Monday 9 June 2014

Headed south - Busking and basking in Virginia Beach

We arrived in Virginia Beach near dusk having visited it's sleepy brother the port city of Norfolk earlier that day, the beach was a bustling circus it being memorial day weekend , the boardwalk filled with bikini girls , long boarders , families , tourists, dogs, shutterbugs and us. Surprisingly few buskers but there were some, the cops were laid back looking cruising around in beach buggies the sun was shinning and everyone seemed in a good state of mind.
We arrived late at first landing national park we were hoping to be able to park overnight for free but that was not happening the parks camp ground was even full , but thanks to a last minute cancelation we managed to snag the last spot. Running water , showers even beach access we were all thankful for the much needed break , we raced down to the beach for a late afternoon swim and though the water was too cold for the Virginians Calhoun proclaimed it to be "just right" , and jumped right in I found it to cold but did soak my feet in the lapping surf it felt wonderful after near a week in the hardwoo. We only spent a night at first landing it being a beautiful but very expensive camp ground , next morning we explored some of the parks trails before heading back down town to suss out the busking scene.
Yes! they really have these ! 
 The park was voted one of the top 10 in America and you can see why, gorgeous shaded canopies entwined with mystical hanging moss , soft sandy beaches and peaceful wet land board walks run all through the park.
Down town the bustle had lessened but so had the outrageous parking prices which was a relief , we got there fairly early in the afternoon and worked the expansive boardwalk for a couple of hours making fair money given the slowness of the foot traffic, we did another set performing till the sun started getting low we wanted to make it to our chosen base at the Chesapeake camp ground before night fall . We pulled in as the sun was
going down tired and hot ready to eat and sleep and hoping the pool wasn't closed yet (it was ) . our bellies filled we crashed in the back of the hardwoo , too tired to bother with the tent.
sushi at Chesapeake
Next day we woke up early and headed into town to make some money, the board walk was still fairly busy though no where near the circus it had been the day before, after a couple of hours working in the baking noon sun over heating and coming all to close to sun stroke we decided that our game plan had to change. Grabbed a frogurt  at the most insane frozen yogurt store I've ever seen (sweet frog) where you can pick from an array of wacky flavors , I opted for cotton candy, key lime and a sugarless vanilla , layered with mango balls , shaved coconut and kiwi slices , Calhoun went the whole hog layering his with a half dozen different candies and topping it all with syrup. munching our delectable treats we discussed the rest of the day deciding to chill until the shadows got long enough for busking to be comfortable.
The rest of the week we continued with the plan not coming into town until mid afternoon and working until the drunks started to get rowdy, you wouldn't believe the amount of drunk preppy guys on VA beach want to hula hoop so much so we picked up a cheap spare to indulge the fools , actually thinking of making a you tube compilation of them for everyone's amusement.
The Dismal Swamp Canal
We ended up getting a week rate at Chesapeake it was a pleasant little campground with cool pools, hot showers, internet and even a little farm with ponies and horses. It was located directly opposite The Dismal swamp cannel , so we rented a canoe from the camp ground (yes they did boat rentals too) for the reasonable rate of 2 dollars an hour, one day and decided to check it out, apparently it runs from Maine to Florida something that bears further research for a potential future kayaking trip.
Our week in VA beach wound to a close we departed to pick up our next ride share on our way to The Blue Ridge mountains. He was an exuberant food enthusiast and was all to happy to impart his vast knowledge of local delicacies upon us , we were happy for the tips southern cooking being high on our wish list, by the time we parted way our mouths were watering. 

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