south of the mason dixon line.

we just got back from our annual trip to Virginia Beach. oddly enough, i am not a really beach-y person. i burn pretty easily and prefer temperatures around 72 degrees. i did get a bit of sunburn even with SPF 45, but i fared a bit better than adam. he managed to sunburn his inner thighs (honestly there isn't a lurid explanation) which is understandably uncomfortable. it could have been worse considering he almost used Icy Hot instead of a similarly blue colored sunburn lotion as a pain reliever.
we drove down in the CR-V because it's still cheaper than flying. plus, you can't really get a feeling for distance and place if you don't drive. Stephen King's, Cell was our driving entertainment (what is up with that ending?!?!). we stopped at Shucker's Pier 13 in Dover, DE on the way down. i don't eat seafood, but they had grilled vegetable and cheese sandwiches and the food was cheap. the atmosphere was odd to say the least, topped off by what could only be explained as significant blood splatter on the inside of the women's bathroom stall door. on the way back home we stopped at the Dog House in New Castle, DE per the recommendation of Roadfood.com. again, i dined like a true vegetarian on the cheese fries (which were stellar), but adam got two of their famous foot long chili dogs. you can't get that on a plane!
we also ate well while in vb; mary's, captain george's, croc's, not to mention karen's home cooking, but i could go on forever about food...
i got to spend some good QT with my father; riding bicycles, chilling on the beach and staying up until all hours drinking and talking. adam partook a bit too heavily of the drinking part, but recovered enough to go to First Landing State Park the next day to check out the cypress swamps and ospreys.
to break up the trip back we got a hotel room in Paramus, NJ. at the hotel we watched 30 Days of Night, an incredibly creepy and disturbing flick which seemed pretty appropriate for our overall NJ experience. there is little to say about Paramus, except that there is a lot of shopping. and there's the atrocious Route 17. what is the urban planning logic behind this road? what is up with the u-turns?? why does this road inspire such hate???
anyway, before departing for home we stopped at IKEA and bought what seemed like enough to furnish a small apartment. we then went to CAMPMOR, where we got a new Ruffwear backpack and boots for crosbi (the dog).
an all around good time...thanks to dad and karen for their hospitality and to russell for watching the "kids"!