72 degrees in Virginia Beach!

So now that all of the heavy stuff is out of the way, I can start to kick back, rock out to some of the 500 CDs I have in my car and enjoy this wonderful country.

Last night ended for me around 3am.   

I am actually shocked I made it that long because when it got to about 9:15pm at my parents house all I wanted to do was go to sleep for days.  

I texted Mike Miller I was leaving and then get a call from Gavin like 10 minutes later that he was there and waiting for me and I am freaking pumped! I describe my plans for an early retirement in the form of a laid back west coast lifestyle.  And how I figure Portland is going to be like.  My friend Roger drove all the way from Florida and shows up at 12:30am.  We get a growler of La Chouffe (this awesome hoppy Belgian style of beer) and head back to Magoo's around one.

The morning began with Magoo's great boyfriend Keith offering us bagels and coffee.  I forgot how great a NY bagel is.  Light whipped cream cheese on a cinnamon raison bagel - oh so good!!!

I was worried about traffic leaving Long Island but we barely hit any!  Just some gridlock before the Verrazano, per usual.  I remembered my Six Flags shortcut and we flew right down south.  We took a decent sized Jersey rest stop break.  Tommy was so comfortable he didn't even want to leave the car.  I'm pretty sure that this is his dream vacation.  All of my attention plus Roni's for 11 days on the road.  He sits up front with us in a lil bed type car seat where he can stretch at will and face me or Roni.

Roni finds a dog friendly place to eat in Maryland, in search of some blue crabs.  

Unfortunately this particular place doesn't serve them but we had a fantastic dinner in any case al fresco! on Christmas Eve!!!

We leave a little later than planned because we still have 4 hours until Virginia Beach, but the drive is smooth and are bellies are full. 

This drive gets emotional from time to time, I just keep imagining the last kiss I gave Michael. Would that be our last? An emotional teary eyed kiss? God, why do I think about these things?! Luckily Roni doesn't bug me every time I tear up. She knows.

Our place here is one block from the ocean.  There is a giant boardwalk and there are a bunch of 15 foot high Christmas decorations all along the beach.  Still don't feel like Christmas while in a T-shirt, but man is it nice!