This week the department head decided to relocate me across the country. Fine by me, sure, a change of scenery’s always good, I says. It’s a nice port, I says, the beachfront living’s good, but miles from anywhere I’ve been before. It’s a new city without familiar faces. What’s there to do in the Norfolk/Virginia Beach/Hampton Roads VA area?
Cross over/under/through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel to the Eastern Shore. The tunnel/bridge is an impressive engineering accomplishment and well worth seeing - we’re thinking of taking our kids down to the area some time soon and (among other things) doing that. The Eastern shore itself (the Delmarva peninsula) is very, very, very different from the rest of Virginia (and further north, Maryland).
Colonial Williamsburg is not far away and worth a visit. Ditto Jamestown. There’s an indoor water park called Great Wolf Lodge there also - that’s tourist hell and probably not for a single person (you’re single, right?) but it can be fun if you like waterparks and don’t want to be bothered with waiting until warm weather 
Busch Gardens is supposed to be fun - I haven’t been - and also the water park (Water Country USA? I haven’t been there either). And of course the beach at Virgnia Beach is supposed to be OK. Again, I haven’t been… just noticed that nobody had replied yet so I’m giving my uninformed Northern Virginia perspective ;).
Fort Monroe is an interesting historical site - dates back to Civil War days and there’s a museum inside the moat (no, I’m not kidding). Right now it’s an Army base but the museum is open to the public. It’s quite a pretty base, as military bases go! Actually it’s going to be BRACed (Base Realignment And Closing) sometime in the next couple of years so it’ll be even more open to the public then.
I believe there’s Hampton Coliseum which hosts pretty major events (concerts etc.); I’ve only stayed at motels near that when visiting clients down there so I have no clue what the place is like aside from Strip Development Hell.
I lived in the area for years. Serving in the Navy will do that to you.
What do you like to do?
To elaborate on a few of Mama Zappa’s points:
Busch Gardens is a lot of fun. If you like theme parks, it might be worth getting a season pass next spring, because it’ll save you money if you intend on going more than once.
Water Country USA is run by the same company as Busch Gardens, and is basically a big waterpark.
Virginia Beach has a beach, but you should be forewarned that it’s rather touristy. You might want to try going down to NC for a weekend.
Yep - it would help if you could tell us what you like to do and we can tell you where to find it.
Welcome to the area. Shoot me a PM if you want, and I can do some realtalk to fill you in. Sean Factotum also lives in the area.
You might have to drive a bit because the metropolitan area is so geographically large, but I’ve never done without here. You want it, you can find it…
…unless there’s a traffic jam around one of the tunnels, and you just give up.
If the guys in my division are any indication… go to Granby Street and get drunk.
Aren’t the Outer Banks only an hour’s drive away? Tons of touristy stuff to do there, plus Wright Brothers National Monument.
Go say hi to my Mom and my best friend, they both live there. I was born there. Can’t see much reason to go back. Oh, you didn’t ask for my grousing? Sorry. The flatness of the place gets to me if I spend too much time there.
Norfolk zoo - loved that place when I was a kid. It may seem a bit small now.
The art museum … (Heritage?), very nice small museum.
If you are a fan of things nautical, Norfolk can’t be beat. Nautilus museum, Naval base tour, harbour cruise, sailing. Lots of stuff to do around the water.
And, of course, the beach. If you are in Norfolk you’ve got a bit of a drive (15-30 minutes) to the actual Virginia Beach beach. There are all kinds of beachs on the bay that are closer, although sans waves. You could spend quite a bit of time just trying the different beaches in the area, if you’re into that sort of thing.
If you are able to drive about 45 miles up the road towards Richmond, you’ll get to Williamsburg, but you’re gonna get off the road just to eat at Pierce’s Pit Cooked BBQ, possibly the best BBQ in VA. It’s worth trying.
Pierce’s is good cooking. I introduced my wife to it last year.
She was impressed by the fact that they’ve put considerable money into hickory logs and pork, but not much into decoration. You have to admire a restaurant with their priorities right.
My soon to be ex just moved to Norfolk, she is staying with her niece. So far she likes it there.
Newport News Park is one of the largest municipa parks in the US and is supposed to be lovely.
You should have seen it when I first visited in about 1978. Looked like an old fashioned Southern sandwich/ice cream/Dairy Queen drive up. Free standing, order from one window, pick up at the next, two employees. I thought I had just found heaven.
About 1 1/2 hrs to Kitty Hawk. More if you truly want to get down to the lesser inhabited parts(Avon, etc.). 25 years ago, with lesser highways, it was a tortuous multi-hour trip.
Pierce’s. Hmmmm, fond memories.
The College William & Mary (Williamsburg, VA) has a Shakespeare Festival in the summer and a roster of shows throughout the year at the theater](http://www.wm.edu/theatre/currentseason.html#WMD).
There’s a Trader Joe’s in Newport News now.
DANG! And I thought that I was the only person that knew of Pierce’s!
-Catch an event at the Yoder in Newport News.
-Try Buckroe Beach in Hampton as a change of pace. There’s a performance stage there that hosts outdoor concerts in the summer.
-Tour Fort Monroe.
-See beautiful (tropical?) Phoebus!
-Visit NASA at Langley Air Force Base.
-Catch your own crabs off Red’s Pier in Newport News
-Visit one house-of-worship per week starting at one end of Todd’s Lane in Hampton. If you’re lucky, you’ll finish in a few years.
PM me if you get bored… I got lots more ideas.
Go have a taylor pork roll sandwich, hotdog, burger, etc. at Doumar’s. Be sure to eat in your car.
You have to, or the seagulls will recreate several scenes from Birds…
Oh, and NASA Langley no longer allows the general public on as visitors. You’ll have to go to the Virginia Air and Space Center in downtown Hampton instead.