Hey everyone, I hope y’all had a good week. I just got back from a 4 day trip to the Virginia Beach area in Norfolk, VA with my best friend and their family. It’s always nice being around open water seeing as PA is pretty much landlocked.
Since Akira is south of me in the Marlton, NJ area, I drove down to spend the night at their house before embarking the next morning on a 5.5 hour drive to VA Beach which took us through DE and MD. My favorite part of the drive to the beach was driving over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Akira, Akira’s sister, Natasha, and I stopped at an overlook on the Bridge for a moment to just look out over the water. After heavy rainfall for almost half the drive, it turned bright and sunny as we entered VA.
Akira’s family rented out a big beach house and above is the view from the back of the house. We could walk right to the water whenever we wanted. Our (meaning Akira/Tash/Gabby (cousin) and Gabby’s friend, Kayla) room was on the bottom level out of three with the middle level having a kitchen and living room. There were also plenty of balconies to relax on and just watch the sunset/sunrise.
Speaking of sunrises, on the second morning is when Akira and woke up at 5:30 in the morning to watch the sunrise on the beach, something, again, that I don’t have the opportunity to do living in NEPA. We watched the sky turn from a calm blue to a fiery orange and sat on the soft, warm sand.
I’ve noticed that wherever I travel, I feel compelled to take detailed/close-up shots of what I’m surrounded with, be it vegetation, the detailing on a car, or this time, sand. I love staring at the way light is reflected off surfaces and how it changes the color of those surfaces, in this case, how the originally cool-toned, tan sand subtly turns into a warmer, more orange-y color. You can also sort of see my foot prints near the bottom of the photo, a reminder of my presence on the sand.
One of my favorite parts of the trip was sitting down with everyone the night before we all left and having dinner. Akira’s mom grew up in Indonesia so it’s common practice to spread out banana leaves on a table and place food (in this case, seafood) on the table for everyone to just pick at. We had to use garbage bags, but it was still the first time I’ve eaten dinner like that. It felt incredibly personal and the food was delicious!
Overall, I had a good time. I always love spending time with Akira and Natasha as I consider them my family. I’m very introverted and like my alone time, so it can be a bit difficult if I’m around a large group of people consistently for days at a time, but other than that, it was fun and I enjoyed being able to spend time near the water. Until next time, I hope everyone has a great rest of their week!!
