Fort Story

Nathan & Josiah at the top of the lighthouse

The "new" lighthouse

The old lighthouse, circa 1791





Noah & Josiah in the cottage

So, we are back from our little weekend excursion to the seashore. I remember how I used to scoff at people in Minnesota from St. James who would go camping at Cedar Lake...I thought "How can it be a true vacation when you're only 20 minutes from home?". But. Who knew? It is nice to know that if the crap hits the fan, you don't have to drive hundreds of miles to get back to your own bed.

Luckily, the crap didn't hit the fan. We had a lovely time with our friends the Sturgeons and the Banisters (Nathan and Noah are pictured above). We shared our beach cottage with the Banisters--a quick boardwalk walk away from the private beach. And yes, even though temps were in the mid to upper-60s, we spent several hours on the beach. Annika and Josiah had to practice their "surfing". William was more content to simply chase the waves out and then run giggling from them as they came spilling back in.

The storms that tore through here on Saturday night didn't faze us a bit...all of us had supper in our cottage (six adults and seven children!) and then settled in to watch a movie while the lightning and thunder roared over the ocean. We woke to sun and warmer weather on Sunday, so we visited the lighthouse on base. The old lighthouse, circa 1791. Interesting fact: this lighthouse was the first public project constructed via the United States Government. George Washington reviewed and awarded the bid for this project.

After touring the lighthouse, we headed over for lunch in Virginia Beach...CPT Banister joined us there, so we had 14 people for lunch at the pizza place! Luckily, we had the place pretty much to ourselves! We retired back to our cottages to change into beach gear and met on the beach, where we proceeded to spend a couple of cool, windy, but lovely hours enjoying the sand, sun and our friends.

Sorry for the pictures--I didn't take my good camera as I had horrific visions of it winding up in the Atlantic Ocean. I took these with my iPhone, which is why there are no pictures of the beach, since I also had horrified visions of the phone ending up buried in the sand.

It is spring break for us. We're heading out to meet the Banisters at the Norfolk Botanical Garden this afternoon...I will take the good camera and try to get some good shots of the kids in the sprinkler and the azaleas that are in full bloom...and the wisteria...and the camellia. I think warm weather is here to stay in Chesapeake!

I hear it snowed in Minnesota yesterday.