Summer may be winding down, but that doesn’t mean fun in the sun and other follies have to end, even if you happen to be in a resort town like Virginia Beach, Virginia. Indeed, the “beach” part of the community’s name has long come to be associated with those warm-weather shoreline vibes so hallmark to the summer season. However, year-round residents can attest to the endless array of alternative area attractions and local area highlights available in any season.
Here I present a sampling list of Virginia Beach attractions not to be missed. While some of the featured examples are better known than others, all can be rightfully regarded as hidden treasure experiences.
Experience the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center
The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center in Virginia Beach is often regarded as one of the nation’s top aquariums. It comprises two impressive buildings, each housing a multitude of versatile exhibits and attractions. Among the impressive site features here, you will find 800,000 gallons of both fresh and saltwater displays and the 12,000+ animals representing over 700 diverse species. The aquatic menagerie includes fish and other marine creatures that live in the water, along with reptiles, amphibians, and even mammals.
Other exhibits to explore include those boasting interactive and innovative functions. Among their most impressive experiences is Virtual Reality Pods, which allows visitors a unique opportunity to enjoy fully immersive simulators with stunning wrap-around sound and multi-directional movement. It brings deep-sea animal encounters to a whole other level of engagement.
There’s also plenty of fun to be had while engaging in their resident aerial Adventure Park, also located on the grounds.
The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center is located just south of Rudee Inlet at 717 General Booth Blvd, Virginia Beach, VA 23451. Visit the website to learn more.
Related Content: Awesome Area Aquariums to Visit This Summer
Ride the Waves at Atlantic Park
Did you know you can surf at Virginia Beach all year long? That’s most befitting for a place often hailed for pioneering East Coast surfing as we know it today. Just head to Atlantic Park, a unique year-round entertainment district featuring Atlantic Park Surf—a premier recreational wave park resort. It stands out as the world’s only human-made wave park in such proximity to an actual ocean. What’s more, its controlled offerings are so vast, versatile, and personalized that it can meet and exceed all limits and expectations for all guests, wherever they are in their wave-riding abilities.
In addition to Atlantic Park Surf, this newer district of acclaim is a great place to shop, dine, and enjoy ongoing entertainment and events. It presents a fresh, urban-artsy ambiance and vibe that’s solely unique to the Virginia Beach scene.
You can experience Atlantic Park Surf at 319 18th Street, Virginia Beach, VA 23451. Go to the website to find out more.
Visit the Military Aviation Museum
For more than two decades, this famed favorite has been on the Virginia Beach bucket list for aviation enthusiasts. The museum is renowned for housing the largest collection of vintage and antique aircraft artifacts in the world. Featured aircraft displays range from the earliest planes of the 1910s through the 1950s, at the height of the Golden Age of Travel. You’ll also, of course, find wartime makes and models from both World Wars and featured planes from other nations, including France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and the United Kingdom.
In addition to educational displays and eye candy for visitors, the museum works to preserve and restore these innovative aircraft models and even holds live demo events. They tantalize the public with twice-yearly airshows as well.
The Military Aviation Museum is located at 1341 Princess Anne Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23457. Click here for information.
Stop in at the Old Coast Guard Station Museum
This free, family-friendly museum serves to honor and preserve the maritime heritage and history of Virginia, along with its quintessential coastal communities. It also pays homage to the United States Lifesaving Service and the United States Coast Guard along the Atlantic coast through a multitude of exhibits and educational displays.
Contained within a multi-story housing, you will discover 1,800 artifacts and more than a thousand vintage historical prints and photos. Many of the displays include recovered items from various shipwrecks of the past. The library is well stocked with periodicals, papers, books, and other records sure to appeal to any history-minded fan.
Find the Old Coast Guard Station Museum at 2401 Atlantic Avenue, Virginia Beach, VA 23451. Follow the link to discover more.
Attend the Atlantic Wildfowl Heritage Museum
Located right along the Virginia Beach Boardwalk, the Atlantic Wildfowl Heritage Museum has multiple draws to its credit. First, there’s the fact that it’s housed within the historic Witt Cottage, renowned for being the oldest remaining private structure on the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. Then there’s the museum’s housing of impressive animal decoy carvings and other amazing artwork.
The museum has been in operation since 1995 and makes for a great detour away from the sand and surf in the summertime. Operating year-round, it’s great to visit even during the winter months, providing both shelter and diversion accordingly.
Stop in at the Atlantic Wildfowl Heritage Museum, located at 1113 Atlantic Avenue, Virginia Beach, VA 23451. Or go to the website to find out more.
Tour Thoroughgood House
Did you know that you can sign up for a free tour of one of the state’s oldest surviving colonial houses? Believed to be built as early as 1719, Thoroughgood House was once the home of Argall Thorowgood II, great-grandson of Adam Thorowgood, who was a leader in the Virginia Colony and helped to establish Princess Anne County (which later became the independent City of Virginia Beach).
These tours run every 45 minutes as part of the museum’s operating hours. Most folks begin their tour within the recently constructed Throroughgood House Education Center to learn the history of Princess Anne County and the impacts on the community by the Thorowgood family directly. Another highlight to check out onsite is the lavishly landscaped English garden—always a whimsical wonder indeed!
Every aspect of this house-turned-museum preserves the essence of true, authentic colonial life as experienced by the wealthy class living in the colonies before the American Revolution. It’s like taking a tour to the past! In addition to exploring on your own, they are known to present special events and educational programs to visitors and visiting groups alike.
Thoroughgood House is located at 1636 Parish Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23455. Learn more on the website, including hours of operation, the general price of admission, and information about booking a free tour.
Unearth the Treasure of Mount Trashmore
There is a unique park within the town of Virginia Beach known as Mount Trashmore. The name is often puzzling to visitors and out-of-towners who are unseasoned to its backstory origins. As such, the park used to be the location of an unsightly landfill. The junk piles grew so high, in fact, that they began to hinder the potential of prime real estate utilization in proximity to the city’s center.
Everyone knew a change needed to be made. The solution came as an innovative idea to create an attraction to attract rather than repel the public. So that’s what they did; they built a park atop the existing garbage—60 feet above sea level, no less, and named it Mount Trashmore.
In addition to serving as an impressive area recreational feature, the park does double duty in utilizing stormwater management practices to manage runoff water and erosion. As for the aforementioned recreational endeavors to take delight in now, there are so many. You just have to come out and experience it yourself!
Mount Trashmore’s official site location can be found at 310 Edwin Drive, Virginia Beach, VA 23462. Go to the website to find out more.
Related Content: The Treasured History of Mount Trashmore
Stroll the Legends Walk
Hollywood isn’t the only place to find a viable Legends Walk of Fame. Virginia Beach is home to its own low-key, self-paced attraction of a similar nature. The Virginia Legends Walk, established in 1999, serves to honor the many notable Virginians (by birth or residency) throughout history, renowned for their significant, crucial, life-changing roles and impacts both nationally and globally.
Many have been inducted throughout the years, with ongoing annual induction ceremonies welcoming new additions every year, all of which can be submitted by anyone and then voted on.
The Virginia Legends Walk can be found at the 13th Street Park, situated between Atlantic Avenue and Pacific Avenue. It is entirely self-guided and free to attend. Discover more on the site.
Related Content: Who Will You Discover on the Virginia Legends Walk?
Stay and Play at First Landing State Park
Rightfully named for having been the place that English colonists first landed back in 1607, First Landing State Park boasts bragging rights as the most-visited state park in all of Virginia. Here you can pursue a range of recreational pastimes among the over 2,000 acres comprising it, from hiking and biking 20 miles of trails to beaching along 1.5 miles of sandy beach shores. With all of its dense forests, bald cypress swamps, and lagoons, First Landing is a wildlife and nature lover’s mecca. Many animals make their permanent and migratory homes here.
The on-site Chesapeake Bay Center is among the top must-do experiences when visiting the park. It houses historical and educational exhibits and is a great way to brush up on the historic “first landing” and what life was like here through the ages. The center even features an outdoor courtyard, pavilion, and amphitheater that can be rented for special events and weddings.
Camping is among the favored activities to enjoy at First Landing. Here you have many different options to choose from, including cabins, yurts, and traditional campsites to set up at. These include electric hook-ups, picnic areas, public ramps, restrooms, and other amenities. You also have a handy camp store on location for any other essential last-minute needs.
Visit First Landing State Park can be reached by navigating to the official address at 2500 Shore Drive, Virginia Beach, VA 23451-1415; Latitude, 36.918020. Longitude, -76.051547. More information can be found on the website.
Learn the History Behind the Cape Henry Lighthouses
If you’re into lighthouses and nautical history, then you have to make it a point to stop and see the two Cape Henry lighthouses on Atlantic Avenue. Their presence marks a rich and abundant history worth learning more about. They’ve both been placed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and have been designated as a National Historic Landmark.
The original lighthouse, constructed by John McComb, Jr., was the first construction project authorized by the new United States under its fledgling Constitution. It was completed in October of 1792 at $17,700. It was later damaged by Confederate forces during the Civil War and repaired by Union forces to provide navigation services into the Chesapeake Bay. A second lighthouse was built in 1881, following concerns about the stability of the original.
The original Cape Henry Lighthouse is currently owned and operated by Preservation Virginia, open to the public on a seasonal schedule. The second Cape Henry Lighthouse, located approximately 350 feet from the first, is maintained and operated by the U.S. Coast Guard and remains in service today. It is not open to the public.
The lighthouses can be found at 583 Atlantic Ave, Fort Story, Virginia 23459. Take note that Fort Story is a military base operated by the U.S. Navy. Visitors must enter through Fort Story’s security gates. Everyone over the age of 16 will be required to present valid identification. Click here to learn more.
Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Established in 1938 to preserve, protect, and provide habitat for residential avian and migratory/wintering waterfowl, Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge is a birder’s dream come true. With its multifaceted terrain, which includes beaches, freshwater marshes, shrub-scrub, dunes, and forests, you can see a multitude of other creatures here as well. From reptiles to amphibians, mammals, fish, and more, countless explorations await on a visit to Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
Most outdoor endeavors here comprise hiking and biking excursions, wildlife observations, surfing, kayaking, nature photography, and just getting out in nature. The grounds are open year-round, every day, sunrise to sunset.
Visit Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge at 4005 Sandpiper Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23456. Learn more on the website link.
Visit ViBe Creative District
If artsy alternative is more your style, then you’ll definitely want to make a point of visiting Virginia Beach’s one and only ViBe Creative District. Found just west of the Oceanfront, this vibrant social district packs a wealth of artistic endeavors. Explore on your own via one of many on-your-own themed walking tours about town. Discover independent studios or visit several world-class collections via the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art. A trip here is forever versatile.
Both First Friday and Second Sunday Mural Tours are always a hit, as are the ongoing Flea Markets. The creative vibes here are enough to encourage free thinking and discover new ideas across the board. Again, a visit here is never wasted and can be made any time of year without limitations.
Explore the endless opportunities awaiting you at VIBE Creative District on the website.
These are but a few ideas for enjoying the Virginia Beach scene all year long. Countless other opportunities and considerations await as well, depending on your own unique interests.