Virginia Beach

During the two week road trip I took with my son, we visited cities, mountains, the country and we went whale watching, did a factory tour, visited a theme park, went hiking, learned about history, etc. My point is that I tried to really put a little bit of everything in this trip. So we couldn’t get through this trip without visiting the beach. I looked around and decided on Virginia Beach.

After seeing how much a nice, beachfront hotel cost, I lowered my standards! So, I just needed a clean, close to the beach hotel. That’s when I found it. We stayed at the Days Inn by Wyndham Virginia Beach at the Beach at 1000 Atlantic Ave. They have free wifi, free breakfast, mini fridge, microwave, and coffee maker. Plus, it’s right across the street from the beach. While the room did look a little dated, it was pretty clean, so I can’t complain. Overall, it was a decent place to stay, especially since we only stayed for one night. And I would absolutely stay here again. But it’s definitely not a 5 star hotel. Or a 4 star hotel. Or a 3 star hotel. But you get what you pay for, right?

When we woke up in the morning, we got our swimsuits on, packed our bag of beach stuff, and headed out the door. We crossed the street, walked across the boardwalk, down the stairs, and across the beach to the ocean. It was a little chilly, but we got used to it. The water itself isn’t very clear here like it is in the caribbean, but it’s still fun for kids. There weren’t very many people there at 8:30 in the morning. However, when we left at 10am, it was starting to get pretty packed. I’m not big on spending hours upon hours at the beach so we left pretty early. Plus, I wanted to get back to the hotel and take a shower before we had to check out.

Owen’s Notes: “Shells! Beach! Sea! The waves were really strong there. Some of the waves, I dove under and sailed away with it. I really liked that.”

We then made our way back toward the beach to find Cherie’s Bike Rental. It was right between the beach and our hotel. The company actually has 15 locations along the boardwalk. We rented a surrey bike! It cost us about $25 for the hour. We rode up and down the bike trail that runs along the boardwalk. There were a lot of groups on surrey bikes on the trail so we were definitely not alone. It’s super easy to drive, especially when multiple people are pedalling.

Owen’s Notes: “It was actually pretty hard to pedal all that way. It was pretty tiring. I also liked it.”

After we returned our bike, we decided to eat lunch at the place right next door called Calypso Bar and Grill. Seriously, we never travelled any more than a block to do anything! It was great. We decided to sit outside so that we could be close to the beach and still see the ocean. That was definitely my favorite part. I ordered crab hush puppies as an appetizer. They were really good. I’m a huge fan of hush puppies though. They basically tasted like a regular hush puppy, but with a piece of crab in the middle. For my main meal, I ordered the lobster mac and cheese. It was a huge portion and there was no way I was going to eat the whole thing, but it was absolutely delicious. If you’re in the area, for sure check this place out.

Overall, we had a great time in Virginia Beach, even though it was a short visit. I would absolutely return and choose these same activities again!