Friday, July 11 was a mellow day. In the morning, Eric changed seagull water filter. It was the filter attached to the kitchen sink that filtered our drinking water. Eric has been buying the same filter since Kosmos was new, and it has become one of his metrics for tracking inflation. The cost of the filters goes up a little bit every time he buys one, and they’ve doubled in price in over the 19 years. 

Our big outing was to a Mexican restaurant called Lola’s, which was in one of the new complexes just northeast of the marina. Even though it was within walking distance, we drove since it was so ungodly hot out. Lola’s had a cheerful, beach themed decor and the menu had lots of non-Mexican choices.

Eric ordered a pina relleno, which was a half pineapple stuffed with grilled chicken, steak, pineapple, peppers and onions topped with melted cheese, chorizo, shrimp and sour cream. This version had a lot more ingredients in it than the versions we’d gotten in Hualtulco and Chiapas.

The portions were generous and the food was great. Lola’s wins for best Mexican food that we’ve had yet here in Norfolk/Virginia Beach.

On Saturday afternoon, we went to a place called Motor World that had mini-golf and go-kart racing. It was far too hot for mini-golf, so we only went on the go-karts. They had a lot of different tracks, and the loops were surprisingly large. You could choose to buy individual tickets per ride or get a multi-hour pass good for all the rides. We opted for a la carte since it was too hot to stay for many hours. The vehicles were old school gasoline engines, so they were noisy and kind of stinky, but fun none-the-less.

They also had a bumper boat ride that was probably the most fun ride in the park.

In the evening, we went to dinner with Karen and her family at a hibachi grill called Kyoto in a town called Chesapeake, which was just south of Virginia Beach. The chef was hilarious — he should be a stand-up comedian. Thanks to him, we had a super fun dinner.

On Sunday afternoon, we went to a place called FFX Family Show with Karen and her family, which was on the main drag of Virginia Beach’s Oceanfront. FX was an interactive theater where the audience participated in each of the shows. When we’d done an internet search for activities for teens in the area, FFX had had been highly rated as great for all ages. Every Sunday afternoon, they did a murder mystery. Tickets were $22.00 per person and we easily found street parking for (if we remember correctly) $1.25 per hour.

Upon arrival, we were each assigned a character and given some tidbits of information to review while we waited for the show to start. Seating was on couches.

There was also a snack bar, small gift shop, and some activities to stay entertained until the show began.

The show opened with some fun games. Then we had to get up and talk to the other participants to compare information. After a few minutes of talking to one another, we were directed to sit back down. More clues were passed out, there was another round of games, and then more time to share clues with the rest of the group. After the third round of sharing info, most of us had a hypothesis as to who the killer was. The emcee narrowed it down to six people that he called to the stage, including Lauren, Campbell, Karen and Christi.

Everyone voted for who they thought the killer was. The guy on the right end got the most votes. Then they revealed the answer. It was indeed the prime suspect. We all had a great time.

After the show, the three of us went back to the boat and had a quiet evening onboard.