Virginia Beach is located on the Atlantic Coast in the eastern Tidewater part of the State of Virginia, United States. It is a popular family resort with miles of sandy beaches and family attractions. My wife Diane and I spent a long weekend there as we both enjoy ocean beaches.
I booked the Honeymoon Package at the Breakers Inn Resort at a very reasonable price which included a full breakfast each day, king size bed, ocean view room with a private balcony, two person jacuzzi in the suite, and champagne. Of course oceanfront hotel room rates can fluctuate drastically between high and low seasons.
View from the balcony
Virginia Beach is the largest city in Virginia and home to Diane’s sister Karen and her family, so we had some time with them. It was our first time to Virginia Beach for a vacation since we used to always take our kids and sometimes their friends to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. That was because the Outer Banks has many rental cottages right on the beach, while the Virginia Beach oceanfront is lined with many hotels and restaurants. Besides tourism, Virginia Beach is home to many military bases and the defense industry has a large economic and facility presence.
A very nice restaurant a few steps from our hotel and on the famous boardwalk was Ammos Authentic Greek Cuisine. Our meals were excellent and reasonably priced for a resort restaurant. The Greek owner and manager welcomed us and shared a few stories while we awaited our meal to be served.
The Breakers Inn was nicely situated directly on the beach and a few steps from the boardwalk and the Virginia Beach Fishing Pier. The seemingly most popular activity is strolling the 3-mile long boardwalk along the beach. You can also rent pedal powered surreys, bikes and rollerblades along the boardwalk or just sit and relax on one of the many boardwalk benches. The east coast’s first manmade wave pool with over 1,000 waves per hour is supposed to be opened along the boardwalk in 2020 at the new Surf Park.
The 34-feet high King Neptune statue is a popular photo location at Neptune’s Park along the boardwalk. The city hosts an annual Neptune Festival around the end of every September. The first year of the festival drew over 50,000 attendees. This year the 47th annual festival will be held 25-27 September. The highlights of the festival are an Atlantic Regatta, Art & Craft Show, Sandsculpting Championship, musical performances and a parade.
The city event calendar is jammed full with things like the annual Neptune Wine Festival, Craft Beer Festival, Pig and Oyster Festival and many others.
If you enjoy museums, there are many options in Virginia Beach and the adjacent cities, most with a maritime theme. The Atlantic Wildfowl Heritage Museum in the DeWitt Cottage and the Virginia Beach Surf & Rescue Museum in the old Coast Guard Station are right along the boardwalk. Not far off the beach is the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art and Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center. Worth a trip to the south part of the city is the Military Aviation Museum which is home to one of the largest private collections of World War I and World War II era military aircraft in the world. Scattered around the Virginia Beach area is a number of historical sites that date back to the Jamestown settlement.
An odd fact is that the highest elevation in Virginia Beach is Mount Trashmore which is now a repurposed landfill park. We passed by it on one of the main highways heading to the oceanfront beach. Mount Trashmore Park is the most popular park with over one million visitors per year and consists of hiking trails, skate park, picnic facilities and more.
Virginia Beach is served by two international airports, nearby Amtrak train stations, bus lines, and many highways, some require the paying of tolls.
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