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Virginia Beach?

RadioactiveGuy4

RadioactiveGuy4

Feb 24, 2011
857
1,202
New Orleans
#1
So a buddy and I are thinking about going to Virginia beach here in a bout 3 or 4 weeks and I have 2 questions for you guy living there. First, what is the weather like there in early October? Second, what is there to do on the cheap in the area?

Any info would be great. THX guys
 
#2
I moved away from VA Beach/Norfolk area about 10 years ago, and have no desire to go back.

Probably won't be anything exciting going on at the ocean front since summer is over.

Take this post with a grain of salt. I haven't been to VA. for 10 years, and hated living there.
 
#3
...the weather in early Oct is still "warm" (70s-80s).
There can also be a lot of rain...I have played a few Neptune Festivals (when they were held in Oct) in the rain...and it sucked.
When I was younger, I "lived" at the Oceanfront. Once upon a time, there were some cool places to see cool bands (like a young Oteil Burbridge/Billy Drummond playing in a Top-40/R&B band, Keith Horne & Secrets playing a small club/bar, etc). Those daze are over.
 
#4
RadioactiveGuy4 said:
So a buddy and I are thinking about going to Virginia beach here in a bout 3 or 4 weeks and I have 2 questions for you guy living there. First, what is the weather like there in early October? Second, what is there to do on the cheap in the area?

Any info would be great. THX guys
Click to expand...
You can still go to the beach, but it might not be as hot/warm depending on the US jet stream. The beach will still be open to hang out if you want. There are a lot of non-free parking lots.
It is a long beach so you can walk, jog, or bike the length of the boardwalk. There are a lot of restaurants that parallel the beach. There's an aquarium in the area.
Check out Invalid Link Removed for local news, traffic and weather. The VA Beach/Norfolk/Hampton Roads area is like a metro area and gets the crime associated with being a metro area. The beach is relatively safe though.
There's a concert series called Farm Bureau Live and there's a concert event on 10-12-2013.
 
#5
Yeah, it's kind of hit or miss during the non summer months. There may be some bands still playing on the outdoor stages and a few venues have bands inside like Deja Blu.

Here's a calendar. Invalid Link Removed

Invalid Link Removed

Norfolk events calendar. Invalid Link Removed

As for cheap........can't help you there as everything costs money around these here parts. By the way, I live in Newport News but am in the VB area (only 35-40 miles away) all the time. Food wise, I'd hit the fastfood joints as the restaurants are pricey especially for what you get!
 
#6
My brother and his family live there and while most of the tourist related stuff like the beach and other attractions are there, the locals live there all year and know where the non-tourist places and restaurants are good.

You can always do a side trip to Busch Gardens Theme park and Colonial Williamsburg if that is your sort of thing.

Here is a link for some concert venues

Invalid Link Removed
 
#7
A little further to the south and you can go to Myrtle Beach SC. My wife and I were there just last weekend. A lot more tourist type stuff and music venues are still open year round. Plenty to do even if the weather doesn't cooperate. We actually stayed at a hotel at Broadway at the Beach and didn't even start our car for three days. We never left that area. We walked to whatever we wanted to see.

http://www.broadwayatthebeach.com/

I have played a ton of shows up in VA beach. I'm not a fan of the area. VA civil engineers are on crack. The traffic patterns and roads up there are ridiculous. There is actually a place in (or near) VA beach where my compass said I was going due East and I was on 264 WEST. And the back roads up there will beat your car to death.
 
#8
Like DW I live in Newport News, about 35 miles West of the ocean front.

There's usually a few bands but not much major going on after the last few summer festivals end.

The beach is a really nice beach, filled with REALLY crappy tourists almost ALWAYS.
You can avoid em by hitting Croatan Beach, about 5 minutes South of the main drag.
Or SandBridge which is about 30+ minutes south.
Both beaches are pretty much locals only.

If you insist on being among the people, you can still stay out of the troubled areas pretty easy.

Bars run from about 10th street to 25th street which is also the busiest section.
Any hotels from 10th to 5th are less populated.
As well, anything from 25th to the north end is the same.

If you're into old historical places there's the Cavalier (VA Beach's first hotel, and supposedly VERY haunted) and although I don't believe in ghosts it still creeps me out.
Really cool old place though, very fancy and old timey, as it was built in the very early 1900's

If you want more modern up to date try the Boardwalk Hotel, really nice and fairly new.
Both are outrageously expensive.

As far as stuff to do around here?
Lol, best of luck to ya!
Va Beach is a beach you visit for the beach.

This is NOT the place you come for additional activities.
Myrtle, Ocean City, Etc are far better for off beach fun.

But there may be something going on, you can check the Hampton Coliseum, Norfolk Scope, Va Beach Amphitheater, the Norva hosts everything from small concerts to comedy shows, You can visit Mt. Trashmore (small mountain of trash that was once a dump, now a park), the Water Park off General Booth near the beach, the aquarium, Busch Gardens, HaloScream should be starting soon, Water Country USA, but that's about it.

There's always para-sailing, Jet Ski's, Fishing Charters, water tours, Etc all found at the South end at Rudee Inlet.

You can travel the 2 miles of road at the north end if the beach which was once considered the most dangerous 2 miles in America to drive.
Lol, there's even a sign listing the death toll.
Strange though as its perfectly straight the whole way.

The restaurants ALL suck bad, so if suggest you to just stick to the norms you see everywhere.
There's a few decent spots here and there but nothing great I've ever found.

That's about all I got. Good luck.
 

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