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Life is a continuous learning exercise. You can learn from what other's do but the lessons that stick best are those learned from your own mistakes. During my time in Virginia Beach, Virginia I learned not to walk a mile in a torrential downpour. In my defense it didn't seem that bad as I set out from the bus station to the hostel. About seven minutes later I was regretting it as I had found that the first street I had to go down had no sidewalk for half its length so I was either walking down the side of the road (clearly visible to the traffic and out of its way) or on the grass verge. Neither of these options worked very well for me - the road was heavily puddled and the grass verge was soaked. It wasn't long before my shoes were taking in water faster than the submarine in Das Boot when they were shelled to the bottom of the sea at Gibraltar.
I quickly gave up trying to keep my feet dry, which was just as well because every intersection involved wading through inch deep water and every block had a section of sidewalk that seemed to be auditioning for the part of the Mississippi in an upcoming stage show because it was putting forth a fast, wide flow of water from a parking lot to the street. I can't decide whether it was because the rain was just so heavy or because the drainage system is inadequate. Perhaps the local governments approve the parking lots but don't require that they have their own drainage for rain.
This happened to me in Charleston, WV too. In the space of two weeks I have experienced four storms complete with thunder and lightning - this one; one in Detroit, luckily after I'd got to the hotel in just light rain; two in Charleston, which I got soaked in the first day but had protection against the second day after the clouds opened when I was out at a dinner to which I had brought my coat. That last one was another time I found sidewalks and intersections inches deep in water but I was better able to avoid it then.
Back in Virginia Beach, when I arrived at the hostel one mile and twenty minutes later my socks, shoes and trousers were totally soaked. As were the cuffs of my sweater and the rain had stung my face from when I turned the corner onto the second street of my journey and faced the oncoming rain. That was when I had become a reckless pedestrian and was charging over intersections after a casual glance for traffic. I was glad for my heavy bag though because it held me in place in the face of the gusting wind.
When I went out for dinner that evening (directly across the road from the hostel) I had to wear my three-quarter length linen trousers and sandals because that's the only alternative I had. The sandals were a smart move because my feet could dry out quickly. I had been hoping to wear those clothes in Virginia Beach anyway but I had expected it to be because of the nice weather, not because of rain.
It was lucky that it was laundry day the following day because it meant that as well as washing my dirty clothes I could throw in my wet clothes and get everything clean and, more importantly, dry.
My first day in town it was raining so I made a beeline to Starbucks for their wi-fi but when I got there I found out it's provided by T-Mobile, which means it costs $9.99 for 24 hours, so I didn't bother. I did, however, write some blogs offline to post later on and read some of my guide book. I got talking to one of the baristas, Megan. I explained my vacation plan to hit all states and she felt bad that Virginia wasn't going to be in my Top 10 States because the weather sucked and I had spent six hours in Starbucks. So she invited me along to a poker tournament at Applebee's restaurant.
I went along because it was better than sitting around all evening. I got introduced to a whole bunch of interesting people and joined in one of the poker tables. With Megan's help (because the rest were all seasoned players and everything went very quickly) I managed to stay in the game for over an hour. Since gambling would be illegal it's all free poker with the top three people each night winning gift certificates. The best part was that all draught domestic beers were $1.50, although they were 10 oz. glasses, which is a little over half a pint, and all appetizers were half price. My evening there with four beers and a big appetizer of delicious BBQ wings was $13 (£6.50) including tax and tip, which was fanstastic!
We went on to a bar afterwards and, even though it was only a Monday night, it stayed open until 2am at which point we were forced to leave. And that is where I experienced my first pint of Guinness. However it was in the form of an 'Irish car bomb' which is where you take a pint of Guinness, drop a shot of Baileys in it and down it in one (otherwise it curdles). It wasn't bad. But I think that is what made me lose at pool. For sure.
I had such a blast that night that I decided to change my plans and stay an extra night in Virginia Beach so I could do it again the following evening, because the poker is every evening Monday through Thursday. During the day it wasn't raining but it was very windy so it still wasn't ideal sitting-outside weather although I did do it for a little while. The evening came around and I got taken to poker again, at a different Applebee's. I had an awesome time again and met even more random interesting people. Everyone was so incredibly friendly and they were very tolerant of me being a newbie and helped me out. That night ended at a bar 'only' at 1am.
I had one more day to go because my bus out was at 10pm so I spent most of it at the Virginia Aquarium. It was quite good but much smaller than the Baltimore one I went to. Although Virginia had a superior 3D IMAX film and I got to stroke some sting rays - and then stand talking to the attending aquarium worker for half an hour about my travelling until her shift ended. The day ended with Megan taking me on at darts and giving me a lift to the Greyhound bus station. She was a real help and definitely turned an otherwise mediocre stay at Virginia Beach into a very good one!
The people of Virginia Beach definitely get full marks. By just buying a cup of coffee (and two teas) I got welcomed into their world. The woman co-running the poker was incredibly nice to me telling me at the end of the evening how lovely it was that I had come along and she gave me a hug. Admittedly she might have been a few beers down by then but I doubt it. I also got the address of a guy who was born in Ruislip, London and came out to the US at age 8 months and wants to go back and see where he's from. Now that guy was definitely several beers down and had been awake for two days straight celebrating his birthday - he was still coherently intelligent and interesting and also very funny too because of the state he was in. (I mean his alcoholic state, not the state of Virginia.) The weather was never good enough to enjoy the place properly as a beach resort and the hostel, while cheap, lacked any fun atmosphere but I would definitely come back again some time and lay on the beach all day and play poker all night. I do need to improve either my pool or darts skills though.
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