Weekend at Va Beach.

After a brief hiatus I've decided it's time to come back to this thing, especially because we actually did something interesting this past weekend. On Friday evening we celebrated two months of marriage with a Starbucks date, something we hadn't done since we've been in Virginia. We ended up talking about deployment for the vast majority of our little date, but it was still really good to leave the apartment and be intentional about talking things out together. We got home just in time to watch some of the Olympics on NBC.

On Saturday morning we packed a suitcase and drove two hours to Virginia Beach. We had originally talked about spending two nights there, but we waited until the last minute to book our hotel and lodging is pricey there anyway. Spending just Saturday night there ended up being a good decision I think. Instead of going to the public beach in the more touristy part of the city, we found a beach that is much quieter. There weren't any hotels there, just many private homes built right on the sand. It was really different seeing yards full of sand rather than grass. I can tell that we picked the beach where more of the locals go. And of course with my VA license plate we looked like locals too. We're some sneaky Illinoisans. ;)

I ended up being brave enough to get over the cold ocean, so we went swimming for a little bit until we both got tired. AJ loved riding the waves and got plenty of saltwater up his nose as a result. We spent the rest of the time relaxing because AJ is so busy during the week. I always feel guilty about taking it easy, but thankfully he helps me not to worry about it. We left at about three, which ended up being a good idea because we had both gotten slightly pink. Getting a little sunburned wasn't hard to do since AJ wears nothing but his uniform and I'm way too impatient to lay out by the pool like other women do.

We drove up to our hotel right on the beach, showered, and had dinner at a raw bar AJ found within walking distance of our hotel. He loves seafood and eats it any chance he gets, and I'm happy to indulge him. He had a bunch of steamed shrimp and crab legs, while I went with a safe crab cake sandwich. After dinner I suggested we take a walk on the boardwalk before we headed back to our hotel to work on our wedding album some more.

Sunday was pretty chill as well. I insisted we go for one last walk by the beach before we headed home. After all, who knows when we'll see the ocean again? AJ suggested we have lunch at a local barbecue place just down the road from our apartment. We each had BBQ pork and it was delicious. I hope we go back one more time. The rest of the day was just spent unpacking, doing housework, sorting Army papers, and preparing a brief for Wednesday. 

So, if I were to conduct an AAR (after action review, something the Army does after doing anything interesting) I would say we accomplished our mission for the weekend.