Virginia Beach, VA

Pat Robertson. That name might conjure up a whole lot of images and thoughts for many people–some good, some bad.
Did you know that CBN(the Christian Broadcasting Network) is right here in Virginia Beach?

Surprised? When we first moved down here, I was surprised by the sheer number of churches in the area. I don’t think of Virginia as a “bible belt state“, but I suppose it is.

If sweater vest Christianity isn’t quite your cup of tea, what about leather vest Christianity?

One of the groups in the area that have traded their sweaters for leather is a Christian motorcycle group, The Sons of God

Just saw an article in the Pilot about the lack of interest in the Magna Carta during its exhibit at the Beach.

Is it a lack of interest? Or just too much competition? It seems there is so much to do down here. Sadly, the Jamestown anniversary celebration also had less attendance than expected as noted in another newspaper article.

So, do people just not care about history? What do you think?

Have you heard of Flat Stanley?

Flat Stanley is a character from a children’s book. The gist of the story is that thru some accident, Stanley becomes flat. In the book, this becomes a great thing for him as he can fit into an envelope and be sent all over experiencing great adventures.

We joined a Flat Stanley group on Yahoo! and this is the 2nd Stanley we’ve hosted. This time, our Stanley, named Flat Breanna, came from Canada. We sent our Stanley, named Flat Pocohontas, with her mini suitcase, passport and journal to Canada in return.

Flat Breanna is packing up, getting ready to go back to Canada this week. We’re writing up journals, and developing photos to send back. I’ll let you know what our traveler, Flat Pocohontas(a Virginian in real life!) experienced visiting Breanna’s family in Canada.

Do you have a Flat Stanley you’d like for us to host? Please let me know!

Did you know that Busch Gardens in Williamsburg is 45 minutes from VA Beach? Well, sort of….if you avoid rush hour traffic that is!

Today, the neighborhood is on an outing to Busch Gardens and I’m pulling baby duty. Our 4 month old just couldn’t hand the high heat/high humidity combo.

While there, you have to try the latest roller coaster, The Griffon. It’s a floorless coaster and has a 205 feet drop at 90 degrees. I won’t do it, but my husband says it is one of the only coasters he’s gone on which truly terrify him( interestingly enough, he claims that this is a good thing for him). Hey, whatever floats your boat I say.

For those of you budget conscious folks, save on parking by paying online and printing the voucher. Also, did you know that if you are military, you and 2 of your dependents are entitled to a free day at the park? Check out the military kiosk before entering. All you need is your military ID.

In order to save time, I’d recommend purchasing tickets online and presenting the voucher at the turnstile. It goes much, much quicker.

Since I’m not much of a ride kind of gal, I love going to the shows(otherwise, I usually end up holding all of the stuff while everyone else goes on the ride). The American Juke Box show is cool–who doesn’t love a good rendition of YMCA? Also check out the show in Ireland. Wow! One of the neatest shows in Ireland is the animal show which tells the story of an imaginary town in Ireland inhabited by animals. Real animals–cats, dogs, birds–star in the show. This was my children’s favorite.

Or, rather 2 Jamestown’s.

You know, this confused me when we first moved down here. Jamestown Settlement and Historic Jamestown are near each other. So, which one is Jamestown? And, if you have limited finances or time, which one do you choose to visit?

Now, I know the answers and I’ll share them with you!

At Jamestown Settlement, they’ve re-created what the original or “real” Jamestown would have looked like, or what we think it would have looked like. There is the re-creation of the fort and some of the buildings inside the fort, the Indian village outside the fort, and the re-creation of the ships at the dock. Also at the settlement is the visitor center with museum quality exibits on Jamestown life and a copy of the Magna Carta. Wow!

Historic Jamestown is the really real deal. Meaning, the real place where the fort once stood etc. It is an awesome place to visit if you want to really explore and learn about Jamestown minus the glitz and glamour. Spend some time watching the excavation of one of the wells! It’s fascinating to see what they threw away! Also fascinating is that they used a well for a garbage pit…This park is owned by the National Park Service.

Depending upon traffic, it can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours to get to Jamestown from VA Beach. I’d suggest avoiding rush hour traffic in the morning, and planning so you avoid leaving during the afternoon rush hours of 3-6pm. Otherwise, be prepared to sit in traffic!

Summer is here! Last week, during one of those hazy, lazy summer days, we decided to do a day trip to Knotts Island in NC.

It sounds far away, but it’s actually only 1 1/2 hours. If you are in the Beach area, take Princess Anne road South and just stay on it and you’ll come to NC eventually. That’s easy, right?

Check out the ferry times by calling 1800GOFERRY. You can take the ferry from Currituck, NC to the island. You and your car that is! It’s great fun. There’s observation decks and also an air conditioned area with snacks as well. Be sure to be there early though!

We got the 11am ferry and got there around 10am and stopped at the MCD’s near the ferry for breakfast. The folks were so friendly inside the restaurant. We ate in the gazebo near the dock which was lovely. After a 45 minute ride, we arrived at the island.

We stopped at The Peach Basket and bought local peaches to snack on and then went to the community park to eat a picnic lunch. After the kids played at the park for a while, it was time to pack up and catch the next ferry back.

If we’d go again, I’d recommend bringing a kite as well. It was slightly windy, just perfect for kite flying.

When we were down in NC last week, we learned about skim boarding. A little like surfing, but you skim about the water on the shallow end of the ocean. It almost looks like you are gliding on the sand.

Apparently, skim boarding started in 1920 when some lifeguards got board and made up the sport. It is still a small sport, but growing.

We bought the kids some boards, which weren’t that expensive(about $15.00) to start out. We’re all still re-covering from “family week” and the kids just got back last nite from a weekend with their dad, so we won’t be venturing out to the beach today.

More later….

Ok, it’s not really near VA Beach–maybe about 1 hour away on the Eastern Shore off of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel which does end(or begin depending upon your vantage point) in VA Beach.

Yesterday we went to DE to drop the kids off for a visit with their dad(3 of them anyway) and took US 13 up the shore line as usual.

The difference was that instead of stopping at the usual McD’s or whatever, we ate at The Great Machipongo Clam Shack which has just seafood. You can even do the drive thu if you want, but take the time to actually go into the shop which is unique in itself. The food is great, the people are friendly and it’s a bit of local culture.

Today, we decided to go to NC. It’s about 15 minutes away, depending upon traffic.

We ate at Griffon Bar BQ. Real NC barbeque–YUM! Plus, sweet potato rolls to boot. The tasty thing about the barbeque was that they put the cole slaw on top of the Q. It was delicious!

The great thing about this restaurant is half of it is in NC and the other half is in VA. The kids had fun standing in 2 states.

Earlier that day, we visited the Wright Brother Museum in Kitty Hawk and saw the replica of the first plane and walked the field where the plane flew. It was WINDY! I can see why it was a great place for the first flight.

We touched the sand of the local beach for a few minutes and then went to get to the Currituck/Knotts Island Ferry. Check out the schedule by calling 1-800-GO-Ferry. It’s free and you can cross with your vehicle. Alas, we JUST missed the ferry. I mean just missed. We waved as we watched them sail away. Maybe next time!

It’s been a busy few days…where to begin?

For the 4th, we had a picnic on the beach at the Military Beach. Hubby and I went over to the docks in the morning and got a bushel of crabs and 100 clams. No place to put them all but in the bathtub with ice! Oh well, it worked.

We cooked up some seafood, corn and had all the fixings for a great picnic. When the sun went down, we watched the firework displays at Mt. Trashmore and Norfolk which we could see from the beach.

It was one of those days that comes along every so often when you just catch a glimpse of paradise. Great food, the family and fun on the beach. What a great combination!

Well, day 3 into the visit from the relatives. Yesterday we spent the day at Busch Gardens, a 45 minute ride from VA Beach if the traffic is good.

Today, we hung out at the beach and then explored the beachfront this evening. They had quite a few concerts(free) and also street performers every so many blocks. What a great almost free evening.

We stopped and rode the rides at the one amusement area and finished it off with a trip to Dairy Queen.

You can find the list of fun things to do at www.vbfun.com