Virginia Beach Boardwalk

[Prince Eric1]

We are going to Kings Dominion this summer and are going to spend one day at Virginia Beach at a hotel on the boardwalk. We will have our two daughters, 6 and 8. Any suggestions as to cool restaraunts or things to do during a brief visit. I know that the beach will be boring for us after a couple of hours, and its been ten years since I was there.

 

[CindysGusGus]

Ocean Breeze festival park is nice (water park, go karts, shipwreck golf) Seashore state park has cool walking trails and also the Marine Science museum. Also the strip has tons of neat stuff for kids.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

We were just there a week ago. We weren't there long enough to walk the boardwalk and I found Atlantic Avenue a little too rough or honky tonk for my liking. We really enjoyed the Nauticus Museum in Norfolk and thought it would have been a great place to have taken ours kids when they were younger.

 

[Octoberbride03]

My DH took me for a ride to Oceanfront just last night(Sunday) after dinner. This is the 1st time i've seen the place. And i really have to say that if i were going on a vacation this is not the beach I'd want to go to. Which is really very sad considering I'm a 20 minute drive away.
Didn't actually walk on the boardwalk, though I'm not sure why they call it that because a few years ago, they took out the boards and replaced them with concrete or something. 1 day after the beach season really gets going we'll go do that.
My Dh says they decided to change everything in the 90s and for the past 10 years have been in the process of ruining the place. This is just my opinion, but how bout considering a day at Colonial Williamsburg instead? It much nicer than VA Beach.

 

[JoeThaNo1Stunna]

Va Beach's boardwalk has been concrete for as long as I can remember, back to say the late 80s.

 

[Cruise04]

In the summer the Boardwalk IS a very nice place to go - they usually have vendors (art vendors is one I specifically remember) but they have different things going on. Not only on the boardwalk but walking up and down and going in and out of the "tinker" shops is kind of fun. They also have several mini-golf places the next block over (off the strip) that runs parallel to the strip.

The Boardwalk when it's not warm is boring, but it's fun in the summer. I'm not much of a beach person either but I love just going down and wandering.

There are, as Breezy_Carol said the museum in Norfolk and other things to do and see in Norfolk as well. There is a shopping place called Waterside and next to Waterside is the USS Wisconsin at the National Maritime Center that you can tour. My dad did that this past fall and said it was GREAT! And was a great opportunity (we have been on the ships many times) for people who wouldn't get to have access to the base now (post-9/11) to tour a real ship.

Here are some links for you:

http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/battleships/wisconsin/bb64-wi.html
http://www.nauticus.org/

Here's a website for things to do around Virginia Beach and if you go over to Outdoor & Sports and scroll down to the Ocean and Beaches there is a listing of different things to do around the beach area

http://www.vbfun.com/vbfun_2003/index.asp

I love this area a lot (if you can't tell) and when someone gives a negative, I give 4 positives if possible. Yeah - it's changed a lot since I was a kid and started visiting the area in the 70's but it also has A LOT of great things to do with your family.

Also there is the Forbes Salt Water Taffy factory and I believe they still give tours. You can find out at their store on 17th and Atlantic Ave. They have moved to a new factory from their location on Lynnhaven so I don't know if they still give tours.

 

[JerseyJanice]

We visited VA Beach two years ago and had a wonderful time.

The Boardwalk is largely a place to walk or skate or ride bikes on--they have lanes for riders marked off.

We had a lunch at a restaurant called Mahi Mahi that we loved. It was in one of the hotels on the south end (somewhere around 8th Street). Our favorite restaurant from that visit, though, was the Happy Crab. It was farther up north and back a few blocks from the Boardwalk.

There is a stage somewhere further up (17th or 22nd, I think) where free entertainment is offered throughout the summer. I was selected as the audience volunteer for a magician when we stayed to see his show there.

Enjoy! I think it's a beautiful place.

 

[dizneenut]

When I lived in VA years ago we used to walk the boardwalk all the time. Thinking of taking our boys there sometime soon.

 

[Blondie]

My only gripe with VA Beach is that their aren't any amusement piers like you have with the Jersey shore, or Ocean City Maryland. The boardwalk (or cement walk) is just that, a place to walk and people watch.

 

[Prince Eric1]

Thanks to all for your opinions and advice. Thanks also for the links.

 

[JoeThaNo1Stunna]

It's actually Mahi Mah's and it is very good! I stayed in the hotel that this place was in, but I can't remember the hotel. I think it's either Quality or Ramada.