Beach Blanket Dermabrasion

I've been a terribly indifferent blogger lately, no doubt disappointing all three of my faithful readers. Everyday life keeps me busy, and when I get home I've been too tired to do much more than check my mail when I settle in front of the computer. Nonetheless, I wanted to post a few pictures and let you know what I've been up to recently.

Early April marked three years of sobriety for me, and nine of us piled in our cars and drove out to the country to have a celebratory Sunday dinner. Boy, did we eat like pigs! We went to Tanglewood Ordinary, along Route 6 in Maidens, where the food is served family-style in heaping bowls at your table. There was a whole lot of "Pass the biscuits, please" being said at our table (can anyone name what song that's from? hint: it was the third of June...). We had fried chicken, country ham, pot roast, cornbread, biscuits, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, macaroni & cheese, cole slaw, black-eyed peas, and stewed tomatoes. Everything was made right there, and it was so good it made our toes curl.

We had time to relax on the porch while we waited for everyone to arrive. It couldn't have been a sweeter early Spring day.

Tanglewood Ordinary is much newer than it looks. The original two-room cabin was built in 1928, with additions added in 1935 & 1942. Starting out as a filling station and sandwich shop, it became a well-known honky-tonk with its downstairs dance hall. It was even a popular hang-out for lesbians back in the 1950's.

Below, the countryside stretches away in all directions from the restaurant. This photo was taken from the parking lot.

In early April, I went to a state assembly in Virginia Beach to give a presentation. I stayed at the (new) Cavalier Hotel, and I made sure I was up in time to see the sun rise over the ocean.

The new Cavalier Hotel was built in the 70's, and is a typical high-rise beachfront hotel. Across Atlantic Avenue sits the old Cavalier Hotel, which opened in 1927. The old hotel is only open now during high season. Back in the 20's, the Cavalier boasted its own railway spur which brought guests to its private depot. Guestroom bathtubs offered extra spigots for saltwater baths. One guest must not have found everything to his liking. Adolph Coors, founder of Coors Brewery, plunged to his death from the sixth floor in 1929.

Shuffleboard, anyone? Does anyone know how to play shuffleboard these days?

The coastal winds create sculptured & twisted trees. In areas that aren't trampled constantly by people, foliage just off the beach is dense, lush, and close to the ground.

Take a look at this piece of homemade coffee cake I snagged from the hospitality suite! It pays to be an early riser. The crunchy topping was an inch thick, and the cake paired well with a cup of coffee as I watched the sun climb over the Atlantic.



This past weekend I returned to Virginia Beach with Sadie & Sheldon for an overnight stay. Sheldon found a great bargain on oceanfront rooms by booking in March. We got to the hotel before our rooms were ready, so we walked out to the beach to catch some sun. I had forgotten how windy it is on the beach this early in the season. In high school, my friends & I would go to Fort Story where we could sun on the rocks above the sandy beach.

Saturday afternoon, I endured about thirty minutes of free, painful dermabrasion on the beach in front of the hotel. I lay prone on my beach towel, fruitlessly seeking Nirvana, as stinging sand blasted my skin. When I sat up, there was an outline of me on my sand-encrusted towel. I reflected that sandblasting is the method of carving epitaphs on granite tombstones, and I grumbled that I was returning to the hotel. By then the rooms were ready, and I washed about a half-pound of sand down the drain in the shower. The picture to the left, taken at Fort Story, shows the native seaside foliage when left unhindered. Seen up close, it reminds one of Br'er Rabbit's briar patch.

The photo below was taken from my hotel balcony.


Sunday, after checking out, we rode to Fort Story and took pictures of the lighthouses. Both stand on Cape Henry, and the brick lighthouse dates from 1792, and was the country's first federal construction project under the Constitution.




The newer light was erected in 1881.


Before we returned home, we drove across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, since Sadie had never seen it. Altogether, the bridge linking the mainland to Virginia's Eastern Shore is twenty-three miles long. When I was a tyke, and my grandparents were visiting from Iowa, my grandfather & I would sit on the beach to watch this engineering marvel being constructed. I'm sure that Grandpa's farmer friends heard all about it when he returned home.

The Eastern Shore, below, is a quiet refuge compared to Virginia Beach.


Below, the Sunday morning beachfront as seen from my hotel room.