Kayak Virginia Beach

Brooklyn Bridge Open 1883 - Merchants Millpond

Did a trip We've been wanting to do for a while, my daughter is infatuated with reptiles, has been since she was a small child, and since she has heard there were Alligators there we have been planning a trip. Finally the stars, schedules and weather aligned and headed out...

The trip down was fairly eventful more then my usual drives to a launch site, we stopped and helped 5 turtles cross the road, including 1 large Snapping turtle, and there were more that were either in too dangerous of a place, or already to late... Not sure if it was because of the new moon or what, but that is a lot of turtles on the road.

When we arrived at Merchants Millpond, the parking lot was about half full, and the upgrades to the dock an ramp are complete. We saw quite a few turtles on logs sunning, as well as several watersnakes and a couple of frogs, all the plant life is coming into its full green-ness... As the parking lot would indicate there were a lot of people on the water, canoeing kayaking and fishing.

Merchants Millpond is small, but it is so densely packed, with scenery, you could take the exact same route several times, and constantly discover something new, and I highly recommend a visit here, but I would also recommend doing it on a weekday or not during tourist season, it is much more enjoyable.

The only thing I regret about this trip, were the rudeness of some people, the people paddling a couple of rental canoes on the way out with there kids, the people fishing from the dock letting the kids cast away as people were paddling, and the rudest of the rude, the a-hole couple with their dog who felt they were more important then everyone else and almost knocked my daughter over as she was getting ready to get out of her kayak, I guess the slight drizzle was an emergency for them, they did not look happy at all and I hope the never return... I just had to get that off my chest...