Virginia Beach, Baby!!

Ryan had never been to Virginia Beach before, and as I mentioned yesterday, I'd not been there for five years.{For a fun throwback time, here is a post from my first view of the ocean five years ago.} So we were pretty excited about our trip and the chance to see a new section of the ocean!

Our Saturday morning was pretty low key. We hung out at Mark and Lynnette's house, bonding with their dogs, Belle and Charlie. Please excuse my bedhead. I feel we are good enough friends that I can post this picture.

Please excuse Ryan's bedhead, too.

 So fun, those two little doggies!!

Mark had some things to do at home that day, so we hit the beach scene with Lynnette. It was a bit cool for beach water, but it was PERFECT weather for just walking the sand and seeing the sights. Wanna peek?

{She actually took us to TWO beaches: a lesser populated, more natural beach, and the big touristy oceanfront beach area.}

These pictures are from the first beach, the lesser populated one. We kicked our shoes off and walked through the sand for a while, listening to water slap against the shore and feeling the perfect breeze and the sun. Heaven on earth.

After we went to the first beach, we took a break for lunch. We tried The Shoreline Grill - a restaurant attached to a hotel by the boardwalk, and although it was chilly by the water, it was too pretty to eat inside, so we ate on the patio. Ryan and I were complete pigs, but lunch was so good!

And then we walked up and down the boardwalk....here's a peek at our fun!

{Crashed a wedding....}

{And a quick remake of a picture in 2010}

After our beach fun, we went home to meet up with Mark, and they took us to a BBQ place Guy Fieri once visited: Whitner's BBQ. I was so full from lunch, I didn't eat much, but it was so good!!!

With full bellies, we went back to Mark and Lynnette's to play with the dogs and watch TV!

Beach day = success. I was so happy to see the ocean again. It seriously makes me happier than it should.

The Great Getaway of 2015

Hope  you're ready for a virtual vacation, because I took 1000 pictures on our vacation. DO NOT WORRY. You don't have to see them all.

This was our first full-week vacation away from home since our cruise the first year we got married. WHAT!?! How did that happen? {It happened because the full week we both took off work in our second year of marriage was our much-loved staycation.} Anyway. This started out as just a long weekend to visit friends, but our dreams grew along the way, and we ended up being gone eight days, during which time we saw 7 states and 2 countries. We {Ryan especially} needed a break from life and work, and this turned out to be a pretty perfect week!

We left home last Friday morning, after MUCH protest from someone in our house:

But, you know, the show must go on:

So we set out...coffee in hand, and began our 738 mile drive. Destination? Virginia Beach!

You guys, we had the most perfect day to drive. I've never seen anything like it before or since. The weather was superb. We did not hit rush hour anywhere. We did not hit construction anywhere. We did not get lost anywhere. It was so weird. So very not Shaffer. But here is the picture of two people who were NOT complaining about the ease of the trip.

We played games, and I read to Ryan while we were in the car. {He has now heard my entire written book of our first year of marriage - AND he said he liked it, so that's a wife/writer win!}

And here are some peeks at our lovely day. From a perfect sunrise...

...to lovely lakes and rivers...

...to the fun of driving in mountains...it was so perfect.

We drove through Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and finally...into Virginia! {Which, apparently, is for lovers. Who knew??}

When we finally got close to Virginia Beach, we had to drive through a tunnel. {An under WATER tunnel.} You can imagine the prayer that went out of me during that excursion.

After eating breakfast on the road, stopping briefly for lunch {we won't discuss that stop as it is not a restaurant we would EVER recommend, and I don't want to be ugly about it on the internet}, and a couple of other quick fuel/coffee stops, we made it to our destination at 8:07 p.m. That was about 2 hours sooner than I ever imagined we would arrive.

We actually stayed with my best friend, Lynnette, and her husband, Mark. I hadn't visited Virginia Beach in five years {I was mid-personal-desert during my last visit} and it was so good to be back and to get to visit with them again!

And guess what?? I MADE A NEW FRIEND!!!

That's Charlie...and he wasn't part of their family last time I visited {or at our wedding, for that matter}. He was my little buddy for my visit, starting with the very minute we walked in the door. Couldn't you just DIE over his cuteness?? I sure could.

So that was the great getaway, day one. All driving, but much fun. Ryan is the best car travel partner EVER.

{Car karaoke}

The Shafferland Shuffle

In case you missed it yesterday...SURPRISE! We went on vacation this past week! In fact, we sneaked out a couple days early at the end of last week, making my picture sharing tricky for last Friday and Saturday! While everything I told you was absolutely true, here are a couple of montages that show a little bit more fully the events of a week ago Friday and Saturday:

* Friday was really filled with an all day road trip that began at 7 a.m. {and the trip to Starbucks you saw} and ended when we arrived at my best friend Lynnette and her husband Mark's house in Virginia Beach, Virginia. {They own the cute dog you saw in last week's Shuffle.} We had THE most perfect day ever for driving. Not one single construction zone. Not one single wreck. Not one single slow down. Nothing. And stunning blue skies, sunshine, and changing leaves made for such a pretty drive. We had a blast in the car, but we were happy to arrive and stretch!

* Saturday, we really did sleep in and eat BBQ and cuddle up to watch TV at night, but there were a few more exciting things throughout the day. We lounged around Mark and Lynnette's house all morning and then we headed TO THE BEACH! Lynnette took us to two different beaches and we had a great time walking through sand, walking down the boardwalk, crashing a wedding, playing with photo props, and so much more. We ended the day eating at a darling little BBQ place and then watching TV.

* Sunday, we went to church with Mark and Lynnette, and then they took us to Colonial Williamsburg. We'd never been before, and again, we had such a pretty day and LOVED being able to run around, having fun, seeing history, and spending great time with my half of our wedding party. {And I won't lie - I kind of wanted to move into some of the houses in Williamsburg! They are adorable! But I would not have wanted to live back in those colonial days!}

* Monday was our last day in Virginia, and Mark and Lynnette took us to the lighthouse at Cape Henry. {Again, in case you have forgotten, I am petrified of heights and enclosed spaces, so climbing lighthouses is a feat for me. But I did it!!} We had another GORGEOUS day - much nicer than was predicted, actually. We had a seafood dinner on the water and ended our day at Mark and Lynnette's favorite coffee shop. A great end to our time in Virginia Beach!

* We left Mark and Lynnette's house early Tuesday morning and drove almost the entire day, headed to our NEXT adventure! The morning's drive was kind of maddening - rush hour and delays and wrong turns and such, but midday, we stopped and visited Furnace Hills coffee roasting company! We'd never seen roasting in action before, and it was exciting! More about this later. We drove all afternoon, up from Virginia, through Maryland, all the way through Pennsylvania, and into New York, and we got a hotel for the night - and it had complimentary coffee and cookies. YUM!!!

* Wednesday, we were THRILLED when the weather report was wrong and our day at Letchworth State Park in New York went splendidly! I can't wait to show you more of the pictures, but we hit a stunning leaf season to drive and hike through this beautiful park that is voted the number one state park in the nation for a very good reason. We spent the entire day in the park, ate dinner before 5:00 {LOL!!!!} and then spent the evening resting our aching feet. Hiking uphill is a change of pace for these flat-land midwesterners!!

* Thursday morning we had our shortest drive of the whole trip: an hour and a half to the great sight of Niagara Falls! It was Ryan's first ever trip to the Falls, and my third. {Second that I remember. I was two months old the first time.} Though the day had been slated for cold and rain, it was warm and sunny and STUNNING. There weren't a ton of people there, so we had plenty of room to move around, take pictures, see beautiful fall leaves, and take our first trek into CANADA! Though our legs almost fell off at the end of the day from all the walking, it was a lovely day in every way.

* Friday morning, we took our time getting ready and packed up, walked back down to the Falls one more time for a goodbye look, and left New York shortly before lunch. The drive home was every bit as annoying as our drive TO vacation had been NOT annoying. We had construction delays, rush hour, and didn't get home until 10 p.m. But we enjoyed our day on the road together and decided it was the best end to our vacation! {Plus I got to stop at Sonic, so I was VERY happy for that!!}  Thankful to be home with our girlie again! 

* And because we hadn't spent enough time in a car, yesterday morning we picked up my parents and drove a couple hours south of home to have lunch with my sister at the Mayberry Cafe in Danville, Indiana. The food was so good, and it was a fun day, even if it was a long drive. And it's never a bad day when you get to watch Andy Griffith the whole time you get to eat lunch!!

The Love of God...

Hard to believe that at this time last week, I was strolling in the sand at Chesapeake Bay. The day is every bit as beautiful as last Sunday, but the scenery (the side of my garage and the extension cord feeding my laptop) is slightly less enthralling.

My trip to the ocean was wonderful in every way. My planes stayed airborne when they should have and landed with a decent amount of grace. My sunburn has morphed from painful to incessantly itchy – and I’m molting like a snake. (ATTRACTIVE.) I have a host of pictures to scrap and Walgreens was kind enough to run a good special this week so I can afford to print them. My suitcase is mostly unpacked (this may be a record!) and I think I’m ready to return to the land of the working.

The chance to see the ocean was a dream come true for me. I wanted to say I’d dipped my toes in something larger than a shower. I wanted to write in the sand and take a picture of whatever I wrote. I wanted to walk barefoot along the beach and pick up shells. I wanted some sun. (Can we say WISH FULFILLED?)

And I rather hoped that somewhere in all those dream fulfillments, God would show up with something to say. He and I have been talking a lot lately. (A lot more than usual – and we usually chat often.) And I was definitely not disappointed with the conversation we had that day.

I stood there, water swirling over my ankles, looking out at blue waves that were only interrupted by piers and the occasional boat. I loved it that I couldn’t see a shore in front of me. Just water…water…water…sky.



As usual, a song came to mind. As usual, it was the David Phelps version.

Could we with ink the ocean fill
And were the skies of parchment made
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky
Oh love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure -
The saints’ and angels’ song.

I looked to the right and the left and tried to imagine thick, black ink filling the water covered sand…down to depths I couldn’t even imagine. I looked overhead and tried to fathom writing on a sky that was wider and higher than I knew…and I’d just flown in it. I looked down at the twisted, broken sticks littering the beach and imagined each of them carved out with a tip for writing. I looked at the countless people scattered about and knew that they were only a fraction-let of the people on the planet.

And surrounded by all that greatness, I thought of those next words…to write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry. Nor could the scroll contain the whole though stretched from sky to sky.

I stood on a few square inches of a beach where I could see just a few miles of that whole ocean. If the entire expanse (times all the oceans in the world) can’t contain His love – wow.

God and I are on a journey. It’s a bigger journey than I can comprehend. And I’m thankful that His love is even greater still. How measureless and strong!

Waterfront....

Remember my pictures of Ariel and the tourists? Those were taken around this area in Norfolk:
We did not go in the museum or any of the exhibits, but I did get some pictures. I have every intention of returning to visit at some point, so I was willing to save some adventures for the next time around. :)

Remember how I said there were lots of Ariels around the city? Here's another one. I especially enjoyed her flower in her lil belly button. :)

The Battleship Wisconsin...now that's a big ole boat!

That last picture was only one little part of the boat. Here's another:

No trip to the waterfront is complete without an anchor!

There were ships everywhere!

We walked around for a while, and then we decided to do one of my favorite things of the whole trip: a ferry ride!!

Here's our ferry, pulling right up for us to hop on board! (We weren't really hopping at that point. The sunburns had already entered the "significant" stage.)

Sun-kissed Bekah - happily aboard the ferry!

The ferry took us across the Elizabeth River to Portsmouth. There, we had the opportunity to see a lady chasing an injured Mallard duck through a street, randomly shouting at traffic and passers-by, "It's okay! I called PETA! They're on their way!" Oh if only I could have taken a picture of that!

We ate dinner and headed back on the ferry. By that time it was almost dark, so the sights were even better.

Goodbye sweet waterfront!

I was burned to a crisp and tired from a long day, but I did so love my trip to the waterfront. I loved the ferry ride. Certainly the beach is still the calming place to be, but what a great experience to be able to walk around this area and enjoy a slice of life I don't often see! (And by often, I mean ever.)