My favorite boy toy and I did some serious wandering last weekend.  We put the boys into the kennel as we knew we’d be leaving early and getting home way late.  Their Daddy took them in Friday afternoon – they were so eager to get to doggie day care they ran off without even looking back at him.  For sure, they didn’t miss us.

It took us four hours to get from our house to Chesapeake, Virginia, which is almost directly east of us.  Two hours to drive, an hour for breakfast after we were on the road for a while, and an hour waiting in traffic!  And that was the alternate route too – the first route we tried was backed up even worse.

The game plan was to do some antiquing and then do one or two other things.  I really wanted to see the Norfolk Botanical Gardens; my boy toy was quite unenthused about it so we left it as Plan C.  I figured I could always go back later by myself.

So off we went antiquing.  We went to a store called the Home Emporium.  The reviews we read said it had unique stuff, great prices, but was a dump and in a dumpy neighborhood.  Well it was all of that.  But my husband found some things for his still life photography and was quite happy with it.

After a quick lunch, we tried to program into the GPS a historical village called Strawberry Banke.  It was in a town called Portsmouth which was in the same general area.  We finally had to look it up on the Internet.  Um, it was in Portsmouth alright.  Portsmouth New Hampshire, not Portsmouth Virginia.  Okay, scratch Plan B.

So the botanical gardens it was and we had a lovely time.

The day was clear, warm without being hot, a gentle breeze, and a beautiful sky.  We took a tram ride to see what all was there, then we took a pontoon boat ride on the lake.

By the way, we didn’t have to pay for admission.  Our membership at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens had reciprocity here and we were treated like any other member.  Sweet!

We saw so much on the lake, from seagulls swooping into the water to a bald eagle attacking an osprey that was fishing in its territory.

Although I have a lot of pictures from what we saw on the water, there was so much more there.  We saw three different brides and their families, there for wedding ceremonies.  We saw butterflies, spiders, flowers of all type, and walked along a boardwalk that overlooked the lake.

Since our plans were loosey goosey, I didn’t contact Patti at A New Day Dawns to let her know we were in her part of the world.  I felt bad about it as I’d like to get together with her, but I didn’t think we’d pull it off.

So. . . guess who sat across from us on the pontoon?  And guess who was getting on the tram right behind us?  As my husband said, what are the odds you’d run into her and her husband?  Apparently 100% was my answer.

So Patti and I met!  We chatted for a few minutes on the tram ride and will try to get together another time.  If you’d like to see her pictures from that lovely day, head on over to here.

The day didn’t go as planned, but it was a wonderful day regardless.  Artistic inspirations, fresh air, beautiful scenery, and the chance to meet a friend – it certainly was a day to remember and a memory to savor.

Anyone’s life truly lived consists of work, sunshine,
exercise, soap, plenty of fresh air, and a happy contented spirit.
Lillie Langtry

Norfolk Botanical Gardens Virginia bald eagle boardwalk cormorant great blue heron Home Emporium Norfolk Botanical Gardens osprey seagulls Spiders