So far, vacation has been pretty good. I went to Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant on 21st Street again last night for dinner, which was, as before, a great experience. Then I went down to the boardwalk and did a lot of night photography, which went really well. I even met a couple from Pennsylvania who showed great interest in my work. I gave them the address to the Web site, and so who knows – maybe they’ll see some of the photos I showed them on the camera on the Web site.
So I had wonderful weather coming in. I made all the stops I intended, and a couple more. Breakfast went without a hitch, and then I stopped at the Patrick Henry Mall as planned. Turns out that’s not the mall that I was thinking of. They had mostly System Sensor horn/strobes, and the mall I was after had Edwards. But we did find the mall later. But I’m not there yet.
Before leaving that area, however, I stopped at the Wal-Mart in Newport News, where one of our Waynesboro people transferred. And I found our former coworker Carliqua running register 33. Since it was slow, we got to catch up for a few minutes. It was good to see her again.
Then I reached the mall that I visited by chance in 2003. It’s the Coliseum Mall in Hampton, a little bit further down the road. The Barnes and Noble was there, and the Edwards horn/strobes were there. Patrick Henry Mall, however, is definitely nicer. But there you go. I found it, and so now our mystery mall has a name-o.
I also ended up going around the Hampton Roads Beltway like I did in 2000. I was improperly positioned for my exit, and traffic was too heavy to bust a move, so I skipped it and rode around. That did, however, take me through downtown Norfolk, which I’d not seen since 2003 with An Urban Comparison. The First Virginia Tower now has a different name on it.
The Travelodge is nice, though at first glance it looks kind of dumpy, with the painted-cinderblock exterior and rough-looking exterior corridors. But the room is wonderful (actually a suite, complete with kitchenette!) and it is just lovely. My only complaint is the bathroom, which is far too small. One cannot use the toilet without sitting sidesaddle, because it’s placed so close to the tub. But otherwise, it’s great.
And while I’m here while it’s raining, I checked out the new Homestar Runner toon called A Folky Tale, which is about a character created by Strong Sad called Saddy Dumpington. Saddy Dumpington kind of reminds me of a Strong Sad version of Señor Cardgage. For those of you who don’t know, Señor Cardgage is a kinda creepy older version of Strong Bad with a combover job.
Anyway, I’m about to be out of time on this library connection, so catch you later!