We don’t go on a real summer vacation every year.  We try for every other year.  Last year we went to the beach and we had an amazing time.  We drove because roundtrip plane tickets for a family of 5 just wasn’t in our budget.  We didn’t mind the drive too much but I remembered passing signs for Virginia Beach.  I told my husband “We should have went to Virginia Beach, we’d be there already”.  We still  had a great time but couldn’t help but think that our next beach vacation was definitely going to be Virginia Beach.

So what is there to do for a newbie to Virginia Beach like me?  Well my family LOVES aquariums. On http://www.visitvirginiabeach.com/  they have a link right on the home page for the Virginia Aquarium.  That will be a must on our to do list.  This year they have a Malaysian Peat Swamp exhibit and a Chesapeake Bay touch pool where you can touch sea animals like sea stars and horseshoe crabs.

Something else my oldest son would just love is the charter fishing on the Chesapeake Bay and Virginia coast.  My oldest son loves the outdoor activities, especially fishing.  I’ve always been a little curious about deep sea fishing myself.

Not all of us are fond of being out on a boat.  I found out that they have food tours that I think would be a good culinary experience for my children.  These tours aren’t just all about the food though.  You learn a bit about the history of Virginia Beach while you’re taking in the sites and flavors.  There are different types of food tours you can take like the Farmer’s Market food tour, the Boardwalk food tour, or maybe you want to go a little inland for the Capital Hill Food tour.  Those are just a few of the many they have listed on the site.

There are so many places to stay too.  Do we want a to rent a beach house, a condo, stay at a resort? I have no idea yet.  They all sound wonderful.  Have you ever been to Virginia Beach?  Do you have any recommendations for a budget friendly place to stay right on the beach?








I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Virginia Beach blogging program to earn My SocialMoms Rewards points. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own. To read more posts on the topic, click here.

We recently completed this chic and peaceful vacation rental in Pacific Beach.

 We were on a tight budget and a two week timescale but we managed to turn it around to the client’s delight. Now rented out as a vacation rental.

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No doubt, when people take a vacation they want to love it!  Whether you are planning to sit back on the beach and do little else or have an action packed day filled with shopping and sight seeing or an exciting night hitting the local popular night life spots, you want your vacation to fulfill your dreams.  There are a million and one destinations you could choose but Virginia Beach is a great choice!

I actually have very fond memories of Virginia Beach.  As a child we never took vacations.  Then, when I was in 7th grade, we took a vacation.  It was to Virginia Beach!  The things I remember enjoying most was getting a taste of my first ocean waves (well, not a literal “taste” really, although I do remember accidentally doing that as well!), sitting on our hotel room balcony watching other beach goers enjoying the outdoors, and shopping all the fun tourist souvenir shops looking for interesting “treasures”.

Now, of course, when I think of and look for vacation destinations I am looking for something to fit our family needs.  It has to be somewhere well suited to a large family and it has to be somewhere that children of many ages can enjoy since I have an early teenager, preteen, grade school-er, preschooler, toddler and infant! Looking at what Virginia Beach has to offer I can say it looks like a place where our family could really Love the Moments spent there.

Looking over the Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Burea website I noticed first a section just for free and almost free things to do .  You can check it out here.  Of course the beaches come to mind right away.  I also noticed a page devoted to the parks and wildlife around the area.  That’s something I hadn’t really thought of when I considered Virginia Beach.  Since we have an RV and enjoy camping throughout the spring, summer and fall this caught my eye right away “In addition to commercial campgrounds near the resort area, like KOA and
Holiday Trav-L-Park, Virginia Beach is home to state parks where
the true nature enthusiast can set up camp. First Landing State Park has
sites and cabins complete with all the amenities you need. And
the true naturalist can find peace and quiet at False Cape State Park
with primitive, hike-in camping.”  Not only would my family enjoying camping but camping could make a Virginia Beach Vacation even more affordable.  I also noticed other affordable activities like tours to

Cape Henry Lighthouse & Memorial Park

 

 

and 

 

Old Coast Guard Station

 

I also checked out the Virginia Beach Amusement Park.  I says there are rides and games for all ages from thrill rides to kiddie rides.  My family always enjoys a fun amusement park.  

No matter where we go, we always visit the aquariums at our destinations if they have one.  We would visit the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science center for sure.  

 

Something helpful I found was a list of activities a teen might enjoy! Many times it easy to find things my younger children will want to do but my older ones can never come up with something that sounds fun.  

 Now if camping isn’t your thing there are certainly many other places to stay and enjoy the area.  From luxurious beach front hotels to quaint bed and breakfast inns, there is sure to be somewhere that would make your vacation memorable.  

There are golfing locations available and I also noticed plenty of shopping! 

 

 I think the Lynnhaven Mall looks great!

If you like water sports they offer para sailing, jet skiing and surfing.  Or maybe, to you, fishing is the perfect water-sport…which you can also do in Virginia Beach.

But the thing that draws me to Virginia the most is the beach!  I imagine relaxing on the warm sand.  Watching little ones of mine enjoying the water lightly washing the sand they are digging in from around their feet.  The older kids jumping into incoming waves.  Just sitting back enjoying the summer day!  That’s my kind of vacation and I would certainly be loving the moment at Virginia Beach!~

 

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The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own. To read more posts on

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Last week we joined some friends at the beach for a few days.  It was Hudson’s first time at the beach and I’ve been so busy and stressed lately that it was the perfect timing for a getaway.  We had 6 adults, two 2.5-year-olds, and two 1-year-olds in the house (a house that was loaned to us for NO cost!), which was busy but it worked really well.  All the kids napped about the same time every day and we were all able to tag-team parenting/cooking/cleaning to help share the work.

Our mornings were spent at the beach and our afternoons at the (private) pool.  After kiddo bedtime, the grownups stayed up until almost 11:00 playing games.  We are such a wild crew. The boys also played a fancy golf course one morning, and then the ladies had some kid-free beach time to even things out. 

We did manage to do some family photo shoots for each other.  Hudson is never a fan of that kind of thing, but here are some of those and some other favorite pics from the week:

We’re now back to our normal routines, and for those of you who are counting (no one but me) we only have FOUR Sundays until the big church move.  After tomorrow that will be 3.  Most of my spare moments are spent preparing for that, including recruiting volunteers and hiring nursery workers.  Sometimes I close my eyes and imagine myself at the beach again just for a moment’s peace.  Then I’m alerted back to the present by Hudson forgetting once again that he’s wearing underwear and not a diaper after a week of potty-training hiatus on vacation. 

This will be H’s last week of school this year, which means an end to my highly productive Tuesday/Thursday mornings.  If my house isn’t really clean again until August, I blame the 3-month break from school.  Sigh.

I am looking forward to slower mornings and more play dates this summer, though.  Just not at my house.  How do people clean with kids around?  How did I ever do it?  Is H old enough to be trained to vacuum and scrub toilets? 

Maybe I’ll just reminisce about the beach for a few more months.

~MG