It can be told now: I was in the Virginia Beach and Norfolk, Virginia area Thursday of last week through Tuesday of this week. I kept this under my hat for security reasons.
If it seems like an odd place to travel on a vacation, it sort of wasn’t a vacation: my mother and I went up for the funeral of my late uncle Kenneth Eberhart, who lived in Virginia Beach for many years.
I’m not sure I want to talk more about that now, but I probably will when Veterans Day comes around. And I’m a firm believer in putting the “fun” back into “funeral”. So let’s talk about some other stuff.
I only visited one gun store on the trip, because I only had time to visit one. I picked Bob’s Gun Shop because their web site says they’ve been open since 1945, and they buy and sell guns. The folks at Bob’s were very nice, and I’m glad I picked that store. It’s a big store – three floors, with a pistol range on the top floor. But I didn’t buy anything.
I visited two used bookstores. Smith Discount Books was the best of the two, but I only bought one small gun book there. That will be in the roundup at some point.
My one regret is that I ran out of time before I could visit the Military Aviation Museum. If I had been there for just one more day…
We had a lot of really good meals. I had two conditions for this trip:
- I was going to eat as much seafood as I could.
- No damn cafeterias.
(Me? Grinding an axe?)
Among the places we dined that are worth writing about:
- Hot Diggity Dogs BBQ, Virginia Beach. My aunt and uncle (who are taking care of my uncle’s estate) have been lunching there a lot, and we went twice. The dogs are pretty good. What makes it for us, though, is that the people who run the place are supremely nice. This is another one of those establishments about which I like to say: I want these people to have trouble sleeping at night…because of the rustle of $100 bills stuffed inside their mattress.
- Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls, 3273 Shore Drive, Virginia Beach. Yes, it is a chain. But lobster rolls by the shore sounded really good on Friday night, and Mason’s in Virginia Beach is about $8.50 cheaper than Garbo’s here. And Mason’s lobster rolls were every bit as good. I recommend ignoring all that crap about the “simple, honest traditions of the people who live there” unless you’re also a big fan of the timeless changeless ways of the Amish, too.
- Legal Seafood, Town Center of Virginia Beach. Our original dinner plan for Saturday night fell through: the place we were planning to go was a combination of a circus, a dumpster fire, and a train wreck. I had been hesitant about going here because the online ratings were fairly low (though I’ve loved the Legal Seafoods in Massachusetts and Rhode Island) but I called, they didn’t have a wait, and…everyone raved about it for days afterward. And it was surprisingly uncrowded on a Saturday night in a busy shopping complex.
- Chix on the Beach, Virginia Beach. Tends to fill up quick. Also a big drinking spot. But we got there early and managed to get seats for the eight of us. The seafood was pretty good, especially the she-crab soup. (I had the “Just Seafood” platter, with the soup as an appetizer. Why can’t I get she-crab soup in Austin? It isn’t like they don’t catch crabs down in Galveston.)
- Bubba’s, Virginia Beach. Has nothing to do with the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. Also has really good she-crab soup. I recommend the broiled seafood platter.
- Pop’s Diner, Northampton. Pretty good breakfasts.
I’d like to thank the various family members who are handling Ken’s business and were there for the funeral. I’m not going to name them here for privacy reasons, but thank you, various family members.
Also, many thanks to the Gator Volksmarch Club (AVA-13). Ken was an avid volksmarcher, and many of his friends from the Gators were at the funeral. The club is holding a remembrance walk and picnic for him on October 7: details are here.