Riding the Tide

It still amazes me every time I ride the Tide that we actually have light rail in Norfolk. If you're new to the area, to give you an idea of how long we've been waiting for it, the first time I remember hearing rumors of bringing light rail to Hampton Roads, I was a kid in elementary school (The Pilot ran a big article on it once, and I remember so well a bunch of us kids running around on the school playground singing the Monorail song from the Simpsons). Now I'm a J.D. with a kid of my own. That's a long, loooong time coming.

A few weeks ago, A. and I were downtown for lunch. We crossed the street near the Monticello station, and a train was pulling in. On a whim, we bought tickets and hopped on. Our car was half empty, and we had our pick of the seats. So we each chose a window seat on opposite sides of the aisle, and settled back to ride to the end of the line.

A. was super cool about it all. We rode the Metro a lot in DC, and I guess she considers herself an old hand at riding the train. She pressed the button to open the door all by herself, carefully clutched my ticket in her hand, stood like a little commuter holding on to the hand rail as the train pulled away from the station. She even knew somehow to line up on one side of the door while the passengers exited, a skill it took me about a year (and many dirty looks) to learn when I first moved to Washington.  I love my little cosmopolitan kid who won't ever remember a time before we had the Tide in Norfolk.

But I was feeling that old childlike wonder. The camera came out, and I pressed my face to the glass and soaked up my familiar city whizzing by the windows in a new and unfamiliar way. Usually, when I am driving downtown, I have one eye on the car in front of me and one eye on the pedestrians who are threatening to step out in front of my car. On the Tide, I had the chance to notice so many of the little details about the city that I haven't really seen in a long time -- the old brick and stone of the buildings, the stately Victorian houses ringing the Hague. The water, water everywhere. It was an inspiring way to spend a chunk of afternoon; the new perspective was well worth the $3 fare.

Some really exciting things are going on with future planning for the Tide right now -- this week Virginia Beach is holding public meetings to discuss ways to connect the Tide to the Oceanfront, and HRT has released some amazing maps that show how the Tide might connect up with Portsmouth, Chesapeake, and the Peninsula. I recommend friending Bring the Tide to Virginia Beach on Facebook to read more and find out how to have your say on the issue.

Air Power Park

We were big fans of the Air and Space museum when we lived in DC, and we're big fans of the Virginia Air and Space Museum, as well. But they just don't compare to Hampton's Air Power Park in terms of accessibility and pure magic -- because there is something magical about being able to get up close and personal with the fighter jets and rockets, to have so many in one place, and to even be able to reach out and touch them.

Anouk's love of airplanes seems to grow and grow, and so we made a special trip to Air Power Park last weekend. The park, located on fifteen acres off of Mercury Boulevard is hard to miss. You're driving along and then bam: rockets against the trees. The park features vintage aircraft and space exploration vehicles from the 1950s and '60s as well as an indoor museum filled with model planes and nautical vessels in exhibits dedicated to each of the armed services. There's a small playground behind the museum building, too.

A time capsule, interred at the park in 1965, to be opened in 2065. 

We followed the map around the rocket garden and saw the sights: a Thunderchief fighter jet, a massive Polaris missile, and best of all, a Mercury capsule used in the first manned spaceflight (along with the Little Joe rocket that launched it). The capsule was way smaller than either J. or I thought it would be...here's a photo of A. standing next to it, to give you some idea of how little it was. Because of it's cramped size, the astronauts used to say that it was "worn" rather than flown in!

Inside the museum, we had fun looking up at all of the vintage model planes made by a local donor starting in the 1940s. The NASA room also features small-scale models of the Challenger shuttle and the Mars rover, and of course we had to spend some time checking them out. The Cold War Era Room gave J. and me a weird kind of nostalgia -- it's strange to think how big and scary the Cold War stuff seemed to us back when we were kids, and how long ago and far away it all seems now.

Best of all, Air Power Park (because it's a public city park) is free -- a great bargain, considering that admission at the VA Air and Space museum can cost up to $20 per person! And considering that Anouk learned a new word while she was there -- she's still toddling around talking about "wockets." Priceless, you know?

To the moon! Let's go!

Holiday Train Show at Selden Arcade

Last week, J. and I took Anouk to the holiday train show at Selden Arcade and she's been "choo-choo"ing ever since. Is there a developmental milestone in the baby books that says all kids have to fall head over heels for trains?

You can check out our review of the show (and find more information!) over at My Active Child.

Children's Museum of Virginia

Ever since we moved to Hampton Roads, we've had people telling us that we simply have to visit the Children's Museum of Virginia in Portsmouth. You know how sometimes EVERYONE tells you you just have to do something and then you do and it's not awesome? Our visit to the Children's Museum last Sunday was the opposite of that.

In fact, there was SO much to see and do that we spent nearly three hours at the museum and didn't even make it to the second floor. Over an hour of that time was spent in the bubble room; another good chunk was devoted to the train room. Each exhibit was so enthralling to Baby A. that when it was time to move on to the next one, she had a meltdown of major proportions. (No! No! Fun! HELP ME!) It seems strange to have a tantruming toddler be an indicator of a good time, but you'll just have to trust me on this one.

Greatest hits from our visit? The bubble room, where J. spent a long time trying to perfect the art of the human-sized bubble, the toddler play area, where A. and I lounged in the nest with the big blue egg pillows, and the replica HRT bus, where we spun the steering wheel and joined a crowd in as many refrains of the "Wheels on the Bus" as we could think of. There were no misses.

Anouk was so sorry to leave that I was afraid we were going to be arrested for kidnapping on our way out.

Yeah. It's that awesome.

Right now the Children's Museum, Porstmouth Art and Cultural Center, and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum are offering a Winter Wonderland Holiday Pass: $12 admission to all three sites, valid through December 31. It's an amazing deal and one we made sure to take advantage of! More details here.

Norfolk International Airport Overlook

This past Sunday, we took advantage of the amazing weather and met up with some friends at one of my favorite spots in all of the Norfolk Botanical Garden: the Airport Overlook. Though I don't like flying on planes, I do like sitting at the top of the overlook hill and peering down into Norfolk International Airport and watching the planes come in and take off.

Anouk and Baby J. loved it, too. Baby J. sat himself right down and waved at every plane as though it was his job. Anouk was busy running up and down the hill (tiring herself out before bedtime, yay!) but she did pause every time a plane taxied down the runway, long enough to wave her arm over her head and yell, "Bye!" before going up/down the hill again. Not to mention that it was also a very dad-friendly activity: James and our friend M. took off for the hill ASAP (which left E. and I free for a little gift shop browsing).

The airport overlook is one of those places I remember so well from my childhood -- I grew up across the street from the Gardens, and remember the days when the hill was just a hill leading down to a fence. Now it's beautifully landscaped, with a convenient stone pavilion (and a wheelchair/stroller ramp leading up to it, hooray!). The best new feature, in my estimation: speakers that let you hear the air traffic controllers talking to each other and the pilots. Too cool!

I'm glad we got the chance to revisit this old haunt, and to spend a nice day there before the weather gets too cold. It's destined to be a new addition to the picnic spot roster come spring.

On an entirely unrelated note, in case you don't already follow Where the Watermelons Grow on Facebook or Twitter, please check out my Hampton Roads Holiday Events list, posted at the top of this page under the header image. I'm kind of a winter holiday freak, and all throughout the summer and fall I've been compiling this huge list of stuff to do this season, and people kept asking me to share it, so there it is. It's definitely not comprehensive; if you know of an event that I've missed that should be there, please let me know and I'll add it.

Happy weekend! What are your plans?