The City of Mermaids
- Dawn & Sarah
- Jul 11, 2015
- 3 min read
“I fell in love the way you fall asleep. Slowly, then all at once”
Have you ever walked away from someone and felt your heart ache for them? You have a lump in your throat and your heart feels heavy and dull? It’s not quite breaking, but it’s aching and yearning and wanting them.
That’s what leaving Virginia was like.
It is strange, because we didn’t do as much as we did in NYC. We actually both did our own thing for part of this stop. It was nice just being a litte more free and feeling like time was not a worry. We moved at our own paces. We were separated at times and we were together at times. There wasn’t any pressure to be or do anything unless we wanted to.
We were in Norfolk and it really brought out some of the better qualities in both of us. Something about that place just feels like a small part of home. Maybe it’s the experiences, maybe it’s the people, maybe it’s the actual cites, but Virginia captured pieces of our hearts in one way or another.
Honestly, Virginia was like a vacation away from this vacation. It was like coming home after a long day at work and relaxing with your feet up and some indie music going in the background while you cuddle with your cats and drink a bottle of wine with your best friend and laugh so hard you cry.
Actually, that happened. What we’re trying to say is we were both, just… being us. We were relaxed and happy and we did things as they came to us instead of sticking to a tight schedule like we did in New York.
We went to the beach. For Dawn, it was like coming home. For Sarah, it was like torture. Sand and sun, her least favorite things but she went along because she loves Dawn. And Dawn needed photographs at the beach. But seriously, it was magical. Well, Dawn thought so. She became a mermaid. She was in the water where she feels most at peace. She met a young girl, Camryn and taught her some floats and strokes. Camryn told Dawn about the mermaids that live way out in the oceans. She had a love for the ocean and mermaids too. Sarah talked about our trip with Camryn’s family. She actually went underwater and got her hair wet too! We built a metaphor out of sand, and made friends with fellow travellers.
Dawn went out on a separate adventure meeting up with some friends that just so happened to in town at the same time. She played her first full game of pool, danced with her friends, and sang more karaoke.
Sarah got her first tattoo. Getting tattoos was one of the more permanent reminders of the trip off of our bucket list. Before the road trip started, we contacted Abby Hume at Studio Evolve to see if she had any openings to do our tattoos. She had only one spot during the time that we were going to be there. So, Dawn went to Krist Karloff at New Breed in Lafayette before the trip to get hers done with Josh before she left. We both have a watercolor compass tattooed on us now. Dawn’s is on her back and Sarah’s is on her left forearm. Later during this trip, we will write a blog post about the symbolisms and meanings for our tattoos.
The last big thing we did was go to the U.S.S. Wisconsin. It’s a museum and a retired battleship. This was inspired by Sarah’s dad who encouraged us to “do something educational” on our trip. We watched a movie about Great Whites and ALMOST got to pet live sharks. We walked around a real battleship and took lots of selfies, of course.
Also, in case you didn’t catch the title, Norfolk is like the city of mermaids. There are mermaid statues and mermaid insignias on every sign. There was even a “Mermaid Winery”.
Other than that, we spent a lot of time just kind of relaxing. We played board games and guitar. We danced and sang. Being in a place where we didn’t have to be rushing everywhere left us both in really good moods. There was a great atmosphere and all around peaceful feeling. It wasn’t a spa weekend or anything extravagant\. It was taking a few days off from responsibility and worries. It was truly a “getaway”.
This stop sparked some reflection for us both. We both know that there are other lives out there for us in this world. Life has been waiting for us and together, we are finally living.
In Virginia, we left a piece of our hearts. In the places we’ll go, we hope we can say the same.
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