A Petting Zoo and Virginia Beach

We woke up in Richmond (this was almost a month ago, I can hardly believe it) we packed our bags for the fourth time while D chatted on the phone :) 

Drove right across the street to Cracker Barrel and had a very good breakfast.. we were so hungry that I forgot to take pictures.. after our tummies were full we drove on over to Maymont Gardens. These gardens are so extensive that you need to drive to get to other parts of it. There was a little train for kids, plenty of place for picnics and play, a Japanese garden, Italian garden and much more. Unfortunately we didn't have the time to explore. Our main purpose for the stop was to take D to his first petting zoo. 

The boy was afraid of just about everything there.. he didn't want to be put down, the goats were a bit too excited and hungry for his liking.. and then we found a sheep. The sheep was as mellow as a sheep can possibly be.. D slowly approached him as he saw M petting him. I prayed for no sudden movement with my camera in position and

he made contact!  There we have it.. another first :)

Now we headed out to Virginia Beach. The water we knew would be too cold for comfort so we spent a little time in the hotel pool and then hit the sand.. the moment D saw it his eyes lit up and he reached down to grab wonderful fistfuls. We had to pick him up and bring him close to the beach and near our towels. The boy was entranced.

I can't seem to remember what we had for lunch but dinner was at Waterman's Surfside Grill. Wonderful service and delicious food. 

Next, we head back to New Jersey but we're not going home just yet.. ponies and ferries ahead..