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Virginia Beach: Lovely Beaches, Not Much Charm
Traveling with Teens Treks to VBVa
by Scott Chase
The short story: Great for kids,
not much for Mom and Dad…unless you’re a golfer.
If Virginia Beach, Virginia (VBVa), was simply about the beach, there would
be much to praise and little to criticize. White, clean and sandy
expanses run more than 40 blocks, and are bordered by a concrete
and artsy brickwork walkway and well-marked bike path that literally
scream long-term investment, tourism, and middle-class comfort.
Neatly spaced lifeguard stands staffed by bright-eyed and athletic
young adults speak well to the safety of children and the maintenance
of beachside order. And the smattering of foreign languages heard
everywhere – French, Russian, Greek and others – makes for a cosmopolitan
feel up on the seaward side of the boardwalk that unhappily is
not sustained in the town itself.
In short, beyond myriad attractions for teens, there’s little to recommend Virginia
Beach. It does not have the charm or small town appeal of, say,
Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, or the frenetic yet predictable pace
of Ocean City, Maryland. There are few, if any, alluring or offbeat
shops, but instead a plethora of Sun Sensations and other, similar,
tourist traps. Exquisite or even simply interesting dining does
not seem to exist, but the city guide catalog of “all you can
eats” and “Early Bird” buffets would make your eyes water. Along
the elegant boardwalk, oddly reminiscent in an architectural sense
of various seaside villages along the Devon coast of England,
the oceanfront is juxtaposed on its inland aspect with a virtual
reality of seedy to presumptuous to standard hotels, interspersed
with unremarkable diners, bicycle rental joints, and “tropical”
bars.
All that having been said, for the teens in our extended party (two girls, three
boys), VBVa offered a cornucopia of thrill rides, cheap eats,
miniature golf, sea-‘n’-sun, skateboarding, biking, rollerblading,
and other attractions. In the evenings, scheduled concerts and
performances at beachfront bandstands competed with street theater,
mimes, magicians, and similar acts. In fact, the kids were happy
as pigs in mud. We were lucky to escape the high-rent diversions,
which include jet skis, boat outings, and para-sailing, but we
did fall for the bungee-jump-like “extreme skyrider” at the south
end of the promenade. Although the posted charge was $30 per “flier,”
we were offered a rate of $20 per child and, if the flying group
stayed in harness, additional “flights” for just ten dollars each.
I don’t know really how this stacks up against similar offerings
elsewhere, but it seemed reasonable at the time. Of course, the
entire episode took less than half and hour, and I walked out
of the place lighter by a hundred bucks.
For those who enjoy the sound of U.S. Navy jets and have fantasies of “Top Gun,”
the nearby Naval Air Station at Oceana puts on an all-day, impromptu
air show, with “movements” taking place virtually nonstop from
the wee hours of morning until well after dark. From the balcony
of our borrowed private condo, on one notable occasion we thrilled
to eleven F-14 fighter jets which flew over the house in formation,
then broke up with six birds peeling left and five curving right.
The six circling to the left then came right over the condo one
at a time on their final approach for landing. I loved it!
A call to the security officer at the base yielded happily advanced advice on
the best public spot for jet watching, and an offer to register
with base security for a tour of the facility. We didn’t do it
in the end, nor did we visit the oft-touted Virginia Marine Science
Museum. So, despite our general sense of “two thumbs down” on
VBVa, there may well be hidden gems that we did not discover during
our four sunny days there.
City fathers and planners in Virginia
Beach need to give some more thought to revamping a town where
tattoo parlors, seedy bars, and body piercing joints stand side-by-side
with neighborhood Rite Aids, and don’t appear incongruent. They
need to be concerned that, just two blocks off the beach, busy
streets and dangerous intersections threaten walking groups of
unsupervised young adults and children. While there’s lots to
do for the kids, the daily agenda for parents is bleak. To become
truly a family resort, Virginia Beach has to accommodate adult
tastes as well as juvenile desires. Much work has been done, but
more remains to be completed.
Traveling with Teens/Family Travel Worldwide
is based in Montgomery County, Maryland. We specialize in family
travel adventures, and rate airlines, agencies, tour operators,
hotels, restaurants, parks, museums, sites, attractions, and other
travel items/accessories for kid-, young adult- and family-friendliness,
value and fun. 1-301-529-9809; teentravel@hotmail.com.
schase@strategisgroup.com
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