Impressions & Adjustments

I went out last night in downtown Virginia Beach. It's small and easy to navigate. It took about three minutes to find parking on the street. Coming home afterward, I actually felt like I was at home. A rather short period of adjustment, and I'm sure that I'll continue to have different feelings about the move. Virginia Beach is not really my style, as in, I'm a northwesterner/midwesterner at heart and the east coast is very different (as well as the south)... but I think I'll enjoy my time here. 

With a high of 68 today, I headed to the coast for a run on the boardwalk. I picked up a map of the area at the info center and was directed to the lots which are free now, but $10 in the summer. I'm glad to be here in winter for so many reasons, but mostly for crowd avoidance. The boardwalk was full of people strolling and biking. Seeing the ocean on the side reminded me of my time in New Zealand when I used to run up the street and down the stairs to the oceanside promenade. I love the ocean hair, soothing and moist on my face.


Virginia Beach is lacking in hippie-type shops (no surprise there), and overloaded in strip mall Dollar stores, but there's a Trader Joe's on the way to the beach, which will have to suffice for my alternative food tastes while I'm here. It was excessively crowded, and I tried to get through the store without being nailed by a cart or having an anxiety attack from the massive quantities of fellow customers. I loaded up my cart and filled my trunk with enough food to fill my section of the fridge. 


One of my friends said today, "I would imagine you both settle in easier than most.....and flee with your hair on fire sooner too!" I think he's spot on. I'm off to a hopeful start.