Woodland and Swamp Adventures

Hey nonny-nonny, hey nonny-nonny. For those of you who get this Disney reference, you can guess what this post may refer to. For those of you who are sadly behind on Disney films of the 1990's, I will fill you in. Yesterday I decided to go to the coast. I had had a very stressful week, so I took a cue from a great American writer and started driving. Like Herman Melville said in my favorite sentence in the English language, "...I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can." I would quote the whole sentence, but it is 87 words long, and I have no desire to type the entire thing, but if you must see it, read the fourth sentence in Moby Dick. Even better, read the book. You might find you like it better now than you did when Mr./Mrs. Fillinthename made you read it for high school English. I know that I do.
Anyway.....did a bit of internet searching and found a great state park right outside of Virginia Beach. It is said that Virginia has the best state parks in the country. I would happen to agree! When driving into First Landing State Park, I noticed that it was not only well taken care of, but quite popular for such a chilly and rather damp day in January. This great park was established through the help of the Civilian Conservation Corps, as were many other parks not only in Virginia, but across the country. Thank you FDR! Although popular and well taken care of, I was still able to feel quite alone (in a good way) in the woods, with few other hikers to disturb me on the trails. With over 19 miles of well marked trail, even with many runners and hikers enjoying the space, I never felt crowded.
This park was named to commemorate where the settlers from the Virginia Company first landed before moving on to Jamestown. Although it is a great wilderness, I can certainly see why they did not stay. The terrain is unforgiving, and it is easy to lose oneself in the cypress swamps, salt marshes, maritime foresst, freshwater wetlands, dunes, and shoreline. I was excited to see some tropical flora, like cypress and and palms. These plants are native and have addapted to fit in with the southern pines and hardy sea grasses that are common in the area. Some photos from this hike are posted on www.flickr.com/mtwash125.
After expoloring for a few hours I left to walk Virginia Beach. It was chilly, so I snapped a few photos and left to conduct some much need retail therapy. I was able to score some great clothes at 80-90% off at the outlet stores in Williamsburg. In fact, I got so many great deals I went back this morning to get some more! All in all, I spent less than $100! Got to love this crashing economy. As I heard on Marketplace on NPR " 94-92% of you still have a job and are making no less than you did last year...so act like it!" Not only do I agree, but I am doing my part to stimulate the economy by looking cute in my new duds!