Survived a Storm Non-Event

Sea Mist RV Park — NAS Oceana, Dam Neck Annex — Virginia Beach, Virginia
TEMPS: LO 61F / HI 73F (16C / 23C)

When we left Ashland, Virginia for Virginia Beach yesterday morning, all weather indications pointed to us heading into the highest risk area for a storm that was coming in from the west. By the time we arrived at the Sea Mist RV Park on base at the Dam Neck Annex of NAS Oceana, the risk had been downgraded to moderate for thunderstorms and hail, and to slight for tornados.

The storm arrived in our area at 6:00p. Just as the weather talking-heads had predicted. We pulled in the slides to protect the toppers from the forecasted gusts — up to 70 mph (112 km), they said — and hunkered down to sit out the storm.

We weren’t overly worried. Not only did we have a nearby hurricane-proof bathhouse to shelter in, but the host had come by to let us know that in the event of a tornado warning, she was going to open up the ITT/MWR office — a designated storm shelter.

Turns out we didn’t need to seek shelter anywhere. Taking a more northerly track, the storm fizzled out entirely in this area. The few wind gusts that barely rocked the Phaeton never reached anywhere near the forecasted speeds. And the downpours that came through were of short duration. In fact, we’ve had stronger winds and rain today than we did yesterday. And the temperature has dropped dramatically from yesterday’s feels-like 102F (39C) boiling hot afternoon high.

Enough about the storm that didn’t happen — at least not for us.

We left Ashland shortly before 8:00a yesterday. The 2½ hour drive down to Virginia beach was an easy — but bumpy — 121 miles (194 km) mostly on I-64E. With directions to the Sea Mist RV Park as a handy reference, we bypassed NAS (Naval Air Station) Oceana and headed directly to the Dam Neck Annex.

121 miles (194 km) from the Americamps KOA in Ashland to the Sea Mist RV Park
on base at the Dam Neck Annex of NAS Oceana in Virginia Beach.

After checking in with the campground manager, and signing off on the governing rules and regs, we did a quick drive through both the older and newer sections of Sea Mist to take a look at the 12 available sites. The only open site in the heavily-treed older section didn’t tickle our fancy, so we settled on Site 26 in the new section. ($154/week; $25/night.)

Sea Mist is situated between vegetation-covered sand dunes and Regulus Avenue.
(Site 26 [circled in red] is on the left side of the RV park map.)

Site 26 is a 50A FHU with a double wide concrete pad; it backs up to vegetation-covered dunes that separate the campground from the beach. The site on the driver’s side is a pull through facing away from us, and there is a wide grass ditch that separates us; plenty of privacy in that direction. The neighboring site on the passenger side is separated by a patch of grass that is half as wide as the concrete pad; good spacing between the sites. This section of the RV park is lacking in shade, but we’re not overly bothered by that. I can’t say that this is a quiet place. Chanting military students march in formation to and from class on the road that parallels the campground. And Navy jets fly practice runs overhead. No train noise, though ;-) Since the day-to-day sounds of an operational base are not 24-7, we aren’t bothered by them.

Left: our site (#26) and the neighboring pull through, which is the last site at this end.
Right: Looking from our site back towards the office and the far end of the RV park.

Even though it is breezy with mostly cloudy skies as I write this post, that wasn’t the case when we woke up this morning. In fact, sunshine and a comfy temperature of 68F (20C) encouraged us to explore the beach on the other side of the dunes. We even managed to enjoy an al fresco breakfast at our campsite before the first raindrops of the morning drove us inside.

There are two beach access points at Sea Mist — one at the far end of the old section, and one just on the other side of the new section. The latter is at the back of a parking lot where we can leave the car when we go to the beach with our chairs, beach shelter, and other paraphernalia. This brown-sand Atlantic Ocean beach is nothing like the sugar-white beaches of the Gulf of Mexico; and the water itself is a moody dark blue instead of crystalline aquamarine. Nonetheless, we’re looking forward to some relaxing days on the beach while we’re here at Sea Mist.

Welcome to the Atlantic — from the “walkover” in the old section of the campground.

Because there are no lifeguards in our section of the beach, swimming is not encouraged here. But just down the road is a section with pavilions and lifeguards that we can drive to should we wish to take a dip in the Atlantic. When we came on base yesterday, we turned in the opposite direction from the swimming beaches, so we haven’t seen those facilities yet. If the weather cooperates, we’ll trike over there soon to take a look-see.

Nothing but a long stretch of beach greets our eyes when we go for our morning walk.

When our plans for the Army Rec Area in Appling, Georgia fell through, we added some days here to fill the gap until it’s time to return to South Carolina for our Camp Freightliner appointment. With a departure date set for after the 4th of July, that means we will be here for a while. Plenty of time to explore the area and revisit some old haunts.