Spotlight on Virginia Beach

Spotlight On Virginia Beach Nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay, our little corner of the world specializes in spiritlifting. Like exploring miles of beach and boardwalk, nature and adventure. The joy of shopping for that perfect find, getting nose-to-fin with marine life, reveling at an outdoor crab feast or just walking the shoreline. Groups have long found their way to our shores, including the first permanent English settlers, who landed here at Cape Henry before settling Jamestown. Today, making the most of a trip to Virginia Beach is easy, with inspired choices for even the most diverse groups.

Virginia Beach is an adventurer’s paradise. Explore salt marshes, freshwater ponds, dunes, tidal marsh and 19 miles of trails through First Landing State Park, the most visited park in Virginia. Enjoy a quiet kayaking excursion through Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. “Ride the curls” during surf camps in Sandbridge.

Embark on an up-close-and-personal wildlife adventure during Virginia Beach’s dolphin watching boat trips, offered in the summer. Sponsored by the Virginia Aquarium, the 90-minute boat tours offer a glimpse of frolicking bottlenose dolphins as they feed and play off the coast of Virginia Beach.

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Contact: Kelli Norman Director of Tourism Marketing and Sales Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau Phone: 800-700-7702 Web: www.vbgrouptours.com

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With more than 18,000 acres of state parks and a wildlife refuge, communing with Mother Nature has never easier. Hike, bike or kayak and observe the variety of majestic wildlife in the area. And of course, enjoy long lazy days at the beach! Head out to First Landing State Park, the most visited park in Virginia, and take part in one of the interactive programs such as crabbing, junior rangers, beach walks, nature hikes and structured environmental education programs that are a perfect accompaniment to a beach vacation.

If you feel more comfortable in the clouds than on the ground, take a visit to the jet observation park; visitors can watch the Navy's most sophisticated aircraft taking off and landing at Oceana Naval Air Station. It is one of only two master jet bases in the U.S. Navy and is host to the F/A-18 Hornet aircraft. Fort Story was established in 1917 as a coastal artillery post. Its history, however, dates to 1607 when America's first English settlers touched shore there before continuing on to Jamestown. Today, the installation is a training and test site for the Army's Joint Logistics-Over-the-Shore (J-LOTS). Its oceanfront location, two historic lighthouses, First Landing Cross and Battle Off the Capes Monument make it a popular stop for visitors.

For shopping, dining and entertainment, Virginia Beach’s Town Center is the place to be. Stroll through 17 city blocks of great restaurants, boutique-style shopping and exciting entertainment venues, including the new Sandler Center for the Performing Arts.

Savor the tastes of the Atlantic at one of nearly 300 restaurants in Virginia Beach, where Coastal Cuisine is our forte. Enjoy fresh local favorites such as mahi-mahi, yellowfin tuna, Chesapeake crabs and Lynnhaven oysters. Be sure to try rockfish (or, striped bass) while in Virginia Beach, known as the “Striped Bass Capital of the World.” And with many farms in the southern end of the city, delight in dishes crafted with locally-grown produce grown and the day’s fresh catch, straight off the boat to your plate. If you want more of a hand in your menu’s offerings, ask one of our restaurants about their Catch n’ Cook program. Spend the day on the water with your rod and reel, and when back on shore, your host restaurant will prepare the rewards of the day, any way you’d like. You catch it, they cook it.

And, what’s a beach vacation without lounging by the sea? With 35 miles of ocean and bay beaches, there is plenty of room to dig your toes into the sand and soak up the rays. Virginia Beach’s 3-mile-long boardwalk offers plenty of opportunity to poke through souvenir shops, enjoy a snack or simply just watch the passersby.

You want to be relaxed? We can do that. You want to be rejuvenated? We can do that, too. Whether you and your group want to step back in time, zip forward into the future, listen to music, cruise the Atlantic Ocean, explore nature, watch plays or participate in them, or be in a television studio audience, you can do it in Virginia Beach. You’ll be entertained. One way or another.

There are plenty of reasons to “Live the Life” in Virginia Beach. Our group itineraries will match you up with the perfect seaside adventure. Visit Virginia Beach for a vacation that enriches the mind and soul. Call 800-700-7702 or visit www.vbgrouptours.com.

Directions and Travel Tips Virginia Beach is centrally and strategically located on the mid-Atlantic coast in the southeasternmost corner of Virginia. By air, it’s just a quick trip into the Norfolk International Airport from major cities across the United States. Plus, it’s just one day’s drive from two-thirds of the nation’s population, and one hour from Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens. Virginia Beach is in the Tidewater/Hampton Roads area, an exciting seven-city region that includes Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Suffolk.

Virginia Beach is primarily a drive destination – more than 95% of its visitors arrive by automobile.

When approaching from the west, the easiest routes are Interstate 64, U.S. 460 or U.S. 58. From the north and south, convenient routes are Interstates 85 or 95, U.S. 17 and U.S. 13 (crossing the world-famous Chesapeake Bay-Bridge Tunnel, a 17-mile span connecting Virginia’s Eastern Shore with Virginia Beach).

These routes intersect with Interstate 64, which connects with Interstate 264, leading directly to the Virginia Beach oceanfront. An Amtrak train connection is available in Newport News. Greyhound and Trailways Bus Lines also operate in the area. Beginning at mile-marker zero, recreational boaters can follow the Intracoastal Waterway where the Atlantic Ocean meets the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay into the area. From Virginia Beach, they can travel as far north as Boston, Mass. and south to Brownsville, Texas.

Virginia Beach Fun Facts

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Virginia Beach is the 34th largest city in the United States and most populous city in Virginia. More than 432,000 people live in the city, which covers 310 square miles. Virginia Beach attracts approximately 3 million overnight visitors to its sandy shores each year.

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The Virginia Beach boardwalk is nearly three miles long and the beach is wider than a football field. Originally built in 1888, Virginia Beach’s boardwalk is a concrete thoroughfare stretching from Rudee Inlet to 40th Street, a perfect place for biking, jogging, blading, strolling or people-watching.

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The mid-Atlantic’s largest population of bottlenose dolphins makes its summer homes in Virginia Beach. More than 650 bottlenose dolphins have been cataloged by the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center through a variety of observation and photo ID programs.

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The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is one of the seven engineering wonders of the modern world. This 17.6-mile manmade phenomenon connects Virginia’s Eastern Shore to Virginia Beach and saves motorists 95 miles on their trip from points north.

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A popular Virginia Beach museum, The Old Coast Guard Station, is housed in a former U.S. Life Saving Station that dates to 1903. Featuring the history of the life-saving service and shipwrecks that occurred just off the Virginia coast, the museum has a TOWERCAM roofmounted video camera that gives museum visitors the same view crewmen had from the tower a century ago.

Contact: Kelli Norman Director of Tourism Marketing and Sales Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau Phone: 800-700-7702 Web: www.vbgrouptours.com