Recommendations for a Visit to Virginia Beach, Va.

[Evo160K]

Five of my buds and I and our wives are planning to make the Rolling Thunder Ride to the Wall over the Memorial Weekend and afterwards ride to Virginia Beach, Va,  for a stay there from May 25 to May 30, 2009.  Are you able to recommend a good hotel/motel on or near the beach?  Also would you be able to suggest restaurants, motorcycle rides, sites to see and any thing else you think we'd enjoy.  Thank you very much.

[Billy]

Hey Evo, maybe I can help you some.

Oceanfront hotels raise their rates for the tourist season on the Memorial Day weekend and range from the Hilton to independent mom & pop places far more reasonable. The Sandcastle isn't bad. http://www.sandcastle-vabeach.com/ You can find more reasonable rates inland.

No shortage of restaurants including all the major chains from fast food joints to upscale such as Ruth's Chris and everything in between. Lots of locally owned places like the Beach Pub on Laskin Rd, Chicks Raw Bar off Shore Dr. Rudee's at Rudee Inlet, have good food and Biker friendly. Head south on Pacific Av. a few miles over the Rudee Inlet bridge and you'll find Boneshakers, a biker bar that usually has live music on weekends and good bar food. Knuckleheads Roadhouse on Witchduck Rd. is another biker hangout worth a visit.

Ride out to Pungo on Princess Ann Rd and you'll find the Virginia Beach Airport and the Military Aviation Museum http://www.militaryaviationmuseum.org/ definitely worth the visit if you like vintage machinery. Keep heading south on P.A. Rd about 5 more miles and you'll find Monk's Place for a damn good burger and COLD beer  try the fried okra too, it will be on your right but don't blink or you'll miss it  .

The Battleship Wisconsin BB64 http://www.hrnm.navy.mil/wisconsin.html is berthed Downtown Norfolk and is open for tours (free), very impressive. Lots of places to eat, drink and shop at Waterside, on Granby St. and MacArthur Mall. While the ladies shop at the mall, the guys can walk across the street to the MacArthur Memorial where the General is laid to rest, worth visiting. http://www.macarthurmemorial.org/ .

Town Center is the new "Downtown Va Beach" with lots of restaurants, bars, entertainment and shopping, may want to check it out. Exit Independence Blvd off I-264.

A ride across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel to the Eastern Shore would be memorable, maybe to Chincoteague http://www.chincoteaguechamber.com/ , a picturesque waterfront small town.

There's the Mariner's Museum http://www.mariner.org/ in Newport News where they have some of the pieces raised from the Monitor on display.

Williamsburg with the AB brewery, Busch Gardens, Yorktown, Jamestown.............kinda depends on what you want to do.

PLUS, I have a very well tooled bike shop in my back yard should you or your buds need any assistance. 

Keep in touch.

[fatboydan]

Billy,
whats the name of the little cafe down by the bridge on the right hand side..... you can rent a jet ski right next door,but its the restaurant I'm talking about..BIG something or others....

I also like that Mexican restaurant ...Guadalajara's or something like that

and you mentioned Boneshakers already

[Billy]

Dan,

BIG Sams. I haven't been there in awhile but they have good breakfast and $1.00 Bloody Mary's. Rudee Inlet.

Guadalajara's has several location throughout the area. Mexican joints are on practically every street corner.

Frankie's Place for Ribs probably has the best ribs you'll ever taste.

Charlie's on Shore Dr. has excellent She Crab Soup.

Lynnhaven Fish House on the Lynnhaven Pier for seafood.

I would stay away from places with "all you can eat seafood buffet", usually warmed over, not too fresh.

Beach Bully for smokey BBQ.

[taz95dog]

i agree with billy,i stayed at the sandcastle last year,not fancy but nice.i'll stay there next time too.across the street is the raven(theraven.com),one of my favroite places,along with bubbas' seafood.it's down shore dr 8 or 10 miles(iirc).and boneshakers is the best biker bar,imho.but billy please....okra....i'd rather take a wooping than eat that....bill...

[Billy]

View from the 7th floor of the Sandcastle last month:



Oh yea, Ocean Eddies on the pier is alot of fun! (or used to be anyways)



Taz, you mustn't ever had the fried okra at Monks, if you don't like it you can always wash it down with lots of cold 

[Evo160K]

Billy, Fatboydan, taz95dog that's great info, thanks very much.  We're particularly interested in the riding, we're inlanders so we don't see the water much.  The museum, memorial and other sites we'll do for sure.  Awesome pictures Billy, thanks for that, thanks also for the offer of your shop, maybe you, Dan and Taz would have a beer with us, if you're in town.

Any other rides come to mind? 

[taz95dog]

i'd love to have a beer with ya'll,except i'm living i las vegas now.if you want to see some sea shore ride down the outer banks to cape hattars,cool ride.wish i was there...taz...

[taz95dog]

hey,check your road atllas ,but it seems like 3 to 31/2 hrs. but you will see alot of beach.there are plenty of places along the way to eat and drink.

[greasy]

Nice ride from DC down the Eastern Shore to VA Beach.

[Evo160K]

Greasy,

What roads would you suggest?  Thanks.

Evo

[Evo160K]

Which of these two hotels would you prefer?  What's your thinking?

             Quality Inn & Suites - 705 Atlantic Av
             Best Western Oceanfront - 2809 Atlantic Av

Thanks very much.

Evo

[rigidthumper]

Lavernes (Chix cafe) sits at 701 South Atlantic,  VA Beach. Overlooks the beach, and early on a Sunday morning, watch the sun rise, eat some kind of Italian fritatta ( looked like an omelet to me), watch the joggers jiggle & the roller skaters go by. Leave there, head 2 hours south south to Kill Devil Hills, NC. and see the Wright Brothers national memorial. Don't forget to stop and eat a little Carolina style BBQ while you're there.
Robin

[Billy]

Evo,

What you could do is take US50/301 out of D.C. to the eastern shore then pick up US13 down the shore over the Ches Bay Bridge Tunnel into Va Beach.

If you're headed south after your stay here, you could ride the Outer Banks of N.C. to Cape Hatteras and take the ferry to Ocracoke Island (free) then on the other end of Okracoke there is a ferry (toll and would probably need a reservation that time of the year) to Cedar Island and back on the mainland. Definitely a better ride than the slab. Check a map to see if it will work for you.

I answered your PM with a PM.

[Princess Butt]

When riding from Washington DC towards VA Beach, the traffic can be incredibly bad during Memorial Day weekend. However, if you are in DC for the run to the wall, and ride to VA Beach afterwards, you'll be running opposite of traffic. A lot of people will stay at VA Beach until midday Monday, then head back up to DC. So, when you run from DC to VA Beach, don't leave too early on Monday morning, or you'll hit VA Beach just as everyone is leaving!

Have fun here in DC. A lot of festivities with Rolling Thunder. The Pentagon parking lot has become it's own event.

BnEUC