Bits of Virginia Beach

We drove over to the beach at Virginia Beach to have some fun in the sand and sun. The water was cold (like in the 60s Fahrenheit) so we did not do any swimming. We did some exploring instead.

By the shore

The original photo of above!

Looking south

Looking north

The beach has a boardwalk that goes for a couple of miles along the oceanfront. It has the typical mixture of high-rise hotels, restaurants, snack shops, and merchandizers. 

Northern end of the boardwalk

We looked for nice shells and rocks but had a hard time making good finds.

Found on shore, not brought to shore by us

A claw without an owner

Daughter and bird on the wing

The personal houses along the beach are large and amazing. I wonder how much they cost. Probably in the millions?

Large and cozy

A large statue of King Neptune sits along the boardwalk. Created by Paul DiPasquale, it was built between 2003 and 2005 and is 34 feet tall. The statue is impressive and a park across from the king has a stage for entertainers to perform.

King Neptune

More beach

Fun sign showing how far it is to other places

Further down the beach is the Naval Aviation Monument, whose entrance (from the ocean-side) is dominated by the Norwegian Lady statue. A sister statue is located in Moss, Norway. Both statues commemorate the wreck of the Norwegian ship Dictator off Virginia Beach in 1891. Many locals helped save the passengers and crew of the ship as it sank.

Map of memorial

Norwegian Lady

Story about the wreck

The memorial has several spots dedicated to flight, so 20th century accomplishments.

Naval Aviation Monument

Information about the Doolittle Raid is on the World War II section.

Doolittle photos

Preparing to deploy sculpture

Pre-WWI--the beginning of military aviation

Homecoming

Modern era with cleaning crew

We went to lunch at a pizza place called Dough Boys then tried to get dessert at Sugar Planet. The planet was closed! The sign directed us to other locations north and south.

Disappointing!

We left from our parking garage, which had a geocache on the top floor. I took a photo looking down on the beach with Neptune on the far right.

One last view