BEACH B A L L
Built in 1792, Cape Henry Lighthouse is a lesson in American history. Courtesy Virginia Beach CVB
YOU’LL NEVER RUN OUT OF THINGS TO DO IN VIRGINIA BEACH
BY TOM ADKINSON
miles and has 126 farms whose products show up at an excellent farmers market, where your group can enjoy a Virginia ham biscuit, freshly churned ice cream and homemade candy. “It surprises people how diverse Virginia Beach is,” said Jim Coggin, tourism sales manager for the Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau. “They know about our beautiful three-mile-long beachfront, but they don’t necessarily know about our history, our eco-activities or our culinary offerings.”
beach town is a beach town is a beach town. Surf, sand, fried seafood and perhaps some sunburn for good measure. That’s plenty, right? Definitely not when thinking of Virginia Beach, Virginia. The state’s most populous city, with 450,000 or so, boasts a community with enough diversions and activities to warrant repeat visits. You can even get a perspective on the beachfront, urban and rural components of this multifaceted city from a 1941 open-cockpit Stearman biplane. Virginia Beach spreads out across almost 500 square
One marker on the city’s timeline came in 1607. That April, a group of European settlers made landfall at what is now First Landing State Park on Cape Henry, which they named for the Prince of Wales. They soon moved west and established Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. The history lesson continues nearby at the Cape Henry Lighthouse, America’s first federally funded public works project. The lighthouse, built in 1792 with Aquia Creek sandstone from the same
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