Weekend in Virginia Beach

There's tons to do on this certain part on the East-Coast, so here's a rundown of my experience and what I did in Virginia Beach.

Every summer, my family goes on a road trip. We pick a set location of where we would like to go, and stop at random tourist locations along the way.

Last summer, our goal was surfing at Virginia Beach, so one hot August morning, we packed up, picked up some more family members, and began our journey.

Living in Canada and driving half-way down the US coast wasn't too far of a drive including all of our stops, but it really depends on your family and your vacation/road trip style. We ended up arriving an early morning 3 days after we left, due to full day stops at big attractions.

My expectations for Virginia Beach were MET, heck, it even raised the bar! I honestly 100% thought it would be just another over-crowded plain beach (nothing wrong with that, if it's what you prefer). Trust me when I say, Virginia Beach was absolutely nothing like that, I can honestly say it was one of my favourite beaches/beach cities that I've been to, and I've been to a lot of nice beaches.

Our first goal after parking in one of the available parking lots (which do cost money, by the way, so remember those American bills, or stopping at a ATM) was to immediately head for the beach, due to the fact we had a surf lesson booked. Walking a few blocks over to the beach was amazing, and I totally fell in love with the beach city aesthetic. What made it even more special was the surf competition that was taking place on the opposite side of the beach. I almost forgot that I was in Virginia, and not Florida.

Something that was super unique to me was the theme of the city. Majority of the buildings are beige, with the odd pop of white or coral blue.

Walking through the city really gives "beachy surf town" vibes. 

There's also many tourists and locals roaming around the streets together and getting along.

We made our way across the boardwalk (more on that later), and to one of the many designated spots set aside for surfing. There was a pretty good amount of room, so I wouldn't worry about being cramped while surfing with others. The beach also had ACTIVE lifeguard towers, which I've only ever seen in real life once, so that was super cool. The beach was also pretty busy, but it was still easy to find a spot to put our towels and other beach items.

We did have to wait a bit for the surf instructor to arrive, but once he did, after a few short questions we started the lesson pretty quickly. Now, here's a little crash course on surfing (I won't go to in depth due to the fact that I'll make a different, more detailed blog about the surf lesson itself). Obviously, we first picked out boards. We rented 3 boards, and got exactly that. Here's a tip, if you're a beginner, always grab the taller surfboard, that's what we found to be the most easy. After we picked our boards, we had to first practice on the sand. I actually really liked this, because he taught us how to "pop up" on your board and correctly ride a wave, which is obviously super important to know in the sport.

Something I didn't like, which was completely my fault, was when we were practicing swimming with our boards on land. We had a competition to see who could dig the biggest holes in the sand beside their board. This helps because you need power to really go anywhere on the board when you're not riding a wave. Now, I've been a competitive swimmer for a long time, so the competitive side of me really wanted to win. So naturally, I was confident I was going to win.

Halfway through my digging, I noticed that my finger began to sting. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but afterwards (I ended up winning, by the way), my finger started gushing blood! Luckily, we got right in the water after that, so nobody noticed until I told them afterwards. Long story short, if you're digging at ANY beach, beware of the seashells and sharp rocks/objects!

Now it was time for the water part of the surf lesson. I was immediately blown away . The water was absolutely beautiful. It was way more clear and warm than I expected. We did spot a jellyfish, but it wasn't a major deal other than my brother freaking out beside me. The instructor simply grabbed it and tossed it deep into the water. Trust me, they wont hurt you unless you scare them.

Our instructor told us how many things live in the Virginia Beach waters, such as stingrays, sharks, and obviously, jellyfish. I wouldn't be too concerned, though. They rarely come close to land, especially the sharks, and there's enough people swimming there to make it so they don't want to swim near the shore. The water was also clear enough to tell what was coming your way. So in conclusion, if you do see a scary sea animal, just don't freak out, stay calm, and they will probably do the same.

All in all, the surf lesson was great. The instructor knew what he was doing, and I came out of the experience a stronger surfer.

After the lesson, we decided to hang out at the beach for a little longer. It was super enjoyable and relaxing, but it was now time to go to our hotel to check in, and to get some dinner.

On our way back, we stopped at some gift shops. Majority of them were not sketchy at all, and they were very fun and local. We also didn't have an issue with many of the staff or locals, and Virginia Beach does have an amazing vibe and welcoming environment.

We got to the hotel, and it was amazing. The room was MASSIVE, and included a big balcony with a great view of the beach. Now, there were some older more run-down hotels, but many of them were clean and nice, such as the one we stayed in. Even though some are older, they still have nice looking bars and dining options in the back, right on the boardwalk/beach. As of right now, I cannot find the hotel that we stayed in, but many down there are nice, and have a good price and a nice view of the beach, just be sure to do your research.

We put sunscreen on our sunburns, and headed down to find a place to eat. We walked along the road in front of the hotel, which was the road just one-block west of the beach. The sun was beginning to set, and it was beautiful. We eventually found a nice fun looking restaurant called "Pizza Planet", and it had amazing theming. Since it was a hot August day, we decided to eat outdoors on the patio.

My highlights of that meal would have to be the yummy, thin-crusted pizza and the 'Area 51 Nachos'. They had plenty of nacho toppings on them, and the nachos were hot and fresh. During that meal, we noticed plenty of people driving/riding on these mechanical scooters, and my brother REALLY wanted to try them out. My mom researched them and found out that these scooters are apart of an app. Basically, you can download the app, and it'll show a map of the area you're currently in. On this map, it'll show where an empty scooter is. You can pick any empty scooter and rent it for some time. Keep in mind it does cot money!

Now to be completely honest, I don't totally remember how this method works, but its a super easy, and simple process! Legally to ride, you have to be 16 or older, but if anyone in your group is 16 you can just rent an share it with everyone else. That's what we did. Be forewarned though, it might take a while to get used to. Even though we saw many people having fun on them, we also saw a few falls too.

We left the restaurant, and did some shopping. We then went BACK to the boardwalk and rode/walked along the beach. We passed a few outside bar, and even a fair like amusement park! We then arrived at a big outdoor Dairy Queen and ordered some ice-cream, walking further along, we arrived at a massive pier. Now be forewarned, you do have to pay an admission price to get on the pier itself, but it was popular with fishers. I would recommend it, because the sights were beautiful.

Our goal was to go to the Neptune Statue, but it became too late, so we had to turn around and get back to the hotel. If you end up taking a trip to Virginia Beach and find yourself at the Neptune Statue, let me know how it went, I'm sure it was awesome!

The next morning, we had some more surfboards booked. This time though, we went to an area of the beach with only surfers and boogie boarders. This surfer-only section also included showers and washrooms, so I would recommend it. Before you go, research what part of the beach you plan on going to, or else it might become a more complicated situation.

We surfed with them for 2 hours, and then sadly, said goodbye to Virginia Beach and continued on with the end of our road trip. I hope you enjoyed reading my very first ever blog post, and learned some helpful tips.

• The Spontaneous Traveller

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