Advertisement
Published: July 30th 2023
After the craziness of my birthday cancellation in Toronto, I was thrilled to be driving rather than flying. Chloe really enjoys the beach and figured that Virginia Beach was a good choice. The hotel (Hampton Inn Virginia Beach-Oceanfront North) started off on a bad foot with me because I tried to call the hotel to request something sent to the room for her birthday and was told that they had no record of reservation (was booked through Chase rewards points) and that I need to call up places and let them know when sent to the hotel. It was a bad start. I had to call back Chase and got a confirmation # and finally they got my reservation. However, I was given attitude on the phone. We brought the dog with us on the trip. We picked up coffee in Emporia. We went to a very dog friendly restaurant which did bring water for the dog. In addition, we sat on this patio with an umbrella. It was pretty hot out that day. I got BC combo apple salad with a light refreshing dressing with turkey sandwich. It was delicious. The restaurant gave a to go cup for my water. It was an easy drive from Durham to Virginia Beach overall with a few stops but not much traffic.
We arrived at the hotel at 3pm and was told that the room wasn't ready yet. We didn't realize that checkin was technically at 4, but the woman at the counter said it would be ready within the hour. We hung in the back of the hotel on the lawn. There was a nice grassy patch to walk the dog. There was a bike lane and a walking lane. We did get bottle of water for the dog to drink. We were told we would get text message when the room was ready. 4PM came and nothing yet. It was surprising that the room took so long to be cleaned with check out at 11AM. There was no communication about the room. I went to the desk and was told still wouldn't be ready. Finally at 4:30 we went back to the desk and was told that they were trying to call me The phone number taken down from the woman at 3PM and given to the new desk people was incorrect. It was sheltering out and no relief for us or the dog. It was an awful check in experience with a not so courteous front desk. We had a ground floor room with a nice patio that had access to the grass and the beach was right across within 2 minutes walking distance.
We relaxed in the room. We went to Zzes Pizza in the hotel lobby. There was a cheap happy hour with mozzarella sticks and drinks for $5 each. We went on a lovely drive in North Virginia Beach to Hot Tuna. We got the Bronzed Salmon appetizer, she crab soup and blackened tequila shrimp tacos with avocado, bacon and cheese. The She Crab soup was luscious. The tacos were delightful, spicy and filling for 2 of them getting served. It came with rice and beans. Chloe got a spicy Paloma drink and told the waiter it wasn't great. The waiter didn't offer to replace her drink and the staff seemed very young and inexperienced. In addition, the staff didn't mention that each thing extra on tacos like bacon, cheese or avocado cost $2.50 each to add to the taco. It was a very expensive meal. The waiter otherwise was fine and was named Koa. There was a $2.99 non cash adjustment added to the bill which also wasn't mentioned due to paying as a non cash item. We tried to get ice cream next door but was packed so went back to hotel for sleep.
We woke up at 5:45AM and saw a beautiful sunrise on the beach. We walked the dog and noticed a few men stretching and exercising around the American Flag. It was a very odd site to see and wondered if they were militia, nationalists, Cross Fit or POW Flag group. It wasn't something you saw very often. We went to breakfast in the hotel lobby and it was packed at 7:25AM. There was a waffle machine that can pick strawberry or vanilla in it, eggs, maple sausage, pastries, oatmeal or yogurt. The menu didn't change much each day and got mundane after a few days. The coffee wasn't great either. We got Starbucks near the hotel. We went to the beach for the morning and saw a boat with a lot of people that were dolphin sightings. The boat owners were feeding them and we saw so many of them out in the ocean. The most amazing part was as we went into the ocean and swam there were quite a few dolphins swimming so close to us. It was the closest I had got to dolphins since swimming with them many years ago in the Caribbean islands. The water was a great temperature. The worst part of the beach was the inconsiderate neighbors who blasted music that no one cared to hear except for them
We went to Citrus for lunch which was a very dog friendly restaurant. We sat outside on the porch and there was a full dog menu. We got Zephyr a grilled chicken and rice dish that was served in a frisbee. I got a seafood omelette with cheese and hashbrowns. It was tasty and heavy at the same time. Chloe got a crab benedict that was tasty, but also heavy. We went back to the room to relax and walk the dog. We went to Eurasia for 1/2 price appetizers and drinks. We enjoyed the mussels with this delicious blue cheese sauce. I got a Moscow mule drink that wasn't the most balanced drink. At one point, we saw a woman on the corner when we approached. Police and an ambulance came and we found out that she was drugged and disoriented. We weren't sure what happened except to speculate maybe she was abused or raped. We left and tried to find a place to walk the dog. We tried to go into Neptune Park, but it cost $10. We parked in the neighborhood nearby and walked through the gate. We went to a bridge area, but it was quite buggy. The dog wasn't feeling the best so we ordered in Osaka Ramen. Chloe didn't love her tuna sushi and the shumai was fried. Otherwise, most of the food was ok. We went to sleep for another day.
We woke up on Chloe's birthday and walked the dog by the large Neptune statue. It was one of the most impressive statues I had ever seen with such intricate details of lobsters, turtles, whales and other sea life on it. People would come and take photos near it. It was one of the more popular attractions in Virginia Beach. We got lucky and there was no one near it when we walked there. The customer service at the hotel was bad again as they told us we needed 24 hours to order housekeeping, but no one ever told us that at check in. In addition, the hotel staff was asked multiple times to bring towels and after the third time brought it. We went to First Landing State Park at 8AM. We went to the campground access section. It wasn't crowded at 8AM. We paid the $10 to get in but it did cover all parts of the park which was helpful for the evening walk. We sat on the bay side and as soon as we sat others arrived and sat so close to us even though there was a huge beach. There were 2 sand crabs that kept coming out of holes near us. We walked the dog on the beach and there were some friendly people who got Zephyr to go into the water to get a toy and sort of swim back. Since I have known Chloe and Zephyr, he doesn't swim in the water so this was a big step in the right direction. We enjoyed the beach and had a lot of friendly people chatting to us there.
We went to Leaping Lizard for brunch. This was easily our most favorite place and very dog friendly. There was a huge outdoor back area with chickens, roosters and geese in a large farm looking setup. All tables was spread out and had a very chilled vibe. The servers were very kind and brought Zephyr water constantly and refreshed it. The only minor thing was flies outside when we ate. I got a duck hash with runny egg, cantaloupe, fresh salad and a sweet potato biscuit. I loved the dish especially the sweet potato biscuit which you can tell it was homemade. Chloe loved her crab cake benedict. The service was great and the coffee was delicious. We walked to a cute area after we ate and saw a little outlet with some body of water. On the drive, there were lush green trees. We tried to go to Cape Henry Lighthouse, but we would need to take a shuttle. We had the dog so it wouldn't have been possible to do.
We went back to the hotel. We rented bikes across the street. The boardwalk was quite busy with people that didn't look when walking, families and aggressive bike riders. Once we got to the end, it wasn't as crowded. We passed a pier, boardwalk with shops and cool looking murals We had Ben and Jerry's ice cream after the ride. We took the dog to First Landing State Park and there was some narrow beaches with partying going on. There were some nice trails, mansion homes on the water, boating and people swimming in the water. We escaped just as the thunder started. It was pouring outside and we headed to Starbucks to get Chloe her free birthday drink. We relaxed in the room during the downpour. We saw someone trying to walk into the ocean in the heavy rain and fully clothed. We thought maybe they were trying to commit suicide. There were police trying to keep people off the beach. The weather was bad for 2 hours of thunder, lightning and heavy rain. We walked the dog at one point. We went to Cooper's Hawk winery and restaurant for dinner. It was not an actual winery and is a national chain that was located in a strip mall. The name was quite deceiving, though they did have wine tastings. We had the pretzel bread with compound butter, crab shrimp soup bowl split in 2, Brussels sprouts and Dana's crispy Parmesan chicken with famous potatoes. I had a delicious Barbera wine. Most of the food was a mix of good and so so. The waitress did give free dessert which was nice for Chloe's birthday. We went home and walked the dog.
We got up the next morning and checked out of the hotel after a light breakfast. We got Perked Up Coffee! The iced coffee with coffee and iced coffee cubes in it was delicious. Chloe wasn't as much of a fan of the light roast with it tasting like nothing. We went to Mount Trashmore. This was a great place to walk the dog and highly recommended. It was a cute park with a lake and can climb to the top. There were beautiful views from above. We stopped at Belmont deli on the way home and picked up Belmont peanuts which are famous in Virginia. We got to sample maple bourbon peanuts which was delightful. We got two sandwiches BEC and a breakfast Sand. They tasted ok but the service was quite slow. In addition, I had some hair in mine and it was very one note in taste. We stopped for coffee and got home nice and easy. We had a great time with the dog and really enjoyed ourselves in Virginia beach despite the crowds.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.452s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 7; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0592s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Chloe
non-member comment
thank yo!
thank you for the birthday beach extravaganza! it was memorable and overall fun, despite some bad service mishaps and the VA beach criminal underbelly