04-VIII-2001.
Had breakfast, packed, picked some grass for Mrvica, headed south. If the north of virginian coast has no decent camps, let's try the south. I had some idea of what's where in Virginia Beach, and just following the coast is a no-brainer. The old Banat logic, just follow the levee.
And we saw a camp with its own beach. But not on the sea shore, it's riverside. We wouldn't get salted much there, they require a reservation (!). I asked the desk clerk whether we could try to negotiate with someone to move their vehicle, fully aware that I ask in vain, the tent lots are parceled out in advance, you get a spot to raise a tent to fit a minor wedding, and that's it. There's no theory that they'd increase the density above the designated level, for fear that someone may sue them over something.
So move on. Went past the whole length of the boardwalk, first the north part with private houses, probably not one of these plank sheds costs below half a million, and then the forty blocks of hotel-by-hotel, then the bridge over the entrance into some smaller bay, then through even richer area where the houses are just the same plank jobs but on much larger lots and there's even some wood, this isn't the coast anymore, though it can't be far. By the map it should be just a couple of blocks away. And there we saw a camp, fourth one, went in and... it also has everything, the utilities, a shop, and also doesn't have a beach, there's a free bus to there. Which would mean we'd have to stick to their timetable. Well fuckya... went on driving south, through the wheat fields and swamps and suddenly we dive into a thick tall forest, all dark, with huge trees, you fully expect the big bad wolf to jump out and ask what we have in the basket. And all at once we run into a fork in the road, where it splits into two equal branches, no direction signs, just a tavern there. Didn't get in to ask, just used their parking to turn and drive back north. Because at that point it became clear that we won't find a camp, so why waste time looking for one, let's go for a hotel. Fuck the 200$ we invested in camping gear, we still may find use for it in the future.
We drove twice down the Atlantic and back down the Pacific. The Atlantic one is first to the shore, lined up with hotels on the sea side, and shops and taverns on the other, all spat and polished to near perfection. The Pacific is behind the shops, the backside of all that, and may it be called avenue a hundred times, it's still a back alley. The poles with wires everywhere, the rear walls painted with some semblance of tropical motifs in a few places, most of the rest just drab gray and ugly.
Left the car in the 9th street garage and walked around. Picked up Dejzin (Daisy's, aka Day's Inn) around 10th street. Price was okay. But the guy said they don't have a room in the building, but rather in an add-on in the 11th street (and the next street isn't 12th, it's eleventh and a half...). Alright, let's assume it won't be some barn. Nonononono, it's actually a bit better. The desk clerk was a spitten Eddie Murphy, and did his number to the last bit. He was good fun, and topped it with trying to read our names. I never mastered the arts of spell; I can do it but never smoothly like most do, so I gave him our passports to see how it's spelt. Of course, every Amer gets an open fracture of the tongue when it comes to lj. Lena just couldn't resist and burst into loud laughter. He did his best of „I'm insulted!“ impression, pointing a finger at her and exclaiming „she laughed at me!“, in 100% distilled Murphy tone.
Sent a girl with us to show us to the room. We left the yard, or rather parking lot, via side exit, and there it was, right across the street, upstairs. An ordinary house, all plank and clapboard, of course, and the room... what room, it's a whole apartment. Huge livingroom with a side niche with a couch, TV, view to the ocean. Alright, the view went over the other wing's roof, and it wasn't sunny at all, there was a lot of vapor in the air, all muggy and misty, even though the temperature was well above 30. And a large bedroom, full bathroom, everything. The AC was plugged straight into Syberia. This hotel is between the two avenues, so second rate pricing applies. Excellent. Camp wouldn't be much cheaper. Actually, hotel is 2-3 times more expensive, but that's the end of it. In the camp, they keep charging you for this or that - e.g. electric outlet - and the grocery in its shop is priced 25-30% higher than normal, this and that, and then when you want to bathe, get in the car. Can do that at home just as well.
I moved the car, we unloaded our stuff, and went to the beach. It's just 200m away, of which the last fifty is hot sand. Not sloped as at Nags Head, it's all flat, including the long shallows. Had to wade at least 30m to get the water over head.
Mrvica we left in the room, naturally, with what grass we picked this morning on the peninsula. There was none to pick around here.
For food we managed. Took the hotel breakfast, which we kind of liked, what with unlimited coffee and tiny packages of cream, sitting just outside the lobby, just a few meters from the Atlantic avenue, tourists passing by. Cool, this looks like a real vacation.
For lunch and dinner we found a 7-eleven not far behind the hotel, and possibly drove around for a bigger supermarket, and we used the kitchen. It came equipped with all the plates, pans and pots we could want, so why not. A couple of times we ate in a restaurant, when we wanted a pizza. When we left there, found that the next restaurant advertises „all you can eat for just 10$“ and decided it wasn't worth a try. We can't eat that much in one go to make the deal worth the price.
Mentions: Jelena Sredljević (Lena), Mrvica, in serbian