The Virginia Legends Walk

A few weeks ago, Anouk and I explored the Virginia Legends Walk in Virginia Beach -- one of those little kid-friendly gems off of the Oceanfront boardwalk. There are so many of them and we have such fun discovering them all. Click over to My Active Child to read more about our visit! 

Pocahontas Pancakes and Waffle Shop

Sunday, James suggested that we take a break from watching the news, from errand running and go out to brunch. It seemed like the perfect idea; a little break and some togetherness was just exactly what was needed. We headed down to the Oceanfront, to Pocahontas Pancakes, at the corner of 35th and Atlantic.

Pocahontas Pancakes is a little bit of a landmark. It's been around since the 1970s, and in 2002, the Food Network featured it in their "Best Of" series, naming it the best pancake house in Virginia Beach.  A conclusion that we definitely agree with after eating here.

From a kid-friendly standpoint, Pocahontas Pancakes is the perfect mix of food and atmosphere. It's cheery and bright and welcoming -- not to mention bustling enough that nobody seems to notice a happy toddler making a joyful noise over chocolate milk. But unlike a lot of kid-friendly joints, the food is good enough to satisfy even the most sophisticated and grown-up diners. Baby A. had a kid-sized serving of the signature pancakes, I ordered the famous pecan waffles, and J. (the contrarian) went for eggs. We shared bits from our plates with each other and agreed that everything was perfectly delicious.

It was a little rainy and overcast, but that didn't stop us from crossing the street to walk the boardwalk for a while after we left the pancake house. We stopped to visit the Virginia Beach police memorial, which put me in mind of a Mr. Rogers quote I've been saying over and over to myself a lot while watching the news this weekend:

When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." To this day, especially in times of "disaster," I remember my mother's words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.

Here's to the helpers, and all of the caring people out there. Stay safe, everyone. x

Chalk the Walk

One of our family's favorite things to do together when the weather is nice is to sit outside with a bucket of chalk and cover the front walk with drawings. On Saturday, the weather was decidedly not nice, with temperatures well above 100 degrees. But we filled up our water bottles and slathered ourselves with sunscreen to brave the heat so that we could visit Chalk the Walk at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. It might sound excessive, but like I said: We are fans of the sidewalk chalk.

The boardwalk between 15th and 18th streets had been sectioned off into plots, each filled with a pop-art inspired drawing to go along with this year's theme, Walking with Warhol, meant to coincide with the opening of the Andy Warhol portrait exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art. Both professional and amateur artists were invited to claim a plot and contribute a drawing. So many of their offerings took my breath away! We definitely have a long way to go before our family chalking skills reach this level.

The heat eventually became A Problem, and we had to cut the afternoon short before spending as much time as we would have liked admiring these masterpieces. But we did stop by the section cordoned off for kids and let Baby Anne make her own mark before we left. 

I'm pretty sure the drawings were gone by the next morning, thanks to a passing thunderstorm that evening. I suppose that's the bad thing about chalk art. Or else the cool thing about it: to put so much effort into something that can't possibly stick around for long. I can't decide. I know it definitely does hurt to think about some of those amazingly meticulous drawings being washed away! But I am glad we had the chance to see them -- even if the experience melted our brains a little.