Ocean View Station Museum

Sometimes, when Anouk and I visit the Pretlow Library in Norfolk, we stop in and visit the Ocean View Station Museum on the ground floor before we leave, if it's open. It's one of our favorite places to visit, so I can never quite believe that many people don't even know the little museum is there.

Which is kind of like Ocean View itself: a lot of people don't know that this quiet-but-colorful neighborhood in Norfolk used to be one of the most popular beach vacation destinations on the East Coast. In its heyday, Ocean View featured an amusement park, resort hotels, a bustling boardwalk and fishing pier.





When my mom was a little girl, her grandparents, my great-grandparents, Anouk's great-greats (!), lived in a little brick house right on the beach in Ocean View, and she and all of her siblings and cousins spent a lot of time there. So Ocean View has a special place in my heart, and it's fun to be able to peek in and take a look at how it used to be. A. and I like to take our time moving through the museum, looking at everything: the old ticket stubs and photographs, old Granby High yearbooks from the 1920s and '30s, and even the restored front car of the Rocket, the amusement park's most popular roller coaster (which was spectacularly demolished in a made-for-TV movie in the 1970s).

More information about the Ocean View Station Museum's hours and exhibits can be found here. Be sure to stop in the next time you return your library books and have a chat with one of the staff, most of whom remember Ocean View the way it used to be and are all too happy to tell you all about it.

Is there a place that means a lot to your family? Tell us about it. And have a great weekend!

Ocean View Fishing Pier

Anne and I spent three days at the beach last week -- in April! Tuesday, we went for a beautiful walk at East Beach, Wednesday we met up with friends at the Community Beach Park for a bracing swim, and on Thursday, we hit Willoughby Spit with our Auntie C. for a stroll along the Ocean View Fishing Pier.

The pier used to be known as Harrison's Pier, an iconic Norfolk landmark until it was swept away in Hurricane Isabel in 2003. I remembered crabbing from Harrison's Pier as a kid, but hadn't been back since the new pier was built. The new pier looked flashy and bright and swell, with the double-decker restaurant on top, but it just wasn't the same as the old pier I knew and loved. So I didn't even bother getting to know the new one. As you might have realized by now, I am not the biggest fan of change.

But on this 90-degree day, we were in search of some sun and sand and bright blue water and the pier is where we found it. We took our time walking out, pausing to peer down between the rails at the waves, turning back to wave at the sunbathers scattered along the shore of the Sarah Constant Beach. By the time we'd reached the building smack dab in the middle of the pier that houses the restaurant and tackle shop, the sea air had given us an appetite, so we decided to stop for lunch, and climbed the stairs to the rooftop level restaurant.

The rooftop deck of the pier restaurant is a wonderful place to be on a hot day. Even when it's stifling on the ground, there is sure to be a breeze ruffling around up top. There are also giant table/bench gliders to rock on while you enjoy it. And the view! We could see for miles, to the bridge-tunnel and to Point Comfort, all the way out to the Thimble Shoal light, which seemed a lot closer than you think it can be when you're looking for it from the shore.

(And the food wasn't bad either. We shared the steamer basket of clams and mussels, Aunt C. and A. and I. Two of our party of three had Bloody Marys that were just fantastic -- I'll let you guess which two! They don't skimp on olives at the OV Pier restaurant, no sir. Keep that in mind.)

For a fee, we could have gone through the tackle shop to the far side of the pier but we were content to stay up top and watch the fishermen there go about their business. The pier seemed to stretch for a long, long way out -- the same way it did when I was a kid. Some things don't change.

(What? Don't you wear galoshes and a tutu to the beach??)

Happy weekend!

Big Bands on the Bay

To reward ourselves after a long, hot day of unpacking and settling in to our new house, James, Baby Anne and I picked our tired bones up and went to Big Bands on the Bay at Ocean View Beach Park on Sunday night.

The series runs all summer long, featuring a different band every week. This week it was The Continentals, who offered an upbeat mishmash of big band interspersed with beach music, oldies, and classic country western. The pavilion was crowded with dancers, ranging from beginner to advanced, folks were barbecuing on the boardwalk, and the setting sun and the bay made a picturesque backdrop to the festivities. 

Baby Anne was a little overwhelmed at first by how loud it was, and protested every time we tried to set her down. I think she was a little afraid she'd be run over by some of the jitterbugging couples. (To be fair, it wasn't an irrational fear--I did have to bob and weave a little to get that shot, above, with my camera). She did deign to dance with her daddy--but once we moved away a bit from the hubbub--she let loose. That girl can cut a rug for sure.

It was just the kind of evening that we'd been looking forward to ever since we'd first started talking about moving back to Norfolk. A laid-back atmosphere, friendly faces, a sea breeze, and the waves whispering, "Welcome home." 

It was just right.