Virginia Beach hurricane damage?

[RLS50]

Thanks again guys. We're optimistic and are going in for just a bit of R&R and to check out VB.
RL is right. at 77 the drives to Ocean Pointe, HHI or Myrtle were starting to wear on me. VB is about 8-9 hours...so we're looking forward to it.
Already got 4 calls for presentations.....my fears are they will throw a net over us as a last ditch effort to take one. Ha

It's been said that the Virginia Beach boardwalk remodel and build up over the last 20+ years was inspired by the San Diego boardwalk. Hotels and restaurants with oceanfront views and dining on a concrete boardwalk with stores and shopping on the first street in off the boardwalk.

Waterman's Surfside Grille right next door to Beach Quarters is a good restaurant. Also if interested there are some nice waterfront dining locations at the Inlet (3 minutes away) and back down Shore Drive (about 12 minutes) from Beach Quarters. And if it's open, you could try Ocean Eddie's located right on the pier. It's very rustic but the food and cocktails are usually quite good, and if it's warm enough you could sit outside and be almost on the ocean.

And I definitely recommend to avoid the sales presentations.

 

[suenmike32]

RL, That's great info. Although we try to have a meal or two in.....I don't think that that's going to happen with the stovetop/minifridge. We'll take a look at all those that you suggested
Thanks again.

 

[donnaval]

I was at Beach Quarters a couple of weeks ago. The unit itself is a serious step-down quality-wise from a Marriott but the location and view make up for it to me! I've always had a full size refrigerator in the mini kitchen but it is definitely a challenge to do any semi-serious cooking due to lack of workspace, limited equipment and the narrowness of the kitchen area. I love walking the boardwalk, which is 3 miles long. At Beach Quarters you are nearly at the start (or finish depending on your perspective lol) so you can do the whole thing if you're up to it, or there are distance markers all along the boardwalk so you can know how much you've walked. There are benches all along the boardwalk so you always have a place to take a rest. The parking garage is very tight so be sure to give the turns as wide of a swing as possible. If you find the garage tough to deal with you can park behind the Howard Johnson across the street which I think is an overflow for Turtle Cay - a lot of folks with really big vehicles choose to park there. There are luggage carts sometimes in the garage but sometimes you have to go hunting for them. The internet was horrible in my unit, I could almost never get connected and calls to both the internet provider and front desk got no results. Oh, and if you're interested in doing a seafood buffet, the Captain George's on Laskin Road offers $5 off the regular price on Sundays from noon until 4.

 

[suenmike32]

Back from VB 2 days early. I'll post a review when time permits. Unfortunately, dear wife came down with a wicked cold and with the crapola weather we just decided to come home. The town is a virtual ghost town and as I said it was only in the high 40's low 50's with a 15-25 mph wind. Beach and boardwalk were deserted. Really very little to do.

 

[Steve Fatula]

It was a cold week indeed. Though we were in Williamsburg, we got some free passes to Busch Gardens and it was 70 that one day. Got to ride roller coasters for the first time in 10 or more years! Ah, what a sight, me and a 20 year old!

 

[RLS50]

Back from VB 2 days early. I'll post a review when time permits. Unfortunately, dear wife came down with a wicked cold and with the crapola weather we just decided to come home. The town is a virtual ghost town and as I said it was only in the high 40's low 50's with a 15-25 mph wind. Beach and boardwalk were deserted. Really very little to do.

Really sorry you had such poor weather combined with your wife getting sick. In my opinion 2018 has been the weirdest and worst year weather wise for the East Coast I can remember. So much heavy rain for such extended periods. Whether one traveled to their favorite resort, or even just stayed home planning for an outdoor gathering, so many weeks and weekends were total washouts. And all that water led to a virtual explosion in the mosquito populations.

 

[pedro47]

There is a very nice Aquarium located in Va Beach. I would never compare Va Bach Boardwalk to San Diego Boardwalk. I liked Ocean City Maryland Boardwalk much better than Va Bach Boardwalk.

 

[amycurl]

I didn't find the DRI sales presentation at VB to be hard to say no to; one of the easier ones, in fact. What we did do was take advantage of the "Trip of a Lifetime" package that they offered...we got to have a private time at the aquarium with an open bar and unlimited apps, and then a multi-course plated meal in front of the shark tank; a great cruise of the Hampton harbor, again on a boat with unlimited drinks, anything we wanted from the snack bar, then a nice boxed lunch. It was incredibly reasonably priced, and, again, it was easy to say no to the sales pitch at the end. Since we were there in early March, and it was particularly windy and cool most of the week, it was nice to have a planned activity package for such a good price. And we got to know folks staying at the other DRI resorts as well. We were at Ocean Beach Club, in a conjoined one bedroom + studio--one was either an exchange/AC and the other a getaway.

 

[RLS50]

There is a very nice Aquarium located in Va Beach. I would never compare Va Bach Boardwalk to San Diego Boardwalk. I liked Ocean City Maryland Boardwalk much better than Va Bach Boardwalk.

I wouldn't compare Virginia Beach to San Diego either. What I said was that the Virginia Beach boardwalk was supposedly "modeled" or "influenced" by the layout and design of the Mission Beach boardwalk in San Diego. I've been to both 3+ mile concrete boardwalks and see the similarities with the focus on oceanfront restaurants and accommodations vs a boardwalk full of T-Shirt and tchotchke shops.

And as someone who grew up going to the Ocean City, MD boardwalk every year, I would never compare the Ocean City boardwalk to the Virginia Beach boardwalk either. They are different from each other and each have their own Pros and Cons. We were recently at the OC, MD boardwalk. It's a great boardwalk to walk or bike on, and at night it's full of the shops and sites I loved growing up. But for entertainment there aren't really any upscale restaurants, certainly no real outdoor restaurant seating, and no real live music to speak of.

Meanwhile on the VB Boardwalk there are easily close to a dozen great spots for outside dining and often times quality live music bands or singers that are quite good. As an adult I think I actually might prefer the VB boardwalk because of higher quality outdoor eating and drinking establishments and the live music entertainment.

 

[suenmike32]

Just a couple quick responses:
RLS: You were spot on with 3 of the restaurants that you recommended. Outstanding Italian at Zia Marie,
Dynamite ribs at FireBrew and perfectly cooked filet mignon at Rudees. You made our dining experiences
complete. We went to 2 others (recommended by locals) and they weren't worth the effort. (Shoulda stuck with you)!
Amycurl: I'm glad you had an outstanding experience with your deal. It seemed too good to be true and given a 3+ hour presentation in Sedona that nearly ended very very badly...we passed.
Pedro: VB Boardwalk is actually quite nice, very wide, great beach but we just couldn't fight mother nature.
They were putting holiday lites up on the beach the full length of the boardwalk and I bet it will be very nice. I just can't imagine being there in Nov/Dec.

 

[DRIless]

To the OP, you can read how hard Virginia, VA Beach & OBX was hit via. The Virginian Pilot newspaper & The Roanoke local newspaper.
Trees are down and some places still do not have electricity as of this morning. A tornado touch down in James City County causing 1.8 million dollars in damages.
Please also read via the internet WAVY TV & WTKR TV News television stations reports on Hurricane Michael.

Here in Williamsburg, just got power back where I am.

Virginia Beach oceanfront is mostly concrete, few trees. Up the Peninsula it was a different story as indicated above. I lost many 100+ year old trees and am still cleaning up today because of Hurricane Michael which had surprising strength after passing through FL, GA, SC, NC to get to VA. Was w/o power for only a day but depending on priorities ... I had a relative down the street out for close to a week.

 

[suenmike32]

BTW, I failed to mention that Marriott is building a luxury oceanfront hotel in conjunction with another Cavalier Hotel at the north end end of Atlantic Ave. I'm going to guess around 70th St. It is in the process but doesn't look as though it will be open for a year or more.