The Beauty Around Us

Easter Vacation in Virginia – Day 1

By Linda G. on April 8, 2015

We spent an extended Easter weekend in Virginia.  We spent the nights of April 2 through April 4 in Virginia Beach.  We spent the night of April 5 on Chincoteague Island.

Thursday, April 2, was a travel day.  We departed our hometown of Warren, PA at 6:50 am en route Virginia Beach! We were so excited to be on our way that Bob took Thursday off work. Our original travel plan was not to leave until noon.  We made several stops along the way.

We stopped at Tim Horton’s in Warren for coffee and a bacon wrap for Bob. Neither of us had eaten breakfast.  I passed on breakfast at Tim Horton’s, as I had an upset stomach.  By the time we reached Ridgway, my stomach felt better.  We stopped at Sheetz to top off the fuel tank, and I bought a ham, egg and cheese bagel for breakfast.

We stopped for a bathroom break at a rest stop on I-70.  The rest stop was located 2 miles west of Town Hill, PA.

Shortly before noon we made our usual stop, when traveling this direction, along Rt. 522 at the Liberty Fuel Station in Cross Junction, Virginia.  The fuel price is typically lower at this station than other stations.  The fuel price on Thursday was $2.119/gallon.  We saw later that we could have obtained fuel at much lower prices.  We saw fuel prices as low as $1.97/gallon in Tappahannock, VA.

Our last stop en route Virginia Beach was around 2:15 pm for lunch at Denny’s along Route 17 in Fredericksburg, VA.

We arrived at Best Western Oceanfront Virginia Beach shortly before 7:30 pm. We lost at least 1 ½ hour travel time because of a 3-mile backup at the Hampton Road Bridge Tunnel. According to the Virginia 511 real-time traffic info iPhone app, there was a disabled vehicle and all eastbound lanes were closed until it was cleared.

Soon after checking into the hotel, we ate dinner at The Shoreline Grill, which was located in our hotel.  Bob ordered broiled scallops. I ordered meatloaf. The service and food were excellent.

Our home for 3 nights was located on the top floor of the Best Western Oceanfront hotel.  We had an oceanfront room, with balcony.

After dinner I sat on our balcony, enjoying the cool ocean breeze and the sound of the waves.  The almost full moon was high overhead, lighting a path across the ocean.  How relaxing, after a full day on the road!