City: Virginia Beach, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 717 General Booth Blvd.
2. The Christian Broadcasting Network
City: Virginia Beach, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 226-7000
Address: 977 Centerville Turnpike
Description: This is the home of the international television ministry built by Pat Robertson and the studios where the syndicated The 700 Club is produced. Today, this charming, colonial brick campus produces programming to about 200 countries. The 700 Club has been on the air since 1966, one of the longest running programs in broadcast history. Regent University, a fully accredited institution with a law school, is also on the 685-acre campus CBN built. There are free, behind-the-scenes tours of the network and ministry throughout the day, and folks can join the studio audience of The 700 Club with an 8:30 a.m. seating. You can also eat at the Swan Terrace, a restaurant at The Founders Inn and Spa.
3. Contemporary Art Center Of Virginia
City: Virginia Beach, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 425-0000
Address: 2200 Parks Ave.
Description: This is an art center without a permanent collection, which means it’s an always-changing canvas. Recent exhibitions have included Where the Wild Things Are: Maurice Sendak in His Own Words and Pictures, an interactive exhibit where children were encouraged to put on costumes and slide, wild-thing-like, into a bowl of “chicken soup,” and Jenn Figg: Forest Thrall, a composition of commonplace materials that evoke dark fairy tales in a mysterious landscape. Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, and $3 for kids 3 to 14. You get a $2 discount with a AAA membership and the museum is closed on Mon.
City: Virginia Beach, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 1341 Princess Anne Rd.
5. Old Coast Guard Station
City: Virginia Beach, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 422-1587
Address: 2400 Atlantic Ave.
Description: This museum in a historic Life Saving Service/Coast Guard Station tells the story of Virginia’s coastal communities before tourism and the high-rise hotels arrived through the tales of shipwrecks and rescues. There are 1,800 artifacts and more than 1,000 photos of the services and old Virginia Beach. The 1903 building, on the Boardwalk, is on the National Register of Historic Places. The museum is open daily; admission is $4 for adults, $3 for seniors and military, and $2 for children 6 to 18.
6. Adam Thoroughgood House
City: Virginia Beach, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 385-5100
Address: 1636 Parish Rd.
Description: One of the oldest surviving Colonial homes in Virginia, it is open six days a week for guided tours. It was thought to date back to the 1680s, but more recent research places it in the 1720s. The city now owns and operates the home, which is built in the medieval English cottage style, complete with steep roof and massive chimneys. There are four rooms, two on each floor. The grounds overlook the Lynnhaven River, and most historians don’t believe Adam Thoroughgood, one of the region’s first settlers, ever lived in the home. Rather it was probably one of his grandsons.
7. Francis Land House
City: Virginia Beach, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 385-5100
Address: 3131 Virginia Beach Blvd.
Description: It’s hard to believe as you buzz down the crowded Virginia Beach Boulevard that there was once a huge plantation here. Hard until you turn onto the drive of the Francis Land House and step back a few hundred years. The home was built about 1805 and has been operated as a historic house museum since 1986. It’s furnished in period antiques and docents demonstrate and educate.
8. Lynnhaven House
City: Virginia Beach, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 431-4000
Address: 4401 Wishart Rd.
Description: This home dates to around 1725 and is an example of local architecture. Built of brick in the English bond pattern, it sits on a finger of land near the Lynnhaven River. Here you can see how a middle class planter lived.
City: Virginia Beach, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 717 General Booth Blvd.
10. American Indoor Karting
City: Virginia Beach, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 486-3003
Address: 2726 North Mall Dr.
Description: Here, your kids don’t need a license to drive, just a helmet and one of the high-performance go-karts that can reach 35 mph. When you’re done, you get a comprehensive report on your race, including your fastest lap, lap average, and how you placed in the field and among all competitors that day. Since this is real racing, with real risks, you’ll have to sign a waiver and go through a safety briefing before you get behind the wheel. Obviously, a guardian must sign for any kid under 16. The place also offers an arcade, Wii and Xbox gaming systems, jousting, sumo suits, catering and in-house snack bar. Closed Mon. Open noon to 9 p.m., until 11 p.m. on Fri and Sat nights.
11. Motor World Of Virginia Beach
City: Virginia Beach, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 422-4444
Address: 700 South Birdneck Rd.
Description: There are 11 go-kart tracks here, with 250 vehicles in 16 different styles to choose from. And they just opened an adult speed track if you parents want to race as well. You can also go head-to-head with the kids on a paintball course in the Splat Zone, play mini golf on a 36-hole course, or ride the bumper boats, sky coaster, Kiddie City rides, or Gravity Storm, which gives you the feeling of weightlessness. Open daily Mar through Sept, 10 a.m. to midnight, and weekends year-round.
12. Nightmare Mansion
City: Virginia Beach, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 2008 Atlantic Ave.
Description: The building has a huge skeleton peeking over, and through, the roof. So you can imagine what’s inside. Actually, you might not want to imagine. Just let yourself go and enjoy the terror. Probably not a great idea for young, impressionable minds unless you want to leave all the lights on at night.
City: Virginia Beach, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 849 General Booth Blvd.
14. Kids Cove
City: Virginia Beach, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 473-5237
Address: 310 Edwin Dr.
Description: This large play area constructed of wooden timbers is located at Mount Trashmore Park. It was designed with kids’ input and offers them an opportunity to let their imagination roam. There are benches in a shaded grove near a large wooden Indian sculpture where parents can relax while their kids run wild. It can get crowded here and there are lots of places to lose sight of a child, which is probably what they were hoping for when they suggested the design. The city is planning a new playground next to Kids Cove that will be wheelchair-accessible and feature a swing area, a climbing area, and a general play area. The original Kids Cove will remain open during construction.
15. Mount Trashmore Skate Park
City: Virginia Beach, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 473-5237
Address: 310 Edwin Dr.
Description: This 24,000-square-foot park opened in 2003 to give teens a place to play with their skateboards, in-line skates, and BMX bikes. There’s a large street course just off an above-ground, 7-foot-deep bowl. The skating surfaces are all Skatelite Pro. You’ll need to sign up for a free pass, with a parent or guardian signature, to get an admission wristband. Helmets are required and protective pads strongly recommended.