Virginia Aquarium and Virginia Beach- Wednesday, February 21, 2024

 

    It was time to leave the Outer Banks, and we were ready to go.  We had fun exploring, but the wind made it too cold to enjoy it as much as we might have.  Actually, Julie tried yesterday to see if we could cancel yesterday's hotel and the next two nights in Virginia Beach, but our reservations were non-cancellable.  So we'll make the best of it.

      We actually had a nice sunrise this morning, and we were all up to see it.  This hotel had breakfast, so we went down to that and then packed the car up.  This hotel was kind of weird because you had to get an elevator from the ground floor to the "1st floor" (i.e., beach level), then you had to switch elevators to go to our fourth floor room.  That makes it seem like you're going deep into the building.  The hallway on our floor has that same Disney-like smell that was in the lobby of our last hotel.  We asked the front desk clerk about it and she says it is a smell that is piped in.  [Tonight's hotel has it as well.]  

      Originally, we told ourselves that we weren't going to go to both the North Carolina Aquarium and the Virginia Aquarium, but Abby had such fun running from fish to fish yesterday that we decided to do both.  We had been to the Virginia Aquarium with her sisters at least once, back in 2011 and we knew we liked it.  We arrived at the aquarium in Virginia Beach by 10:00.  We were pleased to see that our Buffalo Zoo membership got us half-off admission and Abby got in free.

      As we entered the exhibits, Scott liked the sign for the "Snot Otter" but couldn't find the salamander that it was referring to.  Nearby Abby found two seahorses clinging to some grasses by her face and then touched a meteorite.  The first thing Julie liked was the big Komodo dragon who was prowling around his cage.  Abby went out to the bubble in the middle of the dragon's cage like her sisters had done before her, but it was covered with dust this time and was hard to see out of.  SCUBA divers were working and cleaning a few of the larger tanks to day.  One waved to Abby as she was walking through the glass tunnel.  

     Mom and Dad liked watching the large glass wall with sharks and large fish swimming behind it.  There's a nice place to sit and just watch them swim by with peaceful music playing.  They could have just sat and watched the fish swim for a long time.  At one point a sea turtle swam by and seemed to say hello to Abby.  She liked that, but she spent even more time around the corner, clicking switches as the commander of a pretend submarine.  Abby liked "helping everyone" as she told some younger children what to do.  A puffer fish seemed interested in watching her do this and was right up in the window in front of her.

     The rays didn't seem to want to be touched today, but Abby had fun touching the hermit crabs and a purple whelk.  Scott liked spotting pelicans out on the Owl River, which the aquarium overlooks.  By then we were almost done with the North Building.  We visited the gift shop and we were not surprised that yesterday's mermaid now has a friend.  The new mermaid has blonde hair, "like mine," Abby says and her name seems to be "Mermaid's Friend," at least for now.  She has a crab that came with her.   We ate at the Mermaid's Bay Cafe, and then went through a maze that taught about the rainforest with several activities.  Abby was hard to follow because she was excited about seeing what was around the next corner.

     We took the 0.3 mile Nature Walk to the South Building.  Both the walk and the South Building have changed a lot since the other girls were here.  The South Building has an otter exhibit, which it had when we were here before.  We watched them play for a while when we were with Anna and Emma, but the two otters today were just sleeping in the corner.  The building also has an exhibit on jellyfish, and Abby got to touch the top of one in the touch tank.  Behind glass windows, you can see the veterinarians and other technicians and scientists working.  They had a cute display for little kids that let them test several different animals to see what was wrong with them.  An otter, a ray, an owl, and a komodo dragon could all be placed on an examination table to be x-rayed.  Then there were pretend doctor's equipment to treat them.  Abby liked playing here.  There is an outdoor area with sand (and in warmer months, water too).  While Abby was out there, Scott walked back to get the car an bring it to the South Building so Julie and Abby wouldn't have to walk back.

     We made our way into Virginia Beach to our hotel, checked in, and made our way into the parking garage.  It is set up so that we park on the same floor as our room, which makes unpacking easier.  Our room is slightly bigger and nicer than our last two.  It has a couch, which is helpful, but it also has wide big windows that look out onto the balcony and the ocean beyond.  We've got a sliding glass door out onto the balcony instead of the big clunky solid ones that we had before.  The weather seems warmer now, and the cold winds aren't a factor today.  As we look out onto the ocean, Navy fighter jets were flying over.  We couldn't always see them, but we could certainly hear them.  Abby didn't like the noise.

     We spent the later part of the afternoon in the hotel.  Abby and Julie had the salt water pool all to themselves.  Although the water is cold, Abby had a ball.  It was only 4:30 when they got out of the pool, but Julie wanted to put her jammies on to warm up.  For dinner we stayed in the room and had ham sandwiches.  We had bought the stuff for the sandwiches two days ago at the Piggly Wiggly, had been carrying it in and out in the cooler, but hadn't eaten it yet.  Abby settled down for a late nap, and we were settled in for an early end to the afternoon then and spent the rest of the night in the room.

      In other parts of the world, Julie's brother John was texting us throughout the day as they were park hopping from Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disney Studios, to the countries in Epcot, and later to the Magic Kingdom today.  We were a little jealous, but they were having fun.  They told us that Rise of the Resistance was "sick," and they got Scott a souvenir mug that he wanted from Germany in Epcot.