Virginia Beach Virginia Travel Guide

Virginia Beach Virginia

Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Come vacation in this resort city with miles of beaches, hotels, rental homes, and restaurants along its oceanfront. It is home to several state parks, three military bases, two universities as well as several historic sites. With its 28 miles of beach and 3 miles of boardwalk,

Virginia Beach has a reputation for being a great escape for lovers! Whether you are an outdoor enthusiast, a history buff, a couple looking for a peaceful rendezvous, or a family wanting to play-there is something in Virginia Beach for everyone!

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Things To Do in Virginia Beach

While Virginia Beach is home to 210 city parks, Virginia's most popular state park, First Landing State Park, features trails for hiking and biking, campsites, swimming, and rental sports equipment. Unique to this resort is the largest Beach Volleyball following, both local and from out of town, Every year the city also hosts the East Coast Surfing Championships as well as the North American Sand Soccer Championship, a beach soccer tournament. Don't miss the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, an 8,000-acre freshwater refuge that borders the Atlantic Ocean on the east and Back Bay on the west.

The barrier islands feature large sand dunes, maritime forests, freshwater marshes, ponds, ocean beaches, and large impoundments for watching wildfowl. For the golf lover, Virginia Beach has eleven golf courses open to the public in the city, as well as four country club layouts and 36 military holes at NAS Oceana's Aeropines course. Among the best-known, public courses are Hell's Point Golf Club and Virginia Beach National, the latter of which hosts the Virginia Beach Open, a Nationwide Tour event, each April. Come and see what the largest city in the state of Virginia has to offer ~ a variety of entertainment, opportunities, and activities for all!

 

 

History of Virginia Beach 

Near the point where the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean meet, Cape Henry was the site of the first landing of the English colonists, who eventually settled in Jamestown, on April 26, 1607. Adam Thoroughgood (1604–1640) of King's Lynn, Norfolk, England is one of the earliest Englishmen to settle in the area which became Virginia Beach. At the age of 18, he became an indentured servant to pay for passage to the Virginia Colony. He earned his freedom and became a leading citizen of the area.

The small resort area of Virginia Beach grew in Princess Anne County, beginning in the late 19th century, particularly after the 1888 arrival of rail service and electricity and the opening of the original Princess Anne Hotel at the oceanfront near the tiny community of Seatack. Although Virginia Beach was initially dependent upon railroad and electric trolley service, that ended with the completion of Virginia Beach Boulevard in 1922, which extended from Norfolk to the oceanfront, opened the way for automobiles, buses, trucks, and passenger rail service which was eventually discontinued.

The growing resort town received its incorporation in 1906. The Alan B. Shepard Civic Center also known as The Dome, is a significant building in the city's history, Constructed in 1958, it was dedicated to the career of former Virginia Beach resident and astronaut Alan Shepard and was the first geodesic dome building constructed in the continental United States — based on the design work of Buckminster Fuller.

Map of Virginia Beach

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