front.  The beach itself has shrunk at least 50%, and the news is reporting that they will need to truck in 12 million dollars worth of sand to have it ready for Memorial Day next summer.

After the beach, we did a little shopping and then hit the Chick-Fil-A drive-tru.  This was mom's first CFA experience- she says she liked it!!

Then early Wednesday morning we finished loading up the car, and I drove mom to the airport in Norfolk.  It was really nice having her come down with me; hopefully next time she'll be able to spend more time in Virginia!!

Once she was off, I started the second leg of my trip and drove back down to Kings Bay Georgia...  Stay tuned for recap of the second part of my trip soon!!