Dis'er from Virginia Beach

[Pin Wizard]

Originally posted by chichihoney
i live in poquoson va near sandbridge
during summer to labor day no dogs allowed on beach
sandbrige is a good beach

Dogs are allowed on the beach at other times? When?????

 

[JoeThaNo1Stunna]

Mahi Mah's on the Oceanfront in Va. Beach was very good, and had a great atmosphere.

 

[Cruise04]

So just curious - how was your trip??????

 

[timswoman]

Thanks for asking.

We learned alot on this vacation. Here goes.....We arrived on Saturday and our house was ready at 3:00 p.m. It was wonderful. It was about 100 yards from the ocean front and about 50 yards from the bay. The whole island of Sandbridge is only about 1/4 mile across so there is water everywhere. We ate at a local restaurant named Margie and Rays right on Sandbridge Road. I ordered Shrimp and loved it. The waiter was upset because none of us ordered "She Crab Soup" so he brought us sample and it was wonderful. Needless to say....we ordered more. It was the best we ate anywhere the whole week. DH and the other couple ordered all you can eat fish and they were not impressed at all. It had tiny bones in it.
Another day we tried Dirty Dicks Crab House and was not impressed with it at all. We asked for more hush puppies and they told us that the only way they could bring them out was to charge us!!!!! We paid $80 for four of us and they did not want to give us extra hushpuppies. The food was horrible. I agree that there was alot of it but the fries were soggy and limp and the seafood was OK.
We ate at Captain George's Seafood Buffet in Pungo and it was good. Expensive but Excellent.
Enough about food.
The ocean was very cold. We visited it on Sunday for about 2 hours. DD 8 is fair skinned and red headed. I applied sunscreen every 30 minutes. We noticed that they were getting "stuff" in their hair like clear jelly. After about two hours we were hot and ready to go to the house. We liked to have never got the "stuff" out of the girls hair. We asked everywhere what it was and never got the same answer. It possibly was small jellyfish or pieces of jellyfish. "Gross" As the day progressed we all started turning "RED" and burning. DD was bad.
We decided to stay away from the beach during hot hours for the next few days. We visited the aquarium and it was OK. We went to Busch Gardens and it was nice. We did the mystery dinner play and we enjoyed it but DD was getting worse. Finally visited a pharmacy and asked for help. They recommended Aleve and Benedryl. We were giving her tylenol but they said that she needed an anti inflammatory. It seemed to help alot. DH was burned on his legs so he took the same meds and was drowsey the whole day we were at Busch Gardens. I asked what I could do to prevent this the next time. I explained how I had applied sunscreen often, etc. They asked me in what kind of water was we in and I told them the ocean. That explained it. Salt Water strips sunscreen off as soon as it hits it. I should have applied SS everytime she got out of the water. I could have .....had I known. I explained how I read the directions on the bottle and they said that was for around pools and lakes...not oceans. I felt like such a loser. It was my fault she was miserable.
Anyway....went back on Thursday in the day to the beach and it was great. We had it down on what to do. DD wore tshirt and shorts and it worked out good. Was sitting on the beach watching the girls and saw a bunch of dolphins go by. It was beautiful. The beach had a bunch of grass on it but once you get over the shock of it, it was nice. Everyone there was great. It was very much a family beach. We ventured to the boardwalk one evening and saw the beach there. It did not have the grass on it but it had a whole lot more skin.....if ya know what I mean. DD caught a crab and we found a few seashells. We ended up buying some and DH going in front of us and dropping them for the girls to find. They didn't know the difference and loved finding the beautiful shells. We actually did find a real sand dollar.
The last day we were there it was 100 degrees. Our family decided to bum out at the house and the other family wanted to go to the beach. So DH took DD's to let the crab go at the beach to walk down with the other couple. The sand actually burned blisters on the bottoms of their feet. OUCH!!!!

One of the highlights of our trip was going to Fort Story and seeing the lighthouses. We climbed into Cape Henry Lighthouse. 191 steps. Awesome.

I would go back again. It was very relaxing and I needed that.

Would be happy to answer any questions it ya got any.

Thanks for all of the help ya guys gave me.

 

[MAC3]

Thanks for your report. We leave next weekend for VA Beach and my DD12 is redhaired/ light skinned. I think I'll buy an extra bottle of sun-block!

 

[timswoman]

Please do.......maybe you should consider doing what we ended up doing by putting her in a tee shirt and shorts and still applying sunscreen on her face, ears, neck and legs everytime she gets done playing in the water. Take Aleve and Benedryl just in case she does get burned and start giving it to her immediately.

Another tip.....wear some kind of flip flops, etc when you are going to the beach. The sand gets extremely hot until you get down to where the waves wash up on it. Please heed this advice. Like I said earlier, DH got an actual blister on the bottom of his foot.

Enjoy yourself and be careful.

If you got any other questions.....let me know.

 

[MAC3]

Thanks Bunches! I always make DD wear pool shoes. The shirt & shorts sounds like a great idea especially between the hours of 10-2.

Can you tell me where you stayed? We are staying in Turtle Cay. I hope it's nice. I was told not to expect Disney and I won't be disappointed.

We have stayed in the area before and I think it's beautiful!

 

[timswoman]

We stayed at Sandbridge Beach which is an island about 20 minutes south of the boardwalk at Virginia Beach. When we visited the Boardwalk we saw Turtle Cay...it looked nice. I have read alot about it on Trip Advisor. You might want to visit that web site.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Originally posted by timswoman
Another day we tried Dirty Dicks Crab House and was not impressed with it at all. We asked for more hush puppies and they told us that the only way they could bring them out was to charge us!!!!! We paid $80 for four of us and they did not want to give us extra hushpuppies. The food was horrible. I agree that there was alot of it but the fries were soggy and limp and the seafood was OK.


Salt Water strips sunscreen off as soon as it hits it.

I was interested to hear about Dirty Dick's. That is a chain and we often saw it in North Carolina. Now we won't have to try it.

That is very odd about the suncreen. We go to the beach in NC every summer. My 18 yo DD is a red head and we have been taking her for 17 years, Never had this happen. We always applied sunscreen before we went to the beach in the morning and then again at lunch time. She is a fish and in the water all the time. She will burn without sunscreen. I wonder if your sunscreen was old. I know it expires and we always buy new bottles but you never know how long it has been at the store.

Glad you had a good time inspite of this.

 

[timswoman]

I was surprised at the pharmacist reply too. But he was quick to answer. Obviously I was not the only person with the problem. I am very picky about her getting in the sun because of her skin so I applied sunscreen several times and used the other peoples that was with us as well so I don't think it had anything to do with the lotion itself. It was sunblock 50. She is much better...had to go thru the itching stage first though.

My advise about Dirty Dick's is save your money. Even the girls were not impressed. Like I said the portions were large but the food was not good. As an appetizer I did get fried potato salad and it was different and good but I sure will pass it up the next time to eat at another restaurant.

Hope this helps.

 

[MAC3]

Thanks Again Timswoman!

 

[Pin Wizard]

Wow! Didn't know that about sunscreen. I'll have to remember that. You would think they should put a warning on the label! After all, we would be using more of it!!

I'll have to head back to the lighthouses. We were there Christmas Eve and they were closed. Thanks!!

 

[timswoman]

You're Welcome.

MAC3.......I would highly recommend going to see the lighthouses in Fort Story. It is a military base so you have to go thru a check station and every adult must have an ID. The Cape Henry Lighthouse is open until 5:00 p.m. There are 191 steps to the top of it and you can look out over the ocean once you get to the top. Beautiful!!!!!

On the country roads we traveled to get to Sandbridge Beach we saw alot of frest fruit and vegetable stands. I wish I had taken time to stop and enjoy the fresh produce.

Someone recommended that we go across the Chesapeake Bridge but we did not make it.

Let us know how your vacation goes.

Oh... one more thing....just like Disney Cruises and trips.....don't take so much stuff.....you won't need it.

Have fun!!!

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

Dogs are allowed on the beach after Labor Day and right up until Memorial Day.

Turtle Cay is a very nice resort. The only problem with it is it is not ocean front. It's right across the street though.

Dirty Dick's is just that...dirty.

 

[timswoman]

I'm glad to hear someone else thinks the same thing about Dirty Dick's.

Take our advice.......Don't go.

 

[Cruise04]

Margie and Ray's - that's it!!!! When you asked about mom and pop places I couldn't remember the name and my dad wasn't reachable. It's just up the road from the campground my uncle is at. And you are right about the fruit and veggie stands and let me tell you - some of the best produce you'll ever eat! Sorry you didn't get to stop.

And yes about the beaches - they are like tropical beaches with the sand being hot. Sorry your dd was so miserable.

I love the Sandbridge area and I'm glad to hear someone else did to. When the hurricane was heading for there it was breaking my heart thinking about the damage that was potential but they made out better then they could have.

Also glad you made it to Captain George's. I'm not a seafood eater but I love CG's. I'm a shrimp, clams eater and that's about it but I get my fill there!!!!!! My uncle works at the post office in Pungo so know that area a bit too, just couldn't remember where CG's was actually located.

Glad you had a good time and you would think about going back.

That's one thing we've never done all the times we've been out there - the lighthouses. I'm going to have to mark that as something to do next time.

 

[timswoman]

I will make it a point to stop and enjoy the fresh fruits and veggies the next time.

There is a Back Bay Refuge State Park on the back of Sandbridge Island but we did not get a chance to take advantage of it. When we were considering staying there, we were told that we would see wild horses and pigs roaming around but we did NOT. I had not told the girls about this and I'm glad I didn't because they would have been so dissappointed. Oh well...maybe next time.

What's the deal with all of the grass on the beach?

Has anyone else had a problem with the jelly stuff getting in there hair?

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

I've not gotten the jelly stuff in my hair. But, I haven't been IN the water since the early 90's; I got bitten all over by jelly fish. They hurt.

I hadn't heard about the horses and pigs at Sandbridge. I know they have the horses at Chicoteague Island.

 

[Cruise04]

Mid July they run the horses from Chicoteague to the mainland but that is way north of Sandbridge. I'll have to ask my dad about the wild horses.

I think probably the deal with all of the grass could be two things - one those beaches might not get as used as VA Beach does and so the maintenance might be too high to keep up with or it could have something to do with the cleanup still from last September's hurricane. I do believe that when we were at Hilton Head last July I noticed a lot of grass there too. I remember walking through tall grass to get to the main part of the beach - like right in front of the resorts/houses.

I've been stung by jellyfish too - YEOUCH!!!! Again with the jellyfish issue - my guess again is that the beach isn't utilized that much so they don't have a reason to stay far away from the beach area. It sounds like perhaps they are fish that died or something or I would have thought she would have gotten stung.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Originally posted by Pooh Girl 71
Dogs are allowed on the beach after Labor Day and right up until Memorial Day.

Thanks!!