Virginia Beach- Monday, June 29, 2026

      There was certainly a sadness and pall cast over everything we did today.  Anna told us that she had made the decision to put Winfield to sleep.  We felt horrible about losing him, but even worse about the fact that we couldn't be there for Anna during this time.  He was a huge part of her life and his loss is profound.  He was a good boy.

      Our day was mostly spent driving.  We had planned to go to another beach for Abby, and we picked our old hangout of Virginia Beach.  The GPS said it was about a seven hour drive from Charleston, but we knew it would be longer.  We left Charleston at about 7:30 this morning after breakfast and didn't arrive at our hotel at Virginia Beach until after 5:00 PM.

     We made several stops along the way.  Our first was at a Buc-ee's in Florence, South Carolina.  It was packed with people.  We shopped more than a little there, buying things for Wyatt, Anna and Emma.  Julie got a t-shirt for herself too, and Abby got some South Carolina trinkets.  Shortly after, we drove by South of the Border and noticed how empty it was.  They must have hated it when this Buc-ee's opened.

     Abby has learned that it's fun to stop at the Welcome Centers when we cross state borders, so we stopped at North Carolina's and again at Virginia's.  

      Our original plan for today was to take a detour through Petersburg to stop at King's Barbecue for a meal and a jug or two of their sauce.  They recently reopened their facility after several years of hiatus.  They were a favorite of ours when we lived there.  We were disappointed when we checked their hours and learned that they are closed on Monday.  Since we were going to miss their Carolina-style barbecue, we stopped at a barbecue place in North Carolina.   It was called Daddy D's.  Of course, we tried their pulled pork sandwiches.  We both thought the food was just okay-- not as good as King's and not as good as the lunch we had yesterday.

     We arrived at our hotel on the beach on Atlantic Avenue, it was 77° with a nice breeze blowing and so much nicer than the high 90s and humidity that we left in Charleston.  Abby could hardly contain her excitement.  She was singing "Backyard Beach" (from Phineas and Ferb) as we pulled in.  Our room is on the 6th floor, and we admired the view of the ocean from our little balcony.  Then we went down to the beach to let Abby wade.  

     Abby played for about an hour, but we hadn't eaten dinner yet and were getting hungry.  Since we were at the beach, it seemed appropriate that we ordered a "beach pizza" to test the theory that beach pizzas are usually lousy.  It was.  But we were so hungry we maued it down pretty fast.  Abby had three slices (not counting the cheese, pepperoni and crust that she didn't it).

     Abby wasn't done in the water yet, so after our stomachs settled, we took her to the indoor pool.  It was dark and noisy, but sh had fun going in again.   She started in her vest, but soon took that off and was trying to teach a boy younger than her how to swim.

     When we got back to the room it was after 9:00 and a bright noon had risen over the Atlantic.  Scott enjoyed sitting on the balcony looking at it and the lights on distant ships.  It's noisy outside our room, but still a peaceful scene. 

    Scott has been riding in the back of the car with Abby for the whole trip so far.  He used some of his time today to finish Jeff Shaara's book Rise to Rebellion. a novel about the start of the Revolution.   He had started it way back before his Boston trips last year.  Spoiler alert: They declare independence.  

     250 years ago today, Virginia voted to be a commonwealth, adopted a new constitution, and elected Patrick Henry to be the first non-royal governor.  Scott knew about this anniversary, but oddly hadn't done much searching to see if there were any special ceremonies in Williamsburg or Richmond.  We probably would have ended up there today if he had found any.