Dad and I went to Virginia Beach last weekend. We went to celebrate our birthdays and to "scout out" the location for our upcoming family vacation since none of us had ever been there before. It reminds me very much of Myrtle Beach. There are 3 beaches in Virginia Beach. In the center is the Resort Beach. There is a 3 mile boardwalk along the beach fronted by hotels and businesses and the beach/ocean on the other side. This is the very commercialized portion of Virginia Beach-just like Myrtle Beach-all stores, hotels, resturants, etc making the area very difficult to navigate in the summer!
To the north is the Chesapeake Bay Beach. This area is more residential. We scoped out one house we saw online - houses here are not accessible directly from the beach-there are sand dunes directly in front of the house. You have to go out the back of the house and go around - not a big deal. The view is definately there. The main drag there is Shore Drive and off Shore Drive are streets that dead end into beach access for everyone that lives on that street (maybe 10-12 houses).
To the south of the Resort area is Sandbridge Beach. It is a good 30 minutes away from the Resort main drag. It is all residential and pretty remote. Here there are homes directly on the beach like we had at Topsail Beach. There are also homes directly across from these on the beach homes that front a bay area with views of the ocean also. This Sandbridge area is a penisula with water on both sides. Right at the tip of this area is False Cape State Park that is accessible via tram. There is also Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge - a woodland and marsh refuge for a wide variety of migratory birds, endangered species and other wildlife - including snow geese, red foxes, loggerhead turtles and American bald eagle. Again accessible by tram. Both sound neat. Also nearby is the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.
Also located in Virginia Beach is the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center-more than 300 hands on exhibits, a nature trail, aviary, etc. They also have and ocean excursion to search for bottlenose dolphins. The tour is 90 minutes long and they say it is appropriate for all ages.
Needless to say, there are the usual vacation things to do: minature gold, historical sites :), fishing, boating, jet skis, scuba diving golfing, etc etc etc. many many resturants (we will NOT go to the one Dad and I went to...)
Dad and I went a little north to Norfolk, Virginia which is where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. We stopped at the Nauticus - lots of stuff about the ocean-many hands on things for kids too. Also - the USS Wisconsin is there (that is the main reason we went there).
There are many things to do and see in this area - we will not be bored!
Let me know what you all think. If we decide this a go - I think we need to seriously look for housing.
By the way, all the beaches are very nice.
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For all that are reading this....We (John's family) do a family vacation each year, and this post pertains to the location of that vacation...NOT the REUNION location.
Mom, what a fantastic recap. Thanks for the recon - now we need to start looking for a house. We're already a little late on this, so everyone jump in. Mom & Dad - in you opinion, what three areas should we be searching, in order:
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
Ahhh, the blog. I look at the ads it presented for us, and they are all for VA beach rental properties. We can look at those, and Dad can look at the Cialis ads.
I do believe the Sandbridge area would be the best. It is remote but other activities are somewhat nearby. The next area would be Chesapeake area - also nice but totally different than Sandbridge. I think the resort area is out of the question - strictly hotels and I think some condos unless we choose to go that way. I was looking yesterday at some homes in Sandbridge. The homes on the ocean are twice the price as those across the street (the view is there but not on the beach) I will find the website (very good one) and post it here,
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