This is fifth in a series of entries from blogger Sally Doran on her summer road trip (find previous here).

     As our nine-day adventure winds down and some travel weariness is creeping in, it’s a good thing to finish the road trip with a soft landing on the beach.

We arrive in Virginia Beach after a scenic 4+ hour drive from Baltimore via U.S. Routes 50 and 13 through eastern Maryland and the Chesapeake peninsula of Virginia.  The small towns, rural landscape and the Chesapeake Bay waterfront popping into view frequently make a pleasing contrast from the noisy, busy cities we’ve visited.  I can see how people who grow up around a great body of water like this find a peace in the lifestyle.

I do have a meeting scheduled while in town, but the first agenda item is the sand at my feet and the waves at my ankles.  Though I make a trip to Virginia Beach at least once a year to visit clients, I am always based further west of the oceanfront in the business district, which has some great shopping and restaurants but a very different atmosphere. So I've never seen this side of VB before and consider myself a first-time visitor.  

We’re staying at a resort on the southern end of the famed “strip”, the 3-mile stretch of Atlantic Avenue that’s the pulse of this vacation community.  We arrive just before sunset, so I don’t bother to unpack before skipping across the street to the beach, where we are greeted by what I claim is a welcome created just for us--a fireworks display offshore.

The following morning, the teenagers do what they do best: sleep in. I return to the beach early because I love the experience of being there before the crowds.  There’s something incredibly peaceful about the endless ocean, foggy morning sky and the silent nod of greeting to the handful of surfers and joggers who share my love of this beach solitude experience.   It’s a short reverie- it’s going to be a 90 degree day here so the crowd bearing  beach towels and boogie boards starts marking their spots in on sand by 10 a.m.

Though Virginia Beach is not what most tourists would perceive as an historical destination, it’s easy to sense the decades of fun this place has brought to visitors.  The famous boardwalk was first constructed in 1888 from wooden planks and though stretching just five blocks, delighted the Victorian-era beach bunnies who made up the first wave of vacationers here.  Today’s boardwalk is now a 28-foot wide and three-mile long concrete promenade and has received national acclaim from travel magazines and travel television networks as one of America’s favorite boardwalks.  
 
My previous perception of the Virginia Beach “strip” area was a cacophony of hotels, t-shirt shops, saltwater taffy stands and party-hearty bars that accompany a place that grew up in 20th century America.  So I was pleasantly surprised to see the new look of VB-- like the impressive high-rise Hilton neighboring the decades-old favorites like The Oceanfront Inn (which are still well-kept and nostalgically charming).  I also noticed a not-so-subtle attempt to keep the strip revelers from sullying the family atmosphere here: signs posted repeatedly along Atlantic Avenue show the red, universal “No” symbol admonishing the use of profanity! 

The stretch of the boardwalk between 17th  and 25th Streets has been christened “Beach Street USA” and provides a daily bounty of organized, family-fun activity from concerts to festivals and happenings.  You can use the 24-foot tall statue of King Neptune at the north end of Beach Street USA , visible from most of the boardwalk, as your beacon to the center of fun.  Restless sunbathers can gather along here almost any afternoon and find some form of amusement.

I returned to our home base hotel from my explorations via the wonderful WAVE shuttle that roams up and down Atlantic Avenue.  It's not impossible to drive to destinations throughout the beach community but parking is fairly expensive and not always easy to find so it's much easier to go by foot, bicycle (LOTS of places to rent one) or the public transportation.

Kyle, Jake and I are making the quick jaunt to Rudee Inlet, which lies about one-half mile west of the south end of the beach area.  It’s a real contrast from the beach scene to explore the inlet; here I got a feel for another part of Virginia Beach, different from what I know of the business center and the beach scene.  It's the life based on the living with and loving the Atlantic Ocean, from a study and appreciation of the abundance of marine life to the sport and livelihood of fishing to the choice of water sports easily available.  

Getting a very small taste of sailor life, we head out on a dolphin-watching mission aboard the aptly-named Rudee Flipper. There's a great staff who provide a lot of cool facts about dolphins and the variety of creatures who call the waters off Virginia Beach home, but it's just a blast to see those amazing creatures race the boat and jump with those crazy-fish smiles!

For those who want even more time with creatures of the sea, plan a visit to the Virginia Beach Aquarium & Marine Services Center, a AAA GEM attraction that offers a AAA discount. It's ranked among the top 10 facilities of its kind in the U.S. and the literally hundreds of hands-on exhibits make it even more impressive.