VA Beach or Williamsburg?

[lawyergirl25]

I'm heading out of town for the long weekend with some friends. We're flying into Norfolk on Saturday afternoon and returning on Sunday evening. It looks like VA Beach and Williamsburg are each within an hour's drive from the Norfolk airport. Which city would you recommend visiting this time of year? A lot of the tourist attractions in Williamsburg are closed for the season (Busch Gardens, King's Dominion) and we're not sure what to do in VA Beach since it'll be too cold to swim or hang out on the beach.

Any suggestions? Things to do, places to eat, that kind of thing? TIA!

[Belm]

A local here chimining in...

Va Beach is actually only about 30 minutes from ORF (the airport) while, Williamsburg is about an hour (not including tunnel traffic).

The weather should still be warm this weekend (60's) in Va Beach. Were you planning on staying down at the Oceanfront? If so, you can still walk the boardwalk and enjoy the nice weather. It will be too chilly for lying on the beach, but you could also rent bikes and/or rollerblades. There is the VA Aquaruim about 10 minutes away from the Oceanfront that is a nice attraction.

If you go to Williamsburg, Colonial Williamsburg is still open and of course they have a ton of outlet shopping. There is also the Great Wolf Lodge which is a huge indoor water park that is very popular in Williamsburg.

HTH!

[lawyergirl25]

If we stay in VA Beach, we'll stay at the Holiday Inn Sunspree, which I believe is right by the boardwalk. I think biking or rollerblading sounds like a great idea - haven't done that in so long.

OTOH, I think I'd really love to visit Colonial Williamsburg. I've always enjoyed that kind of thing. My friends would probably like the indoor waterpark.

Oh decisions, decisions. Thanks for your help Belm! Anyone else have some ideas?

[ManteoChik]

Ditto everything Belm said. I only live about 1 1/2 from VA Beach and its where I have to do all my shopping (in fact, I was there today).

Anyway, I'd do colonial williamsburg just because I'm a history buff and I enjoy the oulets. I've never stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge because its always a day trip for us, but I hear a lot of people like it.

http://www.greatwolf.com/locations/williamsburg/index.aspx

Actually, I was just talking with some family memebers and we are thinking about planning a trip soon.

[Ericka_Jarett]

We were just at Williamsburg for Christmas. Not sure if any decorations are up still or not, but it's still fun to walk through the village and then hit the shops. We go everytime we go to visit grandma who lives in Williamsburg. I think The Peanut Shop is still closed though, as is the Baskin Robbins and Blue talon (they had a fire on the 6th of December at Blue Talon due to cigarettes thrown out improperly and caused all 3 places to close up shop until rehab is done.) Still shopping is fun there, even just looking around is great. We usually hit the hot dog place across from Blue Talon, good cheap but good lunch. Love the fries.

[HeatherFL]

SO's family is from Norfolk/VA Beach and I find there is not much to do there. I'd choose Williamsburg.

~H.

[fastlayne224]

I choose Williamsburg. I have been to both places and find there is much more to do in Colonial Williamsburg. Best of both worlds, history and shopping!

[allison]

I think The Peanut Shop is still closed though, as is the Baskin Robbins and Blue talon (they had a fire on the 6th of December at Blue Talon due to cigarettes thrown out improperly and caused all 3 places to close up shop until rehab is done.) Still shopping is fun there, even just looking around is great. We usually hit the hot dog place across from Blue Talon, good cheap but good lunch. Love the fries.

[Hijack] OMG the Blue Talon had a fire?! I loved that restaurant! They had the BEST macaroni gratin! [end/Hijack]

I'd vote for Williamsburg also. I grew up in Va. Beach and my favorite trips were to Williamsburg. I was just in Norfolk/Va. Beach last year while my mom was sick and would make a day trip here or there to Williamsburg, just to walk around and clear my head. I love Colonial Williamsburg and was sad to see that the old Gingerbread Store had closed (long ago apparently). You used to be able to smell the gingerbread all over the place and the lines were always out the door.

There's also Presidents Park (http://www.presidentspark.org/). David Adickes is the artist who created the huge busts of each president. His studio is actually in Houston and DH and I used to live right by it so we were able to see him creat many of the pieces before they were moved to Williamsburg. I visited last year and it's pretty impressive given how huge each one is.

If you make it into Norfolk, there's Granby Street. It's a street downtown near Waterside that has lots of restaurants and a few bars. I would walk over there sometimes for an early dinner since my hotel was nearby. I would suggest Freemason Abbey (which isn't really on Granby, but very close), Blue Hippo or Bodega.

I would also recommend Charlie's Seafood (http://www.charliesseafood.com/). It's right across the bridge from where I lived and we used to go there all the time (that and the Duck Inn but it's not there anymore:( ). They have the usual seafood fare there and really delicious she crab soup!

Either way, have fun! I love visiting that area!:D

[sravenne]

If you got to Williamsburg, definitely hit Aroma's for breakfast or lunch...or even dinner. Everytime we go, it's always such a treat and the menu is very extensive.

Also, our ultimate favorite of favorites and I crave this ALL the time is Pierce's Pitt Barbeque in Willliamsburg. If you love barbeque, then you'll absolutely love their barbeque sandwiches. You will so not regret it.

http://www.pierces.com/

If you need somewhere to stay, I recommend Colonial Hospitality House. It's very cozy, the service is great, the garage is under the hotel and it's very convenient. You're within walking distance or short driving distance to all the great Williamsburg attractions. We always stay there.

http://www.williamsburghosphouse.com/

[kandi007]

local chimin in.

i live in newport news...10 mins from willimaburg and 40 from va beach. and thiey are both boring! nothing to do. ok im overexaggering b/c im from new tork so im used to hustle and busle..but really they are boring. va beach sucks b/c you relly cant do anything on the strip...you cant even curse!( im serious..youll get a ticket) and the cops are very strict about cars and bars and such. but i you go off teh strip va beach does have the aquarium and lynhaven mall where there is some ok shopping..and the little area they like to call downtown has a nie comedy club and some nice restaurants.

the only thing williamsburg has going for it is its outlet mall(and the coach store..my fave) colonial willaimsburg is the historic part where they do reenacments and all..and we are having the jamestown celebration but i dont think that started yet. williamsburg is broing...stick to va beach...just dont be afriad to leave the waterfront.

[kandi007]

fyi on the great wolf lodge...i wwouldnt recommend staying there...its kinda pricy for what you get...i believe around 250 a night. im not sure if you can just go for the waterpark though.

[camberne]

Another local chiming in... It really depends on what you are into as to which to pick.

Virginia Beach - The Block (which is basically right across the street from where you'd be staying) is the row of bars that everyone frequents on Atlantic Ave. If you're looking to find a bar scene to get wasted and have a good time, that would be a good place to go.

Not far from where you'd be is the Edgar Cayce center, which is also the Association for Research and Enlightenment or ARE which is a HUGE resource for the paranormal.

In the other direction, like Brenna noted, is the Virginia Aquarium (or as the locals still refer to it - the Marine Science Museum). They also have IMAX movies there. I just checked the schedule, and you can do a whale watching excursion on Sunday. Those are sometimes a lot of fun.

The Virginia Zoo is in Norfolk and has gotten SO much better over the last 10 years. I went two months ago with my mom and 15 year old son and we all had a blast! Much better than the National Zoo in DC, in my opinion.

Williamsburg - Colonial Williamsburg is great if you like history. Merchants Square is right there (as well as The College of William & Mary) with lots of great shopping. The taverns serve absolutely fantastic food, even though it can get pricey. I have a membership to CW, and absolutely love it there. If you're like me and buy your Christmas presents when you're on holiday, this would be a great place to get your shopping out of the way. :) If he's performing this weekend, Dean Shostak is one of the most talented musicians in the US. He is one of the few glass armonica players in the country, also plays the hurdey-gurdey, spinnet, a glass fiddle (yep, made just for him), and glass handbells. Oh, he plays the regular fiddle, too!

Jamestown has been spruced up for the 400-year anniversary celebration which doesn't really kick off until May... but you'd still get the benefit of all the renovations that have been going on for the last five years in preparation.

The Pottery - it's a huge collection of warehouses with bargain-basement prices for tons of stuff... but I hate it. Unless you have something you're specifically looking for (like linens), I'd avoid it like the plague.

The Great Wolf Lodge just opened last year and I haven't been yet. There are several around the country, though, so I wouldn't bother with it... if you're here, I'd go for something I couldn't do somewhere else.

I, personally, would choose Williamsburg - particularly Colonial Williamsburg.

[lawyergirl25]

Thank you so much for all the suggestions! You've been so helpful that I wound up sending this thread to my traveling companions. :)

I'll let you know what we decide - we're making our hotel reservations tonight. Thanks again!

[Ericka_Jarett]

allison - yup Blue Talon had a fire. We were there over Christmas and were going to hit the Peanut Shop just to see it was closed as were the other 2 places. Sign on the door said, closed due to fire, will reopen soon. DH's grandmother lives in Williamsburg and hadn't even heard about the fire (she was out of town) I looked up on-line as to what happened and a witness saw 2 guys smoking outside the Blue Talon and apparently, they tossed their cigarettes into a cart full of linens waiting to be picked up for washing. They were at the corner of the restaurant near the Baskin Robbins. Caught the restaurant on fire in that corner, which quickly spread to Baskins and Peanut Shop. They said the Baskins Robbins got the most damage. The Blue Talon was already working on rebuilding the inside (we looked in the windows) and the other 2 I guess started some clean up, although Baskins was pretty much a total loss from what I read. The Peanut Shop items are being sold at the candy store as of the time we were there. Was weird to go to Colonial Williamsburg and see those 3 places closed up. All the Christmas garland was brown, that is what first hit me, didn't even notice the sign at that point.

Here are some pics: http://www.flathatnews.com/news/127/fire-strikes-blue-talon-and-baskin-robbins
http://www.flickr.com/photos/btp/page7/

[sravenne]

I think if you've never been to either city before, it's worth a trip once.

Hey Kandi! I'm from Newport News too (I've moved up to Northern Virginia in the last years). I went to Denbigh and Woodside. Small world! (Sorry to go off course).

[ManteoChik]

fyi on the great wolf lodge...i wwouldnt recommend staying there...its kinda pricy for what you get...i believe around 250 a night. im not sure if you can just go for the waterpark though.

Hey! :)

I'm pretty excited about staying at the Wolf Lodge. The rooms are cool for little kids and your admission to the water park is included in the price of your room. I guess it won't be bad for us, because there will be four of us in the room. Three adults and one kid so that cuts the cost down, dividing the price three ways. We'll only be staying probably one night anyway and its more for the experience..lol.

[Julss05]

Virginia Beach resident here.

If you spend your time in Virginia Beach I'd recommend going to Black Angus which is also on the strip or One Fish, Two Fish which is away from the boardwalk and a little pricey but very good with nice views. I hear Lynnhaven Fish House is good but I've never been. You can rent bikes or just walk along the boardwalk which is nice, husband and I did that the other day. They also have a cheesy haunted house, old time photos, and mini-golf/arcade nearby that could be fun purely from a tourist standpoint;). I'd also go to Town Center, further inland to go to the Funny Bone Comedy Club and eat at one of the restaurants there. The only restaurant/bar we haven't liked there is the Red Star Tavern (bad food/service). The bar scene is pretty much along the boardwalk and Town Center area if you're looking for that. Also Downtown Norfolk has a number of bars along Waterside Drive and Granby. Shopping, at the boardwalk you have souvenir shops and some speciality shops, near Town Center it's mostly mall shopping, and Downtown Norfolk has its own large mall with speciality shops outside the mall area. If you like nature I'd check out First Landing State Park or whale watching, you can find info on www.vbfun.com.

If you go to Williamsburg I'd check out Colonial Williamsburg, Pottery Factory, Rosey Rumps Dinner Theatre (attached to a hotel you can stay at), Outlet Mall, Busch Gardens (may be open), and local wineries. You can also take an Anhaeuser-Busch brewery tour. Traffic can be a horrible from Norfolk to Williamsburg, but I still think it is worth the trip. Since I live in Virginia Beach I like to get away to Williamsburg or N.C.;).

If you have enough time I'd say go to both places!:) Both are very different from one another, depends on what you want.

Edited to say it is going to be unseasonably warm here this weekend so enjoy! In Virginia Beach it will be 72 Saturday clear and 71 Sunday with AM showers, and 72 Saturday PM showers and 72 Sunday with AM showers in Williamsburg.

[Ericka_Jarett]

Busch Gardens is closed until March 24th. You can alsoo go to Jamestown. They will be celebrating soon, but from what I hear the festivities are already underway, with renovations done now. Can't wait to hear about the trip

[kandi007]

Hey Kandi! I'm from Newport News too (I've moved up to Northern Virginia in the last years). I went to Denbigh and Woodside. Small world! (Sorry to go off course).


whoohoo!! it really is a small world! i just moved here about 2 years ago...and im counting down the days till i can leave!

[HeatherFL]

LOL Kandi isn't kidding. This was taken Christmas Eve on the Virginia Beach strip...me being a "rebel"... Todd and I couldn't believe these signs. They are all over the strip!

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g230/HeatherJWFL76/Christmas%202006/2006VirginiaChristmas003.jpg

[lawyergirl25]

Heather, I have the exact same picture now! Unfortunately, it's on a girlfriend's phone. :)

We ended up staying in Williamsburg, with a brief side trip to VA Beach on Sunday night. OMG, the weather was gorgeous!! I didn't want to come back to the cold and snow here in Ohio. It was really a great weekend.

Here's a recap from my MySpace:

We flew into Norfolk early Saturday afternoon, where it was sunny and 72! The weather stayed in the mid-70s all weekend, which was a nice break from the Ohio cold. We drove to Williamsburg after we arrived and checked into our hotel. We stayed at the Holiday Inn-Downtown Williamsburg, which was on Colonial Parkway, just a mile or two from Colonial Williamsburg. Our room was nice, typical of a Holiday Inn. We checked out the pool and whirlpool right away. We were so glad to be out of town! Traveling always takes it out of me, so we rested in our room for about an hour, then shuttled over to Merchant's Square. We wandered through the shops for awhile, then had dinner at Berret's. The crab cakes were amazing, as were the shrimp w/cheese grits. MMMMMM.... We went back to the hotel and spent the evening drinking in the hotel lounge. How lame is that?? :rolleyes: But it was a good time. :)

Sunday we slept in and then decided to drive around a bit to take in the beautiful day. We ended up at Jamestown Settlement, where we walked around the living museum. Nobody had thought to bring a camera, but we used our cell phones to get some shots on the Susan Constant and in the dugout canoes. I won't promise to post them because I always forget anyway. :D After we left Jamestown, we took the scenic route along Colonial Parkway and on the way back to town spontaneously decided to drive to Virginia Beach, which was about an hour away. Once we got there, we took off for the beach. It was so warm we waded along the coastline for an hour! Afterwards, we cruised the strip and searched for an all-you-can-eat pancake restaurant - pancakes and waffles were sounding gooooood. Unfortunately those restaurants close around 2 and it was nearly 5, so we had to backtrack and find an IHOP near downtown VA Beach. From there, we stopped at a couple bars to shoot some pool and have some drinks. They were dives, but who cared at that point? :) Around 11, we had to head back to the hotel because B had a blinding headache. I had to run out at midnight to find her some Excedrin, but I don't think it helped. Poor girl was in misery!

Yesterday we went back to Merchant's Square and did more shopping. We found N's sister a nice birthday present - which I will not post since she might be reading this blog! I was dying for some chocolate, so we found a chocolatier who had the most amazing chocolate-covered orange jellies. Omg, they were good. Stopped at the bookstore for some light reading material and then headed for the airport. Our flight was delayed about 45 minutes, but it was all good. We had a quiet, relaxing weekend, and that's all that really mattered!

Thanks for the recommendations, ladies. As you can see, we had a very quiet weekend. What a nice short break!

[camberne]

So glad to hear that you had a good weekend. You're right, the weather was spectacular - couldn't have asked for a better weekend in that respect!

[kandi007]

glad that you enjoyed your trip!!

and heather you are such a rebel!

[HeatherFL]

so glad you had a good time!