Weekend at VA Beach

Took a trip up to VA Beach, VA with Babydoll and the Folks. We went through Jacksonville and Washington on the way- a new route for me. I was impressed by how much of rural North Carolina looks the same in architecture and lay of the land. Several stretches of the trip felt nearly identical to stretches on the way to Fayetteville, or for that matter, Myrtle Beach. Just an observation.

Many of the bridges on the way provided spectacular views of large bays and rivers. The highlight of the drive, really, which was otherwise a trifle dull. I’ll be more inclined to try the small state highway route the next time we’re headed that way. Of course, I wasn’t the driver. Dad had that covered, and I had my old seat, back seat passenger side, watching the side of the road.

We went to see my brother, the Lutheran minister, his wife and daughter. It was a rare weekend that he wasn’t running the service, so he had a little extra time and energy for company. VA Beach is one God fearin’ town, let me tell ya. A church on every corner. Big ones, too! I’ve left my feelings of churchly repression pretty much back at college, but I could feel that old sense of alienation creepin back. I’m sure it’s not entirely the fact that my brother is connected to a remarkable intense congregation that generates the antipathy for me. It probably has to do with that old yankee sense of mindin yer own business, where the churches are everybody’s business in VA Beach. Wilmington feels positively secular in comparison.