Dangerous Waters

It was the dawn of a new day and I was gathering my things together as I was officially on vacation. I have been working for the past 3 years non-stop and my goal was to leave everything behind and head to a bed and breakfast room I rented for the week. It was a 8 hour drive, but I was game. I really needed to recharge my batteries and looked forward to a new adventure.

Little did I know that this would be an adventure of a lifetime. I have been having these extremely vivid dreams lately and it felt like I was not only part of them, but almost couldn't believe what was happening and why?

My work takes me around the country as I am a travel writer. I have been doing this professionally for the past 10 years and the last 3 have really taken off and I find myself drawn to the unusual and extreme.

I look forward to meeting new people and destinations and read constantly to get a better hold of the world at hand. I was fortunate enough to have a family that loved traveling when I was younger and that has taught me so much in my adult life. I have learned what types of places are safe for families, groups of various people on an expedition and the occasional lone traveler.

The top six travel tips that I have learned from the local travel magazine:

1) Choose the right accommodations. Book a hotel with a 24-hour front desk if you’ll be arriving late, so you don’t end up sleeping in your car or worse.

2) Trust yourself. If it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. Carry good identification —in more than one place. ...

3) Exude confidence. Whether you’re on a street at home or 7,000 miles away, walking confidently and with direction is an effective technique for deterring unwanted attention, since appearing lost or ...

4) Leave valuables at home. Don’t draw attention to yourself by wearing flashy clothes or jewelry.

5) Lie a little. When asking for directions, don’t let on that you are alone: “Can you direct me to the museum? I have to meet a friend.”

6) Arrive during the day. Areas around bus and train stations can be scary and/or deserted, and small towns tend to shut down early.

I would never ever stray farther away from any group that I have joined on trips and always act like I knew everything I needed for my location. It has saved me on more than one trip. I take great pride that I am am able to do this type of work for as long as I have, and it does make one weary, but my eyes still burn with excitement once I arrive and learn everything there is about my new locale.

I have almost finished driving (I am using a voice recorder while I drive with a headset) to keep everything fresh and I edit later. My goal is the infamous Virginia Beach, Virginia. I have visited many years ago and have always enjoyed my stays here. I am welcomed by my friends at my favorite bed and breakfast, "Barclay Cottage, Bed & Breakfast". It has been given 5 stars by numerous visitors over the years including myself.

I was anticipating this for so long, I was getting antsy after the long drive, but there were a few breaks along the way for a quick stop for food and restroom breaks. I arrived at the B&B around dinner time, and was pleasantly surprised to find one of the owners, Rich sitting on the front porch with another guest. I waved to him and he quickly came down the steps to greet and welcome me to his beloved home.

Well after much chatter about how each of us has been, I gathered my bags and headed inside. I was met by a gracious desk clerk who only works during the peak season, May-September. Fortunately for me it was almost end of peak season, late September and starting to get a bit cooler at night. Since I arrived prior to 6pm and still during the normal check-in hours, I was lucky enough to have a small dinner prepared by their local chef. I was delighted to take in the local fare and ate ravenously. Even though I had eaten earlier today, this satisfied my soul and I felt invigorated to see what I had missed during my last visit.

It was still light enough out for me to take a short walk to the beach which was only two blocks from the boardwalk, so I headed there. My feet knew exactly where to go and I felt that I really needed to be here for some reason, not just the adventure of it, but for an underlying reason I was still trying to understand.

I was almost to the boardwalk when I thought I heard a yell or worse yet a scream coming from the distance . I was tired from all the driving today, but was now focused and started to move quicker towards the voice that sounded frightening. I got closer to the pier after climbing down the boardwalk steps and found a young man who said he had been fighting off an attack by a shark. I was dubious of that, but at the same time, was alarmed for his safety and mine at that point. I observed that his small raft was torn and he was lucky to have on a vest for protection. I quickly dialed 911 and gave as much information to them as I could.

The local police arrived within 15 minutes and took all of the important information from the young swimmer and his story which I found fascinating. I had been doing research about shark attacks which seemed to have been more prevalent in this area and wanted to know more. I quickly left the area and returned back to the B&B and settled down for the night.

One of the things I wanted to discover was the Virginia Aquarium which would help explain what the locals feared. I arrived early the next day and was on a small boat tour which made me uneasy as I do have a tendency to get sea sick, but I was prepared for that. I signed up for the Dolphin Watching tour and could not wait until we spotted them. I had my camera ready for pictures and video and my recorder (I had asked for permission to film and take notes for my Blog). We were about 45 minutes into the 90 minute tour when someone shouted, "shark". Of course we all gasped as a whole and turned quickly around and saw what looked like a dorsal fin that dolphins have, but one of the tour guides stated, it was indeed a shark which was not as common in this area, but have been spotted within the past few years and growing.

Well let me tell you, we were excited and nervous about this new development and the tour guides were trying to calm us down in order to figure out a way to view this animal, yet do it safely. We never did come across any dolphins that morning, but this seemed to be bigger than that. We were peering over the side where it was spotted and the shark was spotted on radar and was moving around our boat and seemed to be alone and that was reassuring, but still nerve wracking at the same time.

The boat started back up again and we were going back in per the captains order. I really was hoping to get a picture, but would have to settle with just an excursion and the sightings from various people on board. I was left to draw my conclusions that these waters were prone to many different types of creatures, the beautiful, the innocent and the deadly. I have taken on a new appreciation for this and will never doubt the underlying feeling that I was called here to explore and I couldn't wait to get back home and get my story ready for my fans.