DieselD

Hello,

Me, my girlfriend and our 4 year old daughter are going on vacation down to Virginia Beach again this year. I've been down there twice and I like it. However this year I'd like to get away from the boardwalk for at least a day.

I'm looking for a drive on beach around the area, anyone point me in the right direction? maybe one less traveled so we can be a bit more secluded? I don't know much about the area in regards to wheeling (or much outside of the boardwalk/beach/pier lol)

Any other suggestions on things to see, places to go are welcome too. Any lesser known, yet awesome seafood restaurant? Lol

Thanks.

no rdplz

No beach wheeling allowed here at all. Closest thing you'll find is Corolla which is 2 hours south along Rt12 north (Rt 12 turns into the beach access).

If you want the ocean front without the crowd for a place to stay I would recommend looking at the Wyndham on 57th St. It's only about 5 minutes from the boardwalk by car and there's literally no one down there concerning crowds.

If you're doing camping, I would say First Landing State park campground. Beautiful beach and a nice campground to stay at.

For seafood I would give these recommendations:
Bubba's Seafood Restaurant and Crabhouse: decent food for not too much $$
Chicks's Oyster Bar: a little more $$ but very good. You may have a crowd though.
Surf Club Ocean Grill (inside the Wyndham): Very good, a little more $$.

It's not seafood only, but if you want a nice, mid-high dining experience check out Zoe's on 19th St. VERY good food (I highly recommend the blue crab mac-n-cheese) and it will cost. For me, my wife, and our daughter it was about $80 after a really good tip for the waiter. Dress code is business casual.

As for stuff to see, you've got the aquarium, the boardwalk, Norfolk Zoo, The USS Wisconson museum in Norfolk. THose are some of the bigger ones. The main draw is of course the beach so there's really not too much outside of that. If you're thinking of something specific let me know and I can give you more details. Red82 has lived here longer than me too so he'd be a good source of info.

DieselD

Right on. I'm kinda disappointed about the lack of drive-on beaches. Two hours is a bit farther than I'm willing to drive while down there. Ah well.

We are definitely staying in a hotel. Don't get me wrong I love camping, I just go enough that I couldn't really consider it a vacation. Lol.

I definitely prefer oceanfront drinking coffee while the sun rises over the ocean is awesome. I will look into hat Wyndham, we've stayed by the boardwalk the last two times and I want a nicer hotel but they get pricey fast around there.

Those restaurants sounds nice, we've been to a couple down there the one on the pier (forget the name) had some delicious stuff though.

Regarding things to do, the beach is definitely the main attraction. My Lil girl loves digging in the sand, flying kites and what not. I'll have to see about the museum my girlfriend is a huge history buff.

no rdplz

The Wyndham is pretty nice. Anything oceanfront is going to pricey unfortunately.

Another really good restaurant is Rudee's. I'll typically spend about $26 a plate so it's not bad for good seafood. Again, you'll want to make a reservation though as it's one of the more popular places.

If you're coming down for the 4th, all events have been postponed until Saturday evening due to Arthur coming through.

DieselD

Oh we won't be down there til first or second week of August. Hope Arthur takes it easy on you guys.

no rdplz

Here's the calendar of events for the oceanfront for August:
http://www.beachstreetusa.com/calendar

SteveMongr

2.5 hours south of VB..

SteveMongr

^ Currently underwater, check back later...