For the 4th of July, I took Celeste and her friend Rebecca to Virginia Beach, VA. Map-guess said it should have taken me ~6 hours to drive there. HA! It was closer to 9, what with going around DC and roadwork ('tis the season!) and general tomfoolery. I took a different route home, and it was still 9 hours!
The time at the beach was wonderful. We stayed at the Virginia Beach Resort. This is not right down where the Boardwalk is, so it was quieter and not so crowded feeling. Also, there was a "Bloom" grocery store across the street, and we found a Pizza Hut that delivered. The Resort had a little beach of its own, and that is where we sat to watch fireworks. They were on both sides of us, and you could see other little displays along the shoreline. Amazing!
One day we went to the Virginia Zoo. I have to say that the signage in Norfolk is about as bad as it gets. And trees blocked the ones that were there. Rebecca was a big help in navigating us there. The zoo was great. Celeste wanted to take a goat home, but I put my foot down.