The article won me over with its descriptions of small town charm, a calm and wave-free beach for kids, and good, quality food. Sold! We rented a two bedroom 1.5 bathroom condo for three nights.
It was a pleasant, less than four hour drive from our home and on the way south we stopped in Richmond for a fun, kitschy tuk-tuk ride and then lunch at Secret Sandwich Society. The kids loved the novelty of the tuk-tuk ride and for me, it was nostalgic as I spent five years of my childhood riding tuk-tuks in Bangkok, Thailand. They're a lot more zippy and noisy overseas. This tuk-tuk was electric.
We signed up for a "family scavenger hunt". I was a little disappointed in that I expected we'd be getting out and actually looking for and finding things. We were driven by a few places of note and told, for example, to look for x thing. One of those things was big and obvious, a globe in front of the Science Museum of Virginia. But on another occasion we were supposed to spot three minuscule gnomes on Cary Street as we whizzed by. What a joke. Needless to say, we didn't spot one. Also, while our guide was extremely nice and a safe driver, I felt like we didn't get a lot of information out of her. It would've been nice to learn more about the city without having to ask. Overall, it felt rushed and it left me wanting more. The upside to that is that we all discussed returning to Richmond for a long weekend to discover more like "Breakfast with the Bears" at Maymont. I saw a sign advertising it and asked our driver about it but she had no idea. I googled it and it sounds like a lot of fun, especially for kids - you can buy tickets to watch them feed their resident black bears.
The referenced globe:
There's so much great public art. I'd love to see more or take a mural tour the next time we're in town.
The beach! We drove over open water for part of the time and it reminded me of driving to Key West from Miami thirty-some years ago. Really cool. We could not have stayed in a better, centrally located place. Our rental was on the main drag, Mason Avenue, which meant we were in walking distance, sometimes steps away, from food, shopping, and just a couple blocks from the beach. If we hadn't needed some bottled water from a grocery store outside of town and played mini golf, we wouldn't have used the car at all.
The beach was as kid-friendly as described. The kids mostly played in the sand but the water was so shallow I didn't feel like I had to watch them like hawks. You had to walk out quite a ways for it to even reach mid-thigh. I stepped into the water a few times and it was lovely. We saw ghost crabs, hermit crabs, and mini moon jelly fish. There were seagulls galore and an osprey nest off the fishing pier.
Osprey nest:
I called Aura over to see these cool shells thinking we'd pick them up and take them home but then discovered they were occupied!
I was partial to these black and white seagulls because they made me think of Godiva.
We also spent time playing mini-golf and very serendipitously, while walking to the beach, I noticed a sign in the library advertising a free magic show at the Civic Center ON Aura's birthday! I feel like it was fated because one) I could've not turned my head and seen the sign, no one else in our group did and two) it was a magic show on Aura's birthday - we hired a magician for Aura's birthday party with her friends earlier in the summer so obviously, this is someone who likes magic. It couldn't have been more perfect. And it was a great show. So glad that worked out.
All the food (and dessert) we had was great. Honestly. Not a bad meal. We ate at Deadrise Italian Kitchen, AJ's Bar & Grill (looks rough on the surface but the service is great and the burgers, fries, and macaroni & cheese are delicious - Aura liked it so much we returned for her birthday dinner), Mason Avenue Bakery (we had a quick bite of sandwiches and bagels before hitting the beach but didn't get to enjoy their sweet baked goods because almost everything is a danger to someone with nut allergies), Cowlick's Creamery, and Brown Dog Ice Cream. Brown Dog gets quite a write-up and there was always a long line whenever we looked over there (we finally sampled it for dessert on Aura's birthday, her choice) but I thought Cowlick's was the winner. There was a soft serve place we couldn't get to and a few restaurants we wanted to try but didn't get to either. Our time flew by. But just like our quick jaunt in Richmond, it inspired us to plan a return.
There are some magnificent homes on the back streets which have adorable names like Plum, Peach, Strawberry, and Fig to name a few.
This was a rented "store" front that I don't think was a store at all. I believe the message is clear!
This glimpse into the Handmaid's Tale scared the kids...they have no idea.
On the way home we stopped in Williamsburg and had lunch at the Cheese Shop. And we discovered The Meadows where we had a very decadent dessert. I got the cookie dough topping not realizing how indulgent it would be. These were not little bite-sized cookie dough balls, it was a giant scoop of cookie dough placed on top of the custard. Everyone had some. I loved it but even I had a limit. I couldn't finish it so everyone else helped me. We found out there's one in Reston so we might be in trouble!
I'd be remiss if I didn't include that this trip was so needed by our family. It's been a very difficult year with my health problems and diagnosis and then right before our trip the last, but certainly not least of our cats, Godiva, passed away. We needed to get away from our house that felt empty and wrong without her. Our trip soundtrack was Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" because they reference Lady Godiva. She was always in our thoughts.
