First Landing State Park - Virginia Beach

First Landing State Park Campground is located on the Chesapeake Bay Beach.  The beach was a 2 min walk from our campsite.  There are 4 boardwalks located in the campground to provide easy access to the beach.  We walked out to the beach every day, but it's not quite beach weather at the moment.

According to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation website the park is where English colonists first landed in 1607. Legend has it that Blackbeard hid in the Narrows area of the park, and interior waterways were used by Union and Confederate patrols during the Civil War. The park is a National Natural Landmark and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

We arrived on Monday, Nov. 5th and depart tomorrow.  As this is our first time camping in the RV we spent a good bit of time settling in, unpacking, and learning how to use the features of the camper (Q - Why is the Truma display flashing E 212 H? A - we're out of propane.  Q - How do we turn on the AC? A - Push the button on the AC remote mounted to the wall until it displays Cool.) Yesterday we were able to go for a nice long bike ride.  There are several trails here (thanks for the tip Jodi McKinnon) and we were ready to explore.  

We set off on the Cape Henry Trail.  The strobe effect of riding through dappled patches of sun, shade, sun, shade was disconcerting as it gave the impression of riding blind at times.  

This trail goes through the Cypress Swamp.  This is much different topography than we are used to.  I said to Carol, "It smells like a wet basement."  She replied, "That's what you get?"  "What do you get?" "Rotting wood."  "I'll give you that, a wet basement full of rotting wood."  The funny thing was, we got used to it pretty quickly.  The swamp had the creepy other-worldly look I associate with swamps, complete with Spanish moss.

 
We are not athletic adrenaline seeking bike riders.  A bike ride is a way to keep our bodies moving, something we try to do in one way or another everyday.  We did a 7 mile ride, which made us very happy and satisfied for our first ride in a couple months.

The campground is pretty quite at this time of year.  There are a few other campers, we met some fellow full-timers, but it's pretty deserted.  That's just fine with us.  We are looking forward to meeting other camping folk, but it's been nice to have a few days to get settled, learn our way around and prepare for more adventures.  We both agree, our first stop has been a success.