Robust August
You’re in the right place
for a mix of stories you just won’t find anywhere else…
“Here’s to the allure of the obscure!”
Dateline August 28, 2021 Location: Rural Rodanthe, North Carolina
In this issue:
- US Naval Academy
- Washington DC
- Flight of Fancy
- Beaching It
- Featured Guests
- Put Me In, Coach!
- P.S. Vegan? Really? Why?
Warning: I’m combining this newsletter with an RV blog update for this issue. Thanks for your patience. Life is overflowing these days. We are so blessed!
We’ve crammed in a lot of living this summer, probably because we missed much of 2020. I hope your summer also flows like melting honey. It’s been a robust August for us.
1. US Naval Academy
Miss Kay and I took a guided walking tour of the United States Naval Academy before we left Annapolis, Maryland. Steeped in tradition, exploring this fine educational institution and launch pad for Naval and Marine officers’ careers yielded an appreciation for many of their wonderful traditions.
2. Washington DC
No trip to Washington is complete without visiting the White House. After Kay unsuccessfully but cordially negotiated with the US Secret Service to gain entrance to the White House grounds (imagine that – we are not VIPs), we chose a more traditional self-guided walking tour of the National Mall instead. We visited the Washington Monument, walked the Mall, and enjoyed veggie wraps near the Lincoln Memorial. We did not walk toward the Capitol. Too painful. Armed only with a phone camera, we posed as simple tourists for a day. I left my research folder in the motorhome anyway.
3. Flight of Fancy
Skydiving was one of my things a few decades ago. So I signed up for indoor skydiving in Virginia Beach. I recommend it! Thanks to Jason and his crew.
Check out a sixty-second video of one of my flights here with Jason, my instructor.
Am I too old for this? Nah! 
Jason stays vertical & immune to the 100 MPH winds from below. 
Look, Ma! No hands, or ground! 
Thirty feet may not sound like a lot, but…
4. Beaching It
We sought out two beaches during a two-week stay in the city of Virginia Beach. One was a trolley ride down the road from our campground, and it is indeed a big-city beach with lots of people (fewer than normal, though, due to COVID).
Kay gravitated to the handsome young lifeguard. 
I’m told this “boardwalk” along the ocean normally “bustles.” 
The other Virginia beach we visited required a drive across the CBBT. That’s the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel, an adventure in itself. Almost nineteen miles long, they charge fourteen bucks each way. The toll would have been $43 for the RV, but we just day-tripped in the Jeep. Two tunnels and lots of bridge-spans connect Virginia proper from what is called the Eastern Shore on the Delmarva Peninsula. The bay is on one side, several barrier islands and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. It feels more like an island than a peninsula.
This long finger of land contains most of the state of Delaware to the north, Maryland’s eastern shore in the middle, and Virginia’s eastern shore to the south. By the way, the term Delmarva is derived from the letters in the name of the three states that share the peninsula: DELaware, MARyland, and VirginiA.
Once we reached the southern tip of Delmarva via the CBBT, a short ten-mile drive found us in the sleepy village of Cape Charles, Virginia. Their short beach at the edge of a four-block-long downtown felt much more intimate than VB. Plus it faces the bay, not the Atlantic. If we’re ever in this part of the country again, this might just be where we’d choose to hang out. Their water tower fascinated me. I couldn’t tell if it doubled as a functioning lighthouse. If we spent more time here, I would have researched that.
We found the village of Cape Charles a delightful combination of old Victorian homes, a historic downtown area, more than a few ramshackle properties, and an intimate beach. Unlike Virginia Beach where you have to park blocks or miles away from the beach, and most probably in a multi-story garage structure for $3-5 per hour, we parked free with only a curb separating us from the sandy dunes.
Water tower? Light station? Both? 
And this was on a weekday in Cape Charles! 
Just, well, lovely 
Coffee ‘n tea ‘n music ‘n art ‘n mahjongg…. 
A nice bay beach at Cape Charles. 
The private beach at the Chesapeake Bay KOA on the Eastern Shore.
Kay’s passion for lighthouses drove us to a military installation called Fort Story north of Virginia Beach (I once dreamed of being a lighthouse keeper in my youth). She needed to see two lighthouses near the shore at Cape Henry, often called the gateway to the Chesapeake.
We moved the rig down the road a couple hundred miles to North Carolina’s Outer Banks (OBX). This series of barrier islands from Corolla to Ocracoke lay between the mainland and the Atlantic. These slender fingers of sand stretch a couple hundred miles generally north and south. Most are connected with bridges.
The population here is mostly seasonal, but even during the season (it’s just winding down), it feels SO much more intimate (and relaxed) than big city life and big city beaches. Here, we could acquire a permit for building a fire on the beach (below the high tide line). We could also acquire an ORV (Off-Road Vehicle) permit to drive on some of the beaches and sandy trails, but only in designated areas. There are many. But this is not a notion to be considered lightly, even with a four-wheel-drive vehicle.
For example, we would love to take the Jeep (a large Grand Cherokee) off-road within the Hatteras Wildlife preserve (where permitted). But required equipment includes a shovel, tire boards, a jack support board, a tow strap, a fire extinguisher, etc, and we’d need to deflate our tires from their customary 36-38 PSI down to 20 PSI or we will get stuck. This is soft powdery sand out here. I do have the ideal compressor onboard for re-inflating to road pressures, but I’m lacking some of the other gear, and maybe a little courage. We’re still debating.
Meanwhile, we’re parked in a small campground in Waves, North Carolina, in the mid-OBX (see the area circled above). When we step out of our motorhome, we can hear the Atlantic surf rolling in if the wind is up, and it usually is. Only a hundred yards and a small grassy dune stand between us and a private Atlantic beach. Last night we sat fifty feet from the water watching a few folks surf-fishing in the near dark. A few others played frisbee golf, flew kites or sat around a fire. All in all, it felt very much like 1960s SoCal.
They shovel sand off the roads here, not snow… 
Let’s watch stars & listen to the surf! 
“Our” beach… 
Our rig is just a few sites away from the beach. 
The color from the beach fades as the sun sets from behind. 
If you sit close to the dune grasses, they whisper as the surf roars… 
5. Featured Guests
A head’s up to all of my friends and family who may have experienced one or more traumatic brain injuries: keep reading.
Meet Chief Ron Keller and Chief Dale Oran, both US Navy Retired. We met and enjoyed the company of Dale and Ron awhile back. Both still live in the Virginia Beach area, near where they spent a portion of their careers, and where we spent two short but busy weeks.
Dale’s expertise spans ordnance (weapons) on eleven platforms (types of aircraft). Ron piloted Navy hovercrafts (LCACs). Both adopted us as friends, and for that we are grateful. Both advocate an emerging therapy for traumatic brain injuries and other maladies that assist the human body with self-healing, such as burns and other tissue damage. It’s called HBOT, or HyperBaric Oxygen Therapy. They actively work with and advocate for a local provider, Renova.
Aside from sharing their enthusiastic experience with HBOT for themselves and for their compatriots, Ron and Dale were kind enough to provide us with a peek inside the largest US Naval installation in the world, the combination of Naval Station (formerly NOB) Norfolk and Naval Air Station Oceana. There are no words…
A photo can’t do justice to three aircraft carriers in port! Big boys are in town. 
The Navy’s newest carrier under construction. Note the compact superstructure with all the latest technology. 
An angular profile, combined with plywood and kevlar sheeting provide unparalleled radar stealth. 
Some naval aviation history…. 
The F-14 Tomcat with its wings swept back and folded. 
Dale describes the physics of the venerable F-14 “Tomcat.” 
6. Put Me In, Coach!
Sharing my experience with other writers is fulfilling, but taking this past-time seriously consumes a significant amount of energy. So as a writing coach, I work with just a few clients who are serious about growing in the craft with me. This does compete with my own writing efforts, but I too grow as a writer by helping others, and this is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s also a team sport!
Speaking of which, research continues on my historical fiction project. As this city boy digs into farming practices and social challenges of the 1930s, family history, and anecdotes from those who lived through the ’30s, this quest seems endless, but gratifying. It’s a long game.
Meanwhile, it is also gratifying to teach writing seminars and to sell my books face-to-face. I’ve so enjoyed placing signed copies in the hands of appreciative readers. So far this summer, I’ve had the opportunity to do so in Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina.
I’ve been witnessing first-hand a fascinating phenomenon. Most folks rarely meet published authors. When they do, and learn a bit about their lives, possessing their books makes for a powerful social connection. At least that’s my perception. All I know is I’m selling books the old-fashioned way—by connecting with people, and by making friends. It feels damn good.
With pen in hand,
Gene
P.S. You are likely not a vegan, or even a vegetarian, but you might be curious what could possibly possess those of us who are. I offer you two tidbits you probably won’t discover anywhere else today.
- Read a few articles on a website called “Forks Over Knives.” Better yet, do yourself a favor and invest the time to watch this film on that site, or at least part of it. It’s a real eye-opener.
- Moving to a new area every few weeks presents Kay and I challenges when we choose to dine out. We’ve just discovered a wonderful app for our smart-ass phones that finds restaurants nearby who offer healthy food options. It’s called Happy Cow, and is well worth the free download! You will also be gratified to support small restaurants dedicated to sustainable agriculture and who support local farmers. Karma, baby!
Do you know why the cow is happy? We’re not killing and eating her!
Food pics, directions, phone, etc. Even a map. You can select “filters” to only show restaurants you prefer (vegan, vegetarian, take-out, delivery, bakery, breakfast…) 
Photos of a recommended establishment may be included with its listing.
2 Replies to “Robust August”
TH
Thank you for the EAST COAST shoreline tour from this Northern California native. Hubby was from PA and I’ve been “to the Shore”, but never explored beyond the big cities on the north-south highway corridor.
Nice post Brother, Enjoyed it greatly.