Virginia Beach Sunrise – The Final Scratch on a 27-Year Road Trip

Virginia Beach Sunrise – The Final Scratch on a 27-Year Road Trip 

by a.d. elliott | Take the Back Roads – Art & Other Odd Adventures

Dear Henry,

A few years ago, my youngest sister gave me one of those scratch-off maps of the U.S.—the kind where you reveal the places you’ve been by scraping away thin foil. It became a fun, visual way to track our travels, and Fish (my partner in life and adventure) and I began scratching off the states we’d lived in or journeyed through together.

We didn’t realize then how linear our path would be: a near-perfect line from Salt Lake City to Virginia Beach, stretched across twenty-seven years.

We met and married in Salt Lake City. Then came Portland, briefly. We quickly learned that we weren’t built for months of gray skies and drizzle, though I still smile thinking about feeding the seals in Seaside, Oregon. Disappointed, we returned to Utah, regrouped, and then started east.

Next came Denver, then northwest Arkansas, followed by a windy stint in Tulsa (Tulsa’s wind deserves its own weather channel). Eventually, we found ourselves in Roanoke County, Virginia, a place that finally felt like home. We spent the first few years establishing ourselves, renovating our house, and participating in community projects.

But one small patch of foil on that map remained unscratched, the eastern edge of Virginia.

So, one day, we pointed the car east and headed for Virginia Beach. The plan was simple: watch the sun rise over the Atlantic, visit Cape Henry Lighthouse, and stand where the first English settlers landed in 1607.

Of course, travel plans rarely go as smoothly as imagined.

The first surprise was the hotel. We thought we’d booked something beachside. Instead, we were twenty minutes inland, which, in hindsight, turned out to be a blessing. The beachfront hotels sit directly under the flight path of Naval Station Oceana, and fighter jets at full throttle are not exactly soothing white noise.

Dinner at the Nautilus Restaurant was fantastic; I had fried oysters and fish and chips, while Fish had chicken fingers (naturally). Afterward, we walked the quiet shoreline, the roar of jets fading into the waves, and then drove back to our slightly aromatic hotel.

The next morning, we overslept and ended up racing down I-264 in the half-light of dawn, but we made it just in time. The sun rose slowly out of the ocean, casting a golden hue over the water. It was everything I’d hoped for. We watched surfers slice through the waves, visited the Naval Aviation Monument Park, and stood quietly for a while, just taking it all in.

We tried to visit Cape Henry Lighthouse, but it sits within Fort Story, and access was limited that day. Still, it didn’t matter—we’d seen what we came for.

That trip to Virginia Beach was more than just another destination. It was the final scratch on a journey nearly three decades in the making.

Maps are fun, but that one told a story—not just of where we’d been, but of how long it took to find where we belonged. And even though that scratch-off is complete, our travels most certainly aren’t.

Some journeys simply don’t end with the final scratch.

xoxo, a.d. elliott

P.S. Don't forget to check out my YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/guSz1DmIqks

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a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller living in Salem, Virginia. 

In addition to her travel writings at www.takethebackroads.com, you can also read her book reviews at www.riteoffancy.com and US military biographies at www.everydaypatriot.com

Her online photography gallery can be found at shop.takethebackroads.com

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