Our 5th day had us meeting the ex wife of an old Marine Corps buddy. There’s a long sordid story that goes along with this statement, but suffice it to say you never really know anyone. Honestly, you don’t.
The man we’d been friends with for over 35 years? The one we thought was honest, trustworthy and stable? Is now on his third wife, estranged from his children, drowning in debt, filing bankruptcy for the second time (while working as an accountant for the Federal Government) and being sued by his own lawyer for fraud. Did I mention he lies like a rug and told wife #2 that wife #1 accused him of having an affair with me?
I mean come on.
I know I like to drink…. but I think I would have remembered that!!
Needless to say it was a verrrrry long lunch.
But I’d never been to Virginia Beach before so we took a little scenic drive before heading to the restaurant.
My first impression?
Busy and crowded.
With the typical big city high rise hotels lining the road near the ocean.
Complete with all that ticky tacky crap I hate, designed to suck your wallet dry.
In other words, it’s similar to Atlantic City, Myrtle Beach and numerous other places we’ve visited along the Florida coast.
No thanks. You’ve seen one you’ve seen ’em all.
Even this gang of tropical fish escaping the surf and heading for the highway didn’t make it more appealing.
We drove down a few side streets to check out the houses near the shore…
Which was nerve wracking in that behemoth of a vehicle the husband had rented.
Seriously, it took up the entire street.
We found a few pretty spots, but overall? Being jammed right up next to your neighbor is not where I want to live…. waterfront or not.
So, lunch.
Was at a place called Rockafeller’s right on the water.
We got there early.
Okay, really early.
But at least we didn’t have to wait for a table with a view.
I have to admit I got a kick out of the illustrated cocktail menu.
I’m guessing this is for when you’ve had too many and can no longer enunciate properly.
If you can smile and point?
You’re not too drunk to serve.
This is the Mojito, which shouldn’t have been yellow but was tasty all the same.
One drink in, we spotted some fishermen bringing in their catch.
It doesn’t get much fresher than that.
Two drinks in, our friend arrived and we talked, and talked, and talked.
Or rather, she talked and we did a lot of listening.
And drinking.
Did I mention there were multiple pages of cocktail lists?
Maybe Virginia Beach isn’t so bad after all.
3 hours in we figured we’d better eat.
Crab and shrimp hushpuppies sounded like a good way to start…
They were huge, not at all like hush puppies and absolutely horrible.
Flavorless wads of fried dough. If there was shrimp or crab? I never found it. The husband had an equally bad platter of steamed shrimp. Which is hard to screw up, but they did, so I went the safe route…
And ordered a chicken Caesar salad…. which turned out to be practically chickenless.
I imagine even the mosiac Santa dolphin out front would have tasted better. But it was a good time and nice to see our friend.
So we left Virginia Beach…
And headed back to Williamsburg…
Wondering who Willoughby was and why he was spitting.
First stop? A decent place for dinner.
And proof that you can’t judge a book by it’s cover.
Tucked in the back of a very ordinary looking strip mall was a wonderful little Italian place…. that I can’t remember the name of to save my life.
But the garlic knots were to die for… light as air.
And my cheese tortellini alfredo with chicken, broccoli and sun dried tomatoes?
Ooh la la! So rich I had to take half back to the resort.
(I hope this quiets you food screamers. Two meals in one post. Now hush!)
River's world..... 
That’s so funny – a few years ago in Vegas I found a great Italian place complete with an aging, VERY Italian sommelier and great food… in a strip mall of all places! Go figure.
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Trip Advisor pointed us there… otherwise I’d have driven right by.
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A liar, you say? How amazing, not. Seems to be THE topic for the week. Your food photos are much too good. I’m hungry now, no lie.
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When we found out who he really is…. it made us revisit decades of friendship and wonder if any of it was real. Sad, that.
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Great post 🙂
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Any gathering that starts with 3 hours of drinking before eating is my kind of gathering. 😉
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At that point, I believe food was mandatory.
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People change, that much is true.
Nothing stays the same – boo hoo hoo.
I’m on my second marriage (didn’t think I would try it even once), and yes – over the years, I’ve changed with each one.
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We all evolve and change over time… I agree. But this is a case of utter lies and deception. Two qualities not often appreciated in friends.
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“Flavorless wads of fried dough.” See, this is why you shouldn’t call something a hushpuppy if it isn’t a hushpuppy.
As a life long fan of the Twilight Zone, I can assure you, you do NOT want to get off at Willoughby. Nope.
I’m glad you finally got some good food, and had enough alcohol to was away the memory of the guy you didn’t know very well.
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They were absolutely not hushpuppies.
Good to know about the Spit… I’m file that away for future trips.
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Watch that episode sometime, then you’ll understand.
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Frankly, I prefer your rocks posts — they may not give me more to chew on, but they’re more of a feast for the soul — filet of (and bad puns), notwithstanding..
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Yes, I’m afraid I’m letting my rock fans down…. but winter tends to be a bad season for them. We’re currently covered in ice, and even that would be tastier than this Virginia Beach meal.
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I was going to mention the lack of rocks , but I didn’t want to “rock” the proverbial boat
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I suppose I could go dig out one of our walls from under the snow….
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4 pictures? Of which 2 were bad food? After having to look at 5,000 rock pictures? Lady, your priorities are all messed up! WE WANT MORE AND MORE PICTURES OF FOOD!!
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Be happy you get any at all. My husband gives me “the look” every time I photograph a plate as it is!
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Maybe you should do a poll asking your readers if they’d like more rock or food pix/posts (or neither). If “neither” wins, you can always post more pix of yourself and we’d all be the winner. 😉
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You smooth talker, you…. although I think I can guarantee no one would vote for more selfies than I already include.
I’ve been told too much of me is not a good thing!
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Yum yum yum. 🤤
I’ll take all the food pics… bad, good… just no rocks, unless they are REALLY interesting.
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Some of you want food, some of you want rocks. So hard to please!
😉
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I think half and half is fair!
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Food lovers rejoice, it always outnumbers rocks.
😉
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I would vote for more selfies, despite your claim that no one would. Can I help it if I have better taste than your other readers?
😉
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You can not.
Nope.
😊
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It has been decades since I was there. Wonder what happened. Used to be a nice place …
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Maybe it’s just me.
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I dunno. Things do change …
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It was just too crowded and congested for my taste…
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That sounds like quite a lunch! Great photos, too.
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It was…. enlightening.
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Ouch! You hammered my town. To be fair though, it looks like you only went down to the Ocean Front which is nothing but a big tourist trap. It’s probably been two or more years since I’ve been down there. The best beach places are the ones along the bay. Less touristy and more local flavor. If you ever come back, try Dockside off Shore Drive for some good seafood. The place looks like a dive but has great food. It’s also where we take a head boat out to do some fishing from time to time.
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Apologies. But you’re right, we only hit a few areas and they were heavily tourist-centric. Guess I’m too used to the Maine coastline of small unique, quaint towns. No oceanfront strips here.
😉
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The visuals are beautiful, love that mosaic dolphin, what can I say? I’m landlocked and surrounded by desert so kill me. The first batch of food didn’t look too appetizing, but those garlic knots really did seem like they tasted yummers!
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They were divine. I could easily have made a whole meal out of them alone!
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Dayum! now I’m hungry!
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Get thee into the kitchen …..
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LOL
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Tortellini just swimmin in cream! Yum! I love the cocktail menus with photos — and yes, I do think your cue to pointing is relevant.
I liked Virginia Beach, which seems to irritate people. I don’t get it. I also like a Beach just south of there where there’s a … like a nature preserve type place.
Annually, in the days after Xmas, my husband meets with one of his buddies downtown at a restaurant and the girls and I go to the mall. For hours and hours. And when we are done, we return, eat, and still end up waiting on them to stop jaw jackin.
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People always think it’s women who talk endlessly but I’ve spent half my married life waiting for the husband to stop.
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I understand. Really. Truly.
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