When I think of Virginia Beach I think of a city that has a hotel laden shoreline.  At the north end are houses upon houses upon houses.  I was very happy to find First Landing State Park, a lovely wilderness spot right in the middle of it all.

The park is at the north end of the beach just past Fort Story where the Chesapeake Bay empties into the Atlantic.  The campsites are sandy and have beautiful trees.  Before setting up camp we went for a walk on one of the many trails.  We heard a large woodpecker and were very happy when we spotted him.  Further up the trail, Chris spotted a squirrel peeking out of a hole in a tree.

We hit the beach around sunset.  I misconstrued my directions and did not get the sun setting behind the bridge that I was hoping for, but did still see some nice sky coloring as the clouds were starting to roll in.

After we set up camp, we enjoyed a quiet evening by the fire with sloppy joes for dinner.  The trees were quite captivating as the flames reflected off of them.  Just as the fire subsided came a light mist, so we called it a night.

In the morning (or at least our version of the morning) we found an all-day breakfast spot, Simple Eats.  The decor is very farmhouse.  Local art is on display and there was something interesting everywhere you look.  The food was locally sourced and quite good.  The relaxed service was a bit slow, but we didn’t mind as we were in no hurry.

This was a no frills, easy-going, short trip, but sometimes that is just perfect.

View Gallery