How I Enjoy the Beach

Last month I was in Virginia Beach. We had planned several afternoons at the beach, because my husband is totally into that. Unfortunately, the weather didn't totally cooperate with those plans. As much as I like the beach, just hanging out there for hours is not really my thing and I rarely get in the water. Yes, maybe I'm not all that fun to some people, but I like to enjoy the beach in my own way. It also means I'm making more out of my trip.

Seafood! There's always bound to be some delicious seafood when you're near the ocean. The fun is trying different dishes and seeing how they differ from the seafood you have at home and have eaten other places. One of my favorite things about Virginia is hushpuppies. While not technically seafood, they do come with fish and are totally worth the whole trip to me. 

Eric mad about his rapidly melting cone

The boardwalk - This is great for getting exercise, seeing the beautiful coastline and people watching. It's also perfect for enjoying seaside treats without them getting all sandy. Eric and I checked off eating ice cream at the beach from our Summer wish list.

The aquarium - Cities by the beach almost always have an aquarium, where you can check out some of the local marine life without getting in the water. Of course, even if you did get in the water, you probably wouldn't see most of the animals there, so you're actually getting a better view. Some facilities also have other animals you may find in the area, as the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center did. while we saw sharks, sea turtles, sturgeon and other fish, they also had komodo dragons, which a fun viewing bubble.

Lighthouses - As many times as I've been to the beach, even in Oregon, I've never actually visited a lighthouse. For some reason, I always assume they're haunted. Is it just me? Not that that's the reason I've never been, since I love visiting abandoned and possibly haunted places. Well, I didn't meet a ghost at the Cape Henry Lighthouse, but it was the middle of the day and there are not stories that suggest it might be even the tiniest bit haunted.

Reading and people watching on the beach - Yes, just because I don't usually just sit on the beach doesn't mean I don't ever. While Eric tested out the waters, I read up on things to do in the area that I might not have known about, enjoyed the sunny day and watched the people around me having a good time building sandcastles and surfing.

I'll write more about the cool things to do in Virginia Beach and include a lot more photos. In the meantime, what are your favorite ways to enjoy the beach?

Top 10 Apps for Your Travels

Sometimes, you just need an app to get through life. I rely heavily on my weather app, when I'm at home and when I travel, but one of my other favorites is Voxer. It's a messaging app that doesn't use up data like your texts do, plus it's free, so you don't have to pay for international texts when you go out of the country. It works with WiFi and it enabled me to send text of any length, pictures and even voice messages to anyone with the app. If you don't have a WiFi connection, you can still "send" them and they will push through when you do. I love this list of apps, especially TripIt, which I find invaluable every time I travel. The only app I'd replace is Yelp. I'd use TripAdvisor instead, as it is less biased and a lot better for restaurants and other activities, since it encompasses pretty much anything you'd do on a trip.

Do you have a favorite travel app that you can't live without?

Washington, DC in Pictures

Last month I was on the east coast and we spent three days in Washington, DC. You may have read my last post on how I stayed in an Airstream trailer through Airbnb in Arlington. We did quite a bit on our short trip to our nation's capitol, but three days was simply not enough to do everything we hoped to do. In fact, I have a feeling we may not have gotten to everything we wanted on a two week vacation. I'll go more in depth about this trip over the coming weeks, but for now, I though it would be fun to share some of the many photos I took.

a flower in the children's garden of the U.S. Botanic Garden & Conservatory

planes used to be so much smaller

...and, ironically, much more comfortable.

I love how funky the Madame Tussaud's building is compared to the rest of the block

a heroic government pigeon spy

The opening of the 50 Years of Bond Villains exhibit at the Spy Museum

Large portions of the actual Berlin Wall

You know I never go anywhere without trying some delicious foods. 

Yorkshire pudding and chicken curry poutine from Elephant & Castle

Lamb and other kinds of handmade sausages at the farmers' market

Visitors waiting to get into the White House

Unbelievable picture from the top of the Washington Monument

Washington Monument as seen from the Lincoln Memorial

Good ol' Honest Abe

Time to fly. A lovely picture of the city and the Potomac from the airplane window

If you want to find ways to spend your short trip in DC before I share more, you can read Krizstina Williams's guest post and another one I did after that on saving money there. If you visited DC, what were some of your favorite things to do there?