(Drivebycuriosity) - Finally, the long waiting came to an an end. My wife and I traveled again. This time we stayed in Virginia Beach, a town on the US east coast; close to Jamestown, the place for the first English settlement in America (1607). The latitude is 36.8, comparable to Malaga in South of Spain. We stayed in one of the hotels that row along the beach, comparable to Cancun or other popular beach towns.
Unfortunately the weather wasn`t really southern. The daily temperature dropped to the low 60s (16 C) and the strong and gusty winds made the chill even more uncomfortable.
I was impressed by the well groomed beach. There is a long and broad line of sand, clean & neat; accompanied by a generous boardwalk (3 miles/4.8 km). Apparently the beach is man made and the community takes a lot of effort to keep the beach alive, in spite of damaging winds & floods. Below are some images that compare the cultivated beach with the nearby natural shore.
Like all American settlements - with the exception of New York and maybe Chicago - the city stretches over a wide area and almost everything is far away. Since we stayed in off-season the streets were almost empty - and we enjoyed the lack of traffic.
Unfortunately there is a very active military airport nearby and the roaring of the fight jets, that were frequently speeding up into the sky, terrorized our ears in the mornings hours and sometimes in the afternoon. The droning of the heavy coast guard helicopters added to the military symphony. But otherwise the post-season beach-town is a quiet place.
During our hikes through the sprawl we discovered some nice old buildings, including the classy Cavalier Hotel, constructed in the 1920, where we enjoyed a dinner in a ritzy atmosphere, with surprisingly modest prices.
Being food lovers we found some nice restaurants that serve more than the regional usual fried dishes. My favorite was the Asian fusion cuisine at Orion`s Roof, a classy place on the top of a high-rise Marriott hotel, that offers an amazing view onto the ocean & the city. Their chefs create tasty Sushi, Sashimi and other Japanese inspired delicacies.
As connoisseurs of craft beer - and lovers of American IPA - we visited the local pubs, partly to get comfort for the unfriendly weather. Most venues are tap rooms for the local breweries: Bunker, a cavernous military inspired place with a huge Frankenstein´s monster in the entrance (in the night highly popular), Vibrant Shore, a piece of LA esthetic on the east coast, Aslin, Esoteric, Smartmouth and finally Abbey Road Pub & Restaurant, a traditional waterhole.
Maybe one day we will come back.
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