From snow to fires!

I left Las Vegas yesterday morning in the chilly morning desert air for the final run towards the west. The sky was pretty hazy, but I figured since it was chilly, it must've been precipitation (in the desert though?!). I got about 30 miles outside of Vegas and started to smell the smoke. It didn't get really bad until I was a little north of Los Angeles when there was actually soot falling out of the sky. Amazingly, about 10 miles south of LA, the sky cleared up and I could hardly tell that there were fires burning out of control behind me.

As I rolled into Whit & Kathie's driveway in the late afternoon yesterday, I couldn't believe that I had ridden over 1500 miles through 5 states! It passed so quickly! OK, the day riding in 40 degree temps didn't pass by that quickly!!! My Harley ran beautifully and mercifully, I didn't encounter any precipitation the whole trip! Once again, I have to marvel at how little we actually need in this world. Two bags on my big plus saddlebags contained all I needed for the week I spent on the road. Admittedly, the key is having a functioning credit card!!! As I left an electronic transaction trail of my journey through the southwest, I thought about how easy it would be for someone to track my path. It's hard to imagine back to a time when folks had to pay cash as they made their way out west! I consider myself pretty flexible when it comes to traveling, but I have to admit to getting annoyed the few times I pulled into a service station that didn't have a pay-at-the-pump pumps! How inconvenient to go inside to pay!!!!

Since I've been in my new state of residence, I've spent my time hanging out with Whit & Kathie. I'm afraid it won't be long before Whit tires of Kathie and I ganging up on him! The presence of my Harley in their garage was the catalyst Whit needed to finally take in his Victory cruiser for service to become road worthy again! He has a sport bike, but I think he realized that we won't be doing many roadtrips if Kathie has to ride on the back of his sport bike for long periods of time!

As always during moves, I'm feeling a bit unsettled. I'm a creature of habit and I get a little frazzled when my things aren't in their "place". I'm going to try to enjoy my last day off the work grid tomorrow before Monday when I'll have to face the hundred or so emails that piled up in my work mailbox during my week on the road. The rest of 2007 will be pretty hectic as I travel back and forth between Colorado and California during this transition time. The saving grace is that I'm in warm weather now and have some friends around me who have incriminating stories about me dating back to my Navy days!!!

I'm not sure what the next adventure will be, but hopefully I'll be reporting that my house in Colorado Springs has rented and that I've found a place to move my things into here in California! I'll go back and add pictures to the posts I did from the road on my blackberry when I can, so feel free to revisit those posts to see how well you visualized my trip!

I'm a winner!

Day 7

This place is a circus! So much going on 24/7 it borders on sensory overload! Yesterday morning I went to the coffee shop in the hotel casino for breakfast. Just like everything in Vegas, it was ridiculously over-priced, but the location at least was great for people-watching. Right out in front of the coffee shop by the slot machines was a film crew shooting a movie. It was around 8:30 a.m. As I walked out, I saw it was Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher shooting a scene. Wow, I thought, they seem to be having lots of fun while working in their chosen profession. Even between takes they were cutting up with the crew.

Down the strip I went to take in the sights. For those who don't like to travel internationally, you could visit most countries right here! The Eiffel Tower is just down the street from gondola rides through Venice inside and outside of a hotel! I watched the water show in front of the Bollagio and wondered what in the world the snapping of the cards meant by the hard-luck folks trying to shove "girl to your room in 20 minutes" cards into the hands of people walking by. Tourists strolled by with drinks in their hands and beads around their necks; kind of like a subdued Mardi Gras without the music.

Right next door to the hotel at which I stayed (Planet Hollywood) was the Harley Davidson Cafe. There's an huge, awesome American flag painted on hanging chains with a couple of real motorcycles hanging from the ceiling in front of it. It was a really cool place with lots of Harley and movie memorabilia.

Around 1:30 p.m. I came back to my hotel to take a little break from walking around all morning. As I passed through the casino, I was surprised to see Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher still shooting the exact same scene! Wow, maybe their jobs aren't so easy! Crowds of people standing around watching them do the same 2-3 minute scene over and over again. They acted just as enthusiastic as they had been acting the scene when I walked by at 8:30 in the morning. As I continued on to my room I decided to throw a few bucks into a slot machine just so I could say that I gambled in Vegas! I played the $1 slots and quickly got bored. I took the $5 left from the $20 I had decided to gamble and put it into a $5 slot machine. I won $25!! Now you're probably thinking that I should capitalize on that luck and play some more. What I did was take my voucher to the cashier window and collected my money! Nothing in life comes for free, so I feel like these little gifts in life should be appreciated but that trying to exploit it will only end in losing (one way or another). So now I'm leaving Vegas as a winner!!!

Last night I went to The Blue Man Group show. I had no idea what is was when I bought the ticket, I had just heard from friends who had seen it that it was worth going to. What a great time!! It's a cross between a comedy, a concert, an optical illusion show and a techno concert! This picture is from the wax museum and not the live show! Oh, before I left for the show around 7:00 p.m. Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher were still out there shooting in the exact same spot! It was a different scene, but they looked like they were still having fun. Actually, they seemed more slap happy than two people having fun! I can't imagine having to be "up" for every scene when you do dozens of them in a row. I have a hard time staying "up" for each presentation when I have to do more than two of them in a day!!

That's all from Vegas. Looks like the fires will not impede my journey west, so today I head for California.

Vegas Baby!

Day 7
Sorry about being a little behind on posting. Tuesday was an off-bike day. Eric and I hung out for a bit, then he dropped me off at a movie theater while he went to work at the airport. I didn't feel like sightseeing around Phoenix, so I decided to relax and watch a movie since I haven't had much time for that lately.

Later in the afternoon, we went to a go-cart race track and raced go-carts that went 45 mph! It was a blast even though Eric beat me by a lap!!

Yesterday I pulled out of Phoenix and started for Las Vegas. Eric's son, Elias, is a little over a year old and didn't know what to think about my Harley when I cranked it off. I assured Eric that if his boy was anything like my brother's kids, he'll be begging for a ride on it in a couple of years!

It was only 300 miles from Phoenix to Las Vegas, but it took pretty much the whole day to get here, since it was smaller roads than interstate. There was a section where I started seeing more and more of some strange looking trees. After a while there was a whole forest of them and then I saw the sign for Joshua Tree National Forest. I had only heard of "Joshua Tree" in the context of rock climbing, I didn't realize it was a real tree!

As I was rumbling down the road towards Vegas, I looked up and saw a sing that said "Next services 75 miles". Wow, even though I had just tanked up and knew I can get close to 200 miles out of a tank, I got an eerie feeling as I gazed up miles and miles of desert for as far as the eye could see. For the first few miles I kept listening for strange noises coming from the engine. About 15 miles into it though, I relaxed with the thought that I take good care of my bike and that I had just checked the oil at the last stop. Besides, how could I not feel calm with an 87 degree breeze rushing over my knees?! I was riding in jeans and a t-shirt as opposed to the 4 layers I was forced to where for much of this trip. I had to chuckle to myself as I spyed huge cactus along the road that looked like they were waving at me. You know the huge ones in the Road Runner cartoons that stand tall like a person with big sausage shaped arms bending up towards the sky?! I felt like stopping and putting a cowboy hat and bandanna on one just so us motorists would feel like there was actually someone out there!

One of the coolest sights of the day was the Hoover Dam. It didn't look like I had expected for some reason. It's huge and it was pretty cool to get to drive over it. I couldn't believe how blue the water of Lake Meade was! It's pretty impressive to see such a huge, gorgeous body of water in the middle of the desert.

Right on the other side of the dam is the border between Arizona and Nevada. The "Welcome to Nevada" sign quickly followed by a casino set the feel of this gambling state right off the bat!

This morning I'm waking up to a beautiful day here on the strip in Las Vegas. Since I'm not much of a gambler, I don't know that I would ever come back here for vacation, so I figured I'd splurge a little and stay right in the middle of the sights and lights so I can just walk to everything. The traffic here was pretty bad when I rolled in last night, so I'm hoping to keep the bike parked for the day and get a little exercise. I'm keeping my eye on the California fires and will decide when to keep heading west based on the advice of my friends in San Diego.

Running south!

Day 4

I woke up yesterday morning to 22 degrees in Gallup, NM! I had breakfast and hung out until around 10:00 a.m. when the temp finally hit 30 degrees. Visions of a warm ride into Phoenix prompted me to ride into the 30 degree morning. Needless to say, I stopped quite often to warm up.

I branched off the interstate onto exit 311 for the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. What a breathtaking place! The pinks and cream colors looked like someone had poured cans of pastel paints over the landscape. It reminded me of how the Grand Canyon looked 4 years ago on a similar road trip, just in miniature form. According to the sign at the lookout point, I was seeing a mountain range over 100 miles away as I gazed into the horizon over the desert.

Further into the National Park, there was an old rusted out car alongside a row of vintage phone poles with no wire connecting them. Although the road itself had long since been removed, the old poles mark what used to be historic Route 66. I'll do a whole other post later on the vintage Route 66 places I encountered along this pathway.

Finally, I thought as I started heading south, I'll get out of these low temperatures associated with altitude. 50 miles into it I realize that not only am I not descending in elevation, I think I'm climbing again! Just as my fingers turn totally numb, I see a sign that confirms my suspicions- Elevation 7700. Are you kidding me?! That's higher than Colorado Springs!!! Note to self...next road trip get a map that clearly shows elevations!!!

Finally, I find myself roaring downhill! By the time I roll into Phoenix, I'm out of the rainsuit and head stocking and enjoying a warmth I'd been longing for for days. I find Eric's house and roll in about dinner time, so we head out to a restaurant for some food and a cold one.

Ironically, I hadn't seen Eric since my last road trip that took me through Arizona 4 years ago. As we reminisced about old shipmates from our Hawaii days we realized that Eric is one of the few of us who still work on airplanes. Eric has his private pilots license but is "between planes" at the moment! So he calls one of his friends who meets us at the airport in a half hour (with his dog Schmedley!) and before I knew it we were flying over the lit up Phoenix landscape. We did something I hadn't done in over a decade: a touch-and-go!!!!

So today I'm hanging out in Phoenix and enjoying the warm weather. I'm in no rush to move on since the wildfires raging in my new home base have everything shut down, including the highway I was going to come in on. I'll roll out of Phoenix tomorrow, though I'm not quite sure where the next destination is yet!

Born to be wild (and freezing)!!!

Day 2

So I guess it's only fitting that since I'm trying to run away from winter that it would follow me! We woke up in Santa Fe to a chilly morning. By 9:00 a.m.we had eaten a quick breakfast and were heading our separate ways. We had tuned into the weather channel before breakfast and were trying to beat the weather challenges facing each of us. Denver had dropped 20 degrees in less than an hour and was getting heavy snow. Suzanne and David needed to get home to their 6 kids before the mountain passes closed. I was trying to beat the 40 to 50 mph gusting winds that would peak late morning.

As I rode the 50 or so miles from Santa Fe to Albuquerque, I debated the route I would take when faced with the choice of continuing south on I-25 to go all the way around the mountains or to swing west when I got to I-40. Recalling that the weather channel showed temps in the 50-60s range, I decided to take a chance and went west.

About 20 miles into the west, I recalled just how unreliable weather guessers can be. Although the winds were gusting enough to push me around my lane, it was mostly a head wind with a little NNW action to keep me on my toes. I think the gusts were just as strong as yesterday, but the direction of them made it easier to navigate. The temp hovered right around 40 degrees and caused me to don long johns, jeans, long sleeved shirt and fleece, leathers and a layer of rainsuit to help block the wind.

I stopped at an Indian trading post somewhere around 50 miles west of Albuquerque and pulled out the map to reevaluate my plan. A hot chocolate and a cup-o-soup later, I still wasn't sure what to do. Then I check my voice messages and listen to a voice message from a Navy buddy named Eric. I had emailed him a few days ago to let him know I would be traveling through Arizona and asked him if he still lived in Phoenix. I called him back and we made plans for me to head towards Phoenix tomorrow. Warmed up and with a sense of purpose to my westward progress, I headed for Gallup, NM about 30 miles away.

I kept seeing billboards for the El Rancho hotel and recalled that it was one of the historic landmarks on old Route 66. I pulled into the parking lot of the hotel-motel and knew that this would be a better experience than staying in nondescript chain lodging. I went in and was cheerily greeted by a woman who recognized that I needed a warm room ASAP! I asked her if there was somewhere safe to park my bike and she told me I could bring it inside. "Um, mam, it's not a scooter, it's a pretty big motorcycle." She walks me to the foyer of the hotel lobby and asks me if it would fit in the corner. "Yes it sure will!" is my amused response. "Well just pull it in right through these double doors, but kill the engine once you're inside, OK?" Okee dokee!!!

So I park my bike and bring my bags up to my room and look around a bit. There are a ton of autographed photos of movie stars who have stayed here. Most are from the 40s and 50s, but I recognized several from the Westerns I used to watch with my dad. I walk down the hall and stopped in my tracks and broke into a chuckle and grin. The background song playing was "Born to be wild"!!!

After a scalding hot shower and some very tasty hot tomales in the hotel restaurant, I'm ready for another day on the road!

Roadtrippin!!

Day 1
Well, I'm officially on my way to California!

Suzanne and David accompanied me in their Ford Excursion down to Santa Fe, New Mexico. They wanted to ride their Harley's too, but the weather is supposed to turn pretty bad in Colorado for their return trip (snow). I got out of Colorado just in time!!

It wasn't long into the road trip before they were thankful that they were in an enclosed vehicle and not exposed on their bikes. The wind from the west was unbelievable! I was literally leaning the bike to my right side into the wind to keep from getting blown over. David said that at some points it looked like I was leaning at a 30 degree angle! That was definitely the hardest I've ever worked on my bike and I was pretty exhausted by the time we pulled into Santa Fe 6 hours later. Minus the hour we stopped for lunch, I fought the wind for the majority of the trip.

Once in Santa Fe though, we had a great meal at one of Suzanne and David's favorite places here. I took pics, but I'm doing this post from my Blackberry and am unable to download pictures [I've added them at the end of the trip!]. So if you don't mind the story without pictures and a few misspelled words, check back in for updates on my progress towards the West!

Today Suzanne and David head back to Colorado and the weather report this morning will determine if I go through Flagstaff or if I have to go south some more all the way around the mountains. Keep your fingers crossed for me for a little less wind today. I'm not complaining though, I'll take wind gusts of 40 mph in 80 degree temps any day over a light breeze and 40 degrees!!!

Pikes Peak and Road Trip

The last 8 days have been beyond hectic.

Friday (Oct 12): full day at work, fly out to Los Angeles at 5:30 p.m.. for a High Performance summit with beach volleyball players

Saturday (Oct 13): full day of presentations and individual sessions, team dinner

Sunday (Oct 14): morning of presentations and individual sessions, arrive at airport for scheduled 5:30 pm flight. Several delays and two airport meals later, we arrive in Denver too late to catch the last flight to Colorado Springs. We rent a car and drive in the rain from Denver to colorado Springs and arrive at home finally at 1:00 a.m.

Monday (Oct 15): day starts at 9:00 a.m. with the women's national water polo team training camp. Pack up most of my office.

Tuesday (Oct 16): full day of meetings that end at around 6:30 p.m. Finish packing office and bring to transportation to be taken to Chula Vista.

Wednesday (Oct 17): arrive at OTC at 5:15 p.m. for team building hike up Pikes Peak. Realize i don't know where my purse is, assume it's in my office and think to myself that I'll look in my office when we get back from the hike. 6.5 miles into the hike, we find ourselves at Bar Camp at 10,000 ft. Half the group decides to continue on to Pikes Peak and the other half of us hang out at Bar Camp to wait for the cog railway up to the summit. We played Pictionary and hung out in the warm cabin as the snow began to fall. The summit team is forced to turn around due to weather and the cog train picks them up to join us on the ride down. It was 16 degrees F with 40 mph wind gusts at the summit. We get back down to the Springs around 5:30 p.m. Go to my office to pick up my purse. It's not there! Tear apart my office, the room where the presentation was on Tuesday night, my car, my house and every path between all these. Give up the search and go home to finish painting. Get to bed around 10:30 p.m. after a mini melt-down.

Thursday (Oct 18): Cancel all appointments for the day and spend the day contacting security and lost & founds on complex. Realize the purse won't turn up and start to cancel credit and debit cards and change PINs and website passwords (all in my purse because I was moving). Borrow a truck, donate bed and VW Fox. Hire cleaning lady (finally admitted I just don't have time to do it myself) and get repairman over to my house to do check-up on furnace for the winter. Finish packing up house. Pack Harley and move to Suzanne & David's house.

Friday (Oct 19): Go into work by 7:00 a.m. and start meeting with athletes at 8:00 a.m. Go to DMV to get new driver's license. 12:00-3:30 p.m. team building with co-workers. 4:00 p.m. get call from post office. Somone put my purse in a mail deposit box and they have it for me to pick up. Say very quick goodbye to few co-workers I run into on my way out the door as I run out to the post office. $100 in cash in purse was stolen, everything else in purse still there (including now cancelled credit and debit card and driver's license!) Have dinner in the evening with riding friends and here I sit updating you on why I haven't been in touch with friends and family! Sorry that i don't have any pictures to accompany this story, but my laptop is on it's way to California!

Tomorrow morning the road trip starts. I've decided to leave later in the morning so I can catch up on some much needed rest and so it'll warm up for the ride. The first segment of the road trip adventure will be from here to Sante Fe, New Mexico. The weather at that point will determine where I go from there.

Stay tuned for the road trip. . .

Pack-out day!

Although most of the readers of this blog are voyeurs (read but don't comment), I still hear about it in phone calls when I'm falling behind! I figured I'd post in pictures my excuse for not keeping up lately! This first picture is of my living room on any normal day (OK, after I've straightened up a bit anyway!).

I love my little house with the open living area and hardwood floors and the great pergola out back, but I just don't like the geography in which it sits. Not just the dead lawn, but the latitude! The crispness in the air and the fact that I woke up 3 times last night freezing all served to remind me why you see all my belongings in the second picture in boxes! My relocation to San Diego isn't only official, it's in progress!!! For the last few weeks, I've been purging my belongings and boxing up the items that have passed muster. Basically, I purged with one basic fact in the back of my mind: that I'll probably be moving from 1000 sq ft of living space to about 700 if I'm lucky. Square footage in San Diego ain't cheap!!!

So, on top of packing, I've been doing due diligence as a homeowner and making sure all the maintenance is up to date before I roll out. This last picture is my living room empty. I had everything packed up and ready to go for when the movers arrived at 10:00 a.m. Even after all that purging, I still ended up shipping just over 3000 lbs of goods. For those of you who have done military moves, you know that isn't a whole lot. In fact, it's about the same weight of stuff I shipped back from Spain! I guess I haven't collected all that much stuff in the last decade! I had to chuckle though as I approved the shipping documents- 1/2 of the boxes were filled with kitchen stuff and 1/4 were filled with photos, photo albums, and pictures of my travels that I had blown up and had hanging on the walls. Hmmmm, wonder what that says about me?!

I'm in town until Friday, then I head out to Los Angeles to work with beach volleyball again. I get back Sunday for a full week with a team in town, then I roll out on my Harley heading towards California on the 20th! Time is getting short and so is my window of snowless opportunity! Stay tuned for the road-trip saga!

Washington, DC

Wow, what a sightseeing day this turned out to be! I was a little hesitant to take the rental car all the way into DC since I had heard how horrible it was to park a car there. I had been to DC a few times in the past, but I hadn't driven. The last time was when I was running the Marine Corp Marathon in 2003, so there were a lot of new things to see.



I drove straight to Arlington Cemetary and parked the car there for the day. Arlington is always such a grounding experience, especially watching the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldiers. It was a beautiful, though crisp day, so I hung out and waited for the changing of the guard. I was so caught up in the whole experience that I just about jumped out of my skin when I heard someone's cell phone ring shattering the silence. Then the realization hit me, IT WAS MINE! Not only is my ringtone a country song (Summertime), it's on loud because I'm a little hard of hearing and I have a hard time hearing the ring. As I rip my purse open and start scrambling around for the offensive electronic device, my ringtone gets through a full verse before I put my fingers on it and hold down the off button in horror. So, I'm usually the one who glares at a person who's cell phone goes off at an inappropriate time, and now it was me. I wanted to shrivel up and disappear in embarassment. Especially as a veteran at such a revered event on hallowed ground. The universe sometimes has the most effective ways of reminding us that we are all human and make mistakes and that none of us are perfect. . . OK, lesson learned!!!



As I recovered from my humbling experience, I walked around the grounds (with cell phone firmly OFF), I ended up at the Women's Military Memorial. If you ever find yourself at this memorial on the edge of Arlington Cemetary, you have to go in and check out the computer registry. I registered a few years ago, so I pulled up my profile inside. What a strange feeling to be in such a historical place and see my own face and military career summary on a big screen on the wall! If you know any female veterans, make sure you get them registered in this living history data bank.



Just across the Potomic River is the National Mall with all the memorials and government buildings (map). The first memorial you come to after crossing the bridge is the Lincoln Memorial. At the top of the stairs, you can look out across the reflecting pool and see clear down to the top of the Capitol behind the Washington Monument.



From there, I walked through the Korean War Memorial with it's larger than life soldier sculptures walking through a field. Directly across the Reflection Pool is the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. Just as when I saw this black granite wall for the first time, I teared up. As I gazed at so many names on the wall, I had to choke back a sob as I recalled one name I am so grateful that isn't up there. My Pyran (Cajun for Godfather) Wayne served in Vietnam and made it home where he met the hippie who's had a profound effect on my personality, my Aunt Ruth. I'm so glad this memorial was put here for us to remember, both the fallen and the ones who returned.



The same could be said for all the memorials in DC, especially for the World War II Memorial finally built just a few years ago. It's a majestic tribute to those who both participated and were devestated by WWII that's flanked on each side with columns representing the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of operation. Tall pillars all around the memorial represent each of the states and territories.



The last memorial on my foot tour was the U.S. Navy Memorial. Somehow I had missed this one on previous visits. The statue Lone Sailor stands watch on a granite 100-foot diameter map of the world. Water taken from all seven seas cycle through the fountain pools at the foot of the map.



You may notice that the White House was not part of my tour. That's because I had already gotten a great tour back in 2000 by Whit when he was stationed there!



All told, at the end of my walking tour, I had covered a little over 7 miles. With so much walking, I had worked up an appetite and it was time to meet a shipmate for dinner.



I call him a shipmate, but he was actually my Commanding Officer when I was in VQ-2. I have to admit that even after being a civilian for a decade, it's still weird to call my old skipper by his first name!! I had tracked down Rob a little over a year ago to send him a thank you note. On a flight back from a det to Souda Bay a little over 10 years ago, he took the time to discuss my plans for the future with me and encouraged me to follow my college degree seeking aspirations. I've said many times that I have been very fortunate both in the military and as a civilian to have had some strong mentors and advisors. Rob was one of those, so I sent him an email letting him know that his decision to let me out of the Navy a few months early turned out to be a great decision and that I had turned out alright. I'm sure he usually hears about his sailors who have gotten out and haven't done so well for themselves, so I wanted him to hear from someone who had taken advantage of all the opportunities the Navy had opened up for her and was fairly successful in her career.



We met up at a tapas restaurant called Las Tapas where we had a nostalgic (and authentic tasting) meal reminiscent of our Rota, Spain days. I love catching up with old shipmates to see where their paths took them after the duty station we shared. I especially love catching up with those who's paths turned out to be very successful as Rob's had.



After dinner, I made an uneventful drive back down to Virginia Beach where I finally did a little work on this trip! Since my return to Colorado Springs, I have been swimming in work, both professionally and personally. I'll post later and catch you up on those! As always, thanks for checking in!!

Virginia Beach

I'm in the process of packing up my house and office for my relocation (I'll post on that later!), so I'm way behind on the happenings in my hectic life. Four days after I got back from New England, I got on a plane headed for the east coast again. This time it was business and I was headed to Virginia Beach, VA to work with the women's Field Hockey Team. In true Karen-fashion, I arrived in Virginia Beach two days before I needed to be there in order to do a little sightseeing.




One of the best side-benefits of being in the Navy for two tours was that I made friends who are now strewn across the U.S. There aren't many towns I can roll into that I don't have an old shipmate's number in my cell phone. As luck would have it, Virginia Beach was one of the duty stations of my Navy nurse friend Stephanie (see previous post to see what she's doing now!). So I pull over in my rental car and call Steph on my cell phone.



Steph, I'm in Virginia Beach and I want some good seafood. Any suggestions?


Where are you exactly?


I just passed Fort Story on Shore Drive.


Are you kidding me? I still own a house just a couple of miles from there!! Keep driving along Shore Drive and right before the Lynnhaven Bridge, take a left and go to a place called "Chick's Oyster Bar". All the locals go there, you'll love it.


I pull up and immediately know that this is going to be some good food. I sat out on the back dock and had the most amazing blue crab crab cakes I've ever eaten! They were grilled, not fried and were so moist and had that distinctive blue crab sweetness that it didn't need any type of sauce or dip. Scrumptious I tell you! Sorry about not having pictures of the crab cakes. Sometimes it doesn't feel right to whip out my camera and start snapping pictures of my food. This was one of those times, so you'll just have to use your imagination!

I sat on the back deck which was a docking pier and enjoyed the sunset over a scene that could've been along any bayou in South Louisiana. Man do I love coastlines!!!!

Unfortunately, the weather turned chilly (figures!) and it wasn't such good beach weather. No worries, I'll drive the 3 hours up to Washington, DC to do a little sightseeing on my day off!