The Lowdown on Virginia Beach

One, it wasn’t New York City, which is where we had originally planned to go, but later seemed like a bad, hot, sticky idea.

Two, a co-worker had been there recently and told us there was “tons” to do.

Three, the location has the word “beach” in its name. And that’s pretty much all I need to get me to go anywhere.

As it turns out, Virginia Beach wasn’t exactly what we expected. Here’s the lowdown on our trip, and some tips for yours, if you ever decide to make one.

Getting There

Driving is feasible if you’re coming from Boston, as we were. It is probably a reasonable drive from anywhere on the East Coast. It took us about ten hours on the way down, including bathroom breaks and random stops to get food. We drove overnight to avoid traffic, which was a smart move, except for the occasional night construction work that slowed things down.

The only problem was we took a coastal route that ran through Delaware, Maryland and Virginia and was basically comprised of random houses, clusters of fast food restaurants and chain discount stores, random factories, random tractors, and corn fields. Lots and lots of corn fields. The corn fields got excruciatingly monotonous to the point where they nearly lulled us to sleep. By the time we reached Virginia Beach we never wanted to see another corn field again. Of course, we had to see several on our drive back.

But, the route we took was also the most direct. If we had taken Interstate 95 to circumvent corn country it would have taken us an extra two to two-and-a-half hours. So if you’re coming from the north, make sure you take Route 13 South from Delaware, and not I-95 the whole way.

Flying is also an option, and the flight would be a short one from anywhere on the East Coast, probably no more than two hours. But I’d say take the road trip, at least the first time you go. Even with the corn fields, everyone needs to take a road trip or two every now and again.

Incidentally, the route we took afforded us a long drive over the Chesapeake Bay, on a bridge and then in a tunnel I still can’t figure out how people managed to build. Driving on that bridge for mile after mile over the bay was pretty breathtaking

Staying There

We found a very reasonably priced hotel that was about ten minutes from the beach. It wasn’t The Ritz, but it worked. Unless you want to wake up to the sound of waves crashing against the shore, I’d say staying a few minutes off the beach is your best bet. You’ll save a lot of money, and you’ll be close enough to the beach to make it an easy trip, and close enough to Norfolk, which is about 15 minutes west of where we stayed, to hit up the clubs. (More on the clubs later, though.)

In the area where we stayed, there were still a lot of restaurants and strip malls, gas stations, convenient stores, Walgreens and the like. It was still technically Virginia Beach, but not right on the beach.

Getting Around

Since my friends and I drove down, we already had a car at our disposal. But if you happen to fly, renting a car is a must. Unless you stay right on the beach and don’t plan to leave that area, Virginia Beach is pretty spread out and you’ll need a car to get around.

We saw very little public transportation while we were there, except for trolleys right on the beach. Very few cabs, very few buses. So unless you want to be walking 24/7 or hitchiking around town, rent a car if you don’t drive one down.

Incidentally, the streets in Virginia Beach are all laid out in a grid pattern which makes them very easy to navigate, and the highways are easily accessible and bring you right to and from the beach. So even if your sense of direction is virtually nonexistent, you should be able to make it around without a problem. We didn’t even have a map of the area and within a day we had figured out how to get to and from all the major spots.

The Look/The Beach

The beach area itself looks like a less pretentious version of Los Angeles. If you’ve never seen L.A., think palm trees, white sand, white buildings with greenish-blue glass. It was very attractive without being breathtakingly beautiful. The area is clean, and so is the language. Swearing is strictly prohibited on the boardwalk that runs along the beach, and this is reiterated every hundred or so feet with sign drawing a red line through all those strange symbols that usually signify swears. We thought those were interesting, as well as odd.

The area where we stayed, about ten minutes inland, was also attractive, but again, not exactly beautiful. It was clean and well-kept, and there were really no rundown sections. But it was just about above average.
The beach itself was clean and expansive. It was crowded without being cramped, and there were more families there than I expected. I was picturing throngs of teens and twenty-somethings only. The water was relatively warm and there was very little, if any seaweed, a welcome break for us New Englanders who are used to emerging from the water covered in multicolored plant life. My friends and I got killer tans in a very short amount of time, except for one friend who is fair-skinned and spent the majority of the time hiding under her sarong. Sunblock is a must, as is a cooler with some cold water.

The Weather

We went at the end of July, beginning of August. It was HOT. VERY HOT. It didn’t rain at all while we were there, and it was sunny for the majority of the time. The weather hovered in the high 90s to around 100 degrees. It was excellent beach weather, though at times a bit stifling. If you go during the summer definitely bring sunblock, an umbrella, and a hat if you’re sensitive to the sun. And dress lightly.

What To Do

Here’s the supposedly fun part. And the part where our expectations weren’t quite met. As I said, we’d been told that there was “tons” to do in Virginia Beach. If by “tons” my co-worker meant generic shopping and lame bars and clubs that resembled claustrophobia-inducing hallways and roach-infested hangouts, then yes, there was “tons” to do.

OK, so I exaggerate. But we were definitely underwhelmed by the available activities on the boardwalk. Basically there were a lot of stores, none of them particularly interesting (think jewelry, paintings, beach clothing) some random haunted houses, and restaurants that didn’t seem particularly clean or enticing. By comparison, I went to Key West last year, and the quantity, quality and variety of shops on the main strip there was very impressive, about ten times better than those on Virginia Beach.

There were, however, a lot of trolleys, and no swearing.

So we were less than impressed by the available shopping. But we didn’t really go there to shop. We went there to go to the beach and party at night. We expected blocks upon blocks of hot nightclubs that stayed open until 4 a.m. Instead we got…

The Nightlife

Hmmm….how do I describe the nightlife on the boardwalk? It was almost worse than non-existent. We thought Virginia Beach was like this nightlife hub. Not really. Apparently, we should have done our research beforehand.

There were a few clubs on the boardwalk. Most of them were 18+. Nearly all of them were lame. Well, we actually only went to two. One was a dirty, crowded, smelly second-floor dive we exited almost as quickly as we entered.

The other was a small, narrow bar with a small dancefloor. It resembled a hallway, and club “personnel” kept telling us to move in an effort to clear the “hallway” and we kept saying “ummm….TO WHERE?” However, the music was pretty good and the crowd wasn’t bad, though the drinks were ridiculously expensive. Think $8 for a small, and I mean small, glass of Hypnotiq.

Eventually we had to go to Norfolk in search of good nightlife, and we found it. All of the clubs, incidentally, closed at 2 a.m. No 4 a.m. closings like in Key West. Damn.

However, despite our lack of nightlife options on the boardwalk, something positive did come out of our hallway experience, and that had to do with, yes, you guessed it…

The People

Virginia Beach is a very interesting area in terms of its people. It is very diverse, to say the least. And when you go out at night, almost all of the people you meet aren’t from the area originally. They’re either on vacation, or in the Navy. Most of them are in the Navy. Apparently Norfolk, the next town over, has the biggest naval base in the world.

Actually, we met a group of Navy men who became our friends for the time we were there. They were probably the best part of the trip. They took us out to eat, accompanied us on late-night trips to the beach, and introduced us to a good club in Norfolk. That club was pretty much what we had hoped for on the boardwalk. Clean, upscale without being pretentious, a large dancefloor, reasonably priced drinks, and the music was pretty good. Well, sort of.

The second night we went to said club in Norfolk, the DJ was under the delusion that he had skills. Then again, it was college night, and most of the clubgoers were probably too drunk to know the difference between good music and what he was spinning, so I guess it was understandable.

But in general, everyone we met was very friendly, and usually not in a sleazy type of way.

Extras

There were always people on the boardwalk, no matter what time we went. I’m not really sure what they were doing. But they were there.

One of the best things about our trip was being able to go to the beach at 3 in the morning, or pretty much any time we wanted, and swim in near pitch black waters.

There weren’t many liquor stores in the area (actually we didn’t see any) and the one we heard about supposedly closed at 9 p.m. The gas stations sold beer and the like, but only up until about 9 p.m. as well. So if you plan to drink, you may want to bring your own liquor, or at least scope out some stores in advance.

We didn’t have a map, and we didn’t have a list of attractions or sights to see. We saw a sign for a water park, but we never actually went there. While I don’t think Virginia Beach is known for being a historical mecca, I imagine there’s more to do than sleep late, go to the beach, go out to eat, and hit up the clubs, but that’s all we did for the time we were there. But I’d suggest bringing a map and a list of attractions/things to do if you ever make the trip.

Overall, if you like the beach and you’re looking for a weekend getaway that’s not too far from home (provided you live on the East Coast or somewhere in the Midwest) I’d say Virginia Beach is a good choice. But if you’re looking for a really hopping area with tons of nightlife, tons of things to do and breathtaking views, I’d try somewhere else.