The phone rang.
"OWWWUUUUUOOOOO!!!!"
It was J-Dog! Connection, success, glory halleluiah! He was at home, studying for his first medical exam on Friday, and we promised not to bug him but we had to stop by and at least make a quick appearance. We cruised over to his pad, got the grand tour, checked out his newly aquired motorcycle by default (came with the apartment), and made an unexpected discovery, unnerving for me.
Jay plays StarCraft.
Admittedly, this is a bit of an insider issue, but in short StarCraft is a computer game which has been a tiny bone of contention between me and Brant back when he lived with Jason. It's the whole equal division of attention between machine and girlfriend debate. Anyway, Jay was studying so no StarCraft was in order.
Driving past The Byrd.
Leaving him in peace, we walked up a few blocks into downtown Richmond, sampled the east-coast Mexican cuisine at Nacho Mamma's, and caught a flick at the historic old Byrd theater. We spent that night in front of Jay's apartment and took off early on Friday towards Virginia Beach. Jay was going to drive down and meet us there after his test (and the obligatory celebration).
After a couple hours cruising around for somewhere to park our huge rig in a relatively close distance to the beach, we finally found two empty parallel spots together on 87th Avenue. We walked over the dunes to check the surf and were surprised to see a kite flying a ways down the beach. Like the Bat Signal pressing into the night sky, kites serve as a beacon for kin as the sport is still in its youth. We answered the call and met Dual and Renee at the other end of the kite lines.
Sparking an immediate commeraderie, we headed to Somethin' Raw for a two-hour sushi dinner. Over spicy tuna and dragon rolls, we learned that Dual had been kiting for several months and was in the beginning stages of teaching Renee. Both were incredible wakeboarders, and after their stories it seems that next to Florida, Virginia is a wakeboarding mecca with miles of rivers and flat waterways ready for a wake.
From the back end.
Stoked to hang out with them, we cruised over to their house and agreed to hook up in the morning...we camped a block away. We sent directions via email to Jay, but still hadn't heard from him by the time we crashed. The East Coast Surf Championships was happening in Virginia Beach this weekend, along with a Bluetorch sponsored Ride and Slide wakeboard and motorcross contest, so perhaps the traffic in was horrific. Or maybe he was just too celebratory at the finish of his first medical exam... we'll find out soon!
