Virginia is for lovers

Four days after my wisdom teeth surgery, I got in a van with my husband and 10 other civil engineering students/professors for a trip to the Institute of Transportation Engineers conference in Portsmouth, VA. It was a very LONG drive there and back, but it was a blast! I met some really great people, ate some delicious food, enjoyed a beautiful city, learned a lot about transportation, and even got to talk politics. :)

The first day:

A lot of driving! We stayed at the Governor Dimwiddie Hotel in Portsmouth's historic downtown (BEAUTIFUL area). The hotel was pretty neat. It was built in the 1920s and had a classy, old look that I adore. The elevators were extremely scary (to me) because they were really old and lacked an inspection sticker! I couldn't work them, so I always had to make sure I was with a group if I ever attempted to ride them. I took the stairs a few times and almost fell down them as they must have been made for people with a size 2 shoe and less than 4 feet tall.

That night was absolutely delightful! At the Renaissance Hotel where the conference was held, there were four suites on separate floors with food galore! It was amazing!! On one floor, there was chicken and barbeque with sides. On another floor: shrimp and oysters. Another floor had cake and other dessert. Basically, I stuffed my face! And thank GOD I could eat by then... slowly but surely.

The second day:

Josh and the two other team members (Kat and Priyanka) prepared for the Traffic Bowl competition. It was a Jeopardy-style competition amongst nine states. Clemson represented South Carolina (whoop whoop!). I was so proud of my hubby for being so amazing in the competition! They lost to Georgia Tech in the final Jeopardy question... we were all sad, but they did amazing (not to mention every state was scared of us because Clemson was the defending champions five years in a row). I also KNOW our team would have won if not for the drawing of teams in the beginning, two bad "calls" made by the judges that gave GT points, and the final Jeopardy decision by the judges. Oh well!

That evening we went on a ferry boat ride to the Nauticus Museum. It was so much fun! We had a wonderful catered dinner and toured the museum. I think it cheered the group up a bit. :)

Afterwards, we went to a quiet pub downtown with the professors. Everyone discussed what "coulda been"... I felt so a part of the civil engineering group that day!

The third day:
We had another great meal and headed back to Clemson. We made a pit stop to Virginia Beach... and it was REALLY cold!

I enjoyed Portsmouth so much that I'd like to return soon. The city has a great mixture of historic and modern... reminds me a little of Charleston. Loved it!