Virginia Beach Part 1: The Departure Dilemma

Several months ago we booked a Virginia Beach hotel for August 28 through September 1. As the time of our vacation approached we watched the weather anxiously as Irene headed for the East Coast. Eventually it became apparent that the worst of the storm would pass through by Saturday night, and we were not scheduled to arrive until Sunday. However, we still worried about the damage the storm would cause, since, if the storm was as bad as predicted, arriving on the coast the next day might not be the best idea! But instead of canceling our reservation we decided to wait it out and see what would actually happen.

We lost power at our house at about 3:15 on Saturday afternoon, and it was still off the next day. However, we were able to get through to the hotel and confirm that # 1, their power was back on, #2, the roads to the hotel were open, and #3, there had not been any significant damage to the beach itself. So, we decided to leave our dark, boring house behind with its refrigerator full of rotting food and set out for the beach! Once there we were amazed at how little damage we saw. Turns out Virginia Beach was a lot luckier than many other coastal cities. According to one hotel employee, the eye of the hurricane had gone farther out to sea there than predicted, before returning to do worse damage to the coast farther north. It turned out to be a lovely time for a beach vacation, with no noticeable hurricane damage, diminished crowds, and beautiful, sunny weather in the 80's. We were really glad we decided to go. Especially since power remained off at our house until Monday afternoon, and Justin's preschool was closed for most of the week due to power outage. The beach was much more fun than home would have been! It's nice when a gamble pays off.