This Weekend in Hampton Roads (Virginia Beach, Norfolk: house, neighborhood, amphitheatre)

[Rita Mordio]

Thursday through Sunday at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, head to the Viva Elvis and the Legends of Rock and Roll at the Oceanfront! From games like “Are you Smarter than an Elvis” to an all-girls Elvis Tribute band, this festival will be abound with love for the King of Rock and Roll. Just make sure you don’t feed the Elvis’s!

On Saturday night, False Cape State Park will be having a secluded star-watching. Away from the city lights, constellations and even planets are extremely visible to the naked eye.

Also this weekend, the Imani Foundation is holding the 12th Annual Juneteenth festival! In fact, Atlanta Falcons NFL football star (and Churchland high school graduate, hurray Hampton Roads) Jamin Elliott will preside as grand marshal of the parade on Saturday. For those who are new or visiting, the Juneteenth Festival is an event to celebrate the end of legalized slavery without blame, shame, or otherwise ignorance of the past. This event is free and open to the public.

And what better way to support the Portsmouth Humane Society than legalized semi-gambling at the Casino Night~! Proceeds will go towards building a new animal shelter for the loving pets awaiting a permanent home. This event, for those 21 and over will be held at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center (Cedar Lane in Portsmouth) starting at 7pm.

So while you’re gambling your money on Saturday, why not have the kids at the Luau Beach Party at Our Run-A-Round, Your Play & Party Center? This event is open from 6-9pm for children and adults – drinks, food, and games are provided with admission cost. Besides that, all you need to do is call ahead to reserve your spots.

Also going on this weekend is the 19th Annual Bayou Boogaloo and Canjun Food Festival at Town Point Park. Great food, great music, great art. Feast on crawfish, jambalaya, gumbo, alligator, sausages, and other specialties until you explode! ((Not literally, please. No lawsuits are necessary))

And of course, June is the perfect time for blueberries. Along with the star watch on Saturday (mentioned above), be sure to head over to False Cape State Park on Sunday bright and early for some delicious Blueberry Picking! After the picking, join in on the preparation and sampling of desserts and other concoctions made with those delicious blue staining fruit. You need to pre-register for this event as well.

As for Kuharai, it’s her daughter’s 2nd birthday this weekend, so she’s got some special things planned. However, advance warning is that the joint party cook-out is next weekend. ((Anybody who wants to attend, please DM me for the information))

[Rita Mordio]

Originally Posted by dfskinner

Kuharai, I wasn't sure, just saw those events and decided to share........

Everyone is more than welcome to share any events they feel tourists and/or locals might enjoy! I just make the long posts with lots of events because... well, I'm bored?

[Erma]

There is a flapjack fundraiser for the little league (Green Run) at Applebee's on Lynhaven Pkwy. Saturday from 8-9 am. It's 5 dollars a plate and will send the young lads to Cooperstown.

[Rita Mordio]

So, while looking for events for this coming weekend, I found out information that had me half choke on some Inari... Friday is National HIV Test Day - so many locations are doing anonymous and free HIV testing. Find locations near you.

For those who want a reason to get Friday off of work, there's a Golf Tournament for Orphans being held at the Hampton Golf Course off Butler Road in Hampton. The money will sponsor summer camps for orphans in Russia and Eastern Europe.

On Saturday, head over to Oak Grove Lake Park in Chesapeake for Boardapalooza. This event is completely free for all, but if you want to compete in the Wake Competition, you must register early.

For the ladies, get pampered at the Skirt! Show for Women at the Sandler Center in Virginia Beach's Town Center. Between 11am and 6pm, there will be something for everyone. Education, entertainment, pampering, health, beauty, travel, finance, and of course... shopping!

For those who are at risk for many diseases, such as diabetes, The National Kidney Foundation of the Virginias will be holding an event called KEEP. Kidney Early Evaluation Program (broken link) - this Saturday between 10am and 2pm. This event, held at the Park Place Medical Center on Granby in Norfolk, will allow people to get tested for any problems. If you call, you can get pre-registered.

Suzy Booze was just an infant, when tragedy struck this 11 month old child. The culprit is a disease called Viral Encephalitis - an inflammation and swelling of the brain. This put the infant in the local CHKD hospital for two months and has left her very brain damaged. There will be two locations for a Fundraising event for the family:

9 a.m. for Poker Run at Clutch Bar & Grill - 1485 General Booth Blvd.
12p.m for party and fundraiser at Knuckleheads - 401 N. Witchduck Rd.

Here's the website for more information

Back to less depressing... Jeff Dunham will be performing on Sunday at the Norfolk Scope. Jeff Dunham is a very funny comedian who uses ventriloquism to get the audience laughing over everything.

For those willing to travel on Sunday, there's the Thunderhorse Farm Horse Show and Horse Stuff Yard Sale and Horse Family Fun Day. It's not exactly within the Hampton Roads range.... it's all the way out in Zuni, Virginia. However, horse advocates can be sure to have a great time. It's free, it's going to be fun, all the way out at the Thunderhorse Farms in Zuni!

For those looking for something a little closer to home, check out the Kid's Fishing Tournament at York River State Park between 1 and 3pm.

As for Kuharai, she will be baking on Saturday... in Preparation for her and her husband's Birthday Cookout on Sunday.

[Rita Mordio]

It's the 4th of July Weekend ahead. There are numerous places to go on Friday to see the fireworks:

- Virginia Beach OceanFront
- Mt. Trashmore (Virginia Beach)
- Busch Gardens (Williamsburg)
- Town Point Park (Norfolk)
- Colonial Williamsburg
- Ocean View Beach Park (Norfolk)
- Fort Monroe (Hampton)
- Random Neighborhoods all over every city (Hahaha)

The rest of the weekend is pretty quiet after all those explosions.

However, we've got the 20 Ton Peace Frog Festival out in Nags Head. North Carolina is pretty close, so I thought this would be fun....

Also this weekend is the Battle at the Bay BMX Regional in Hampton.

On Sunday is CRUEFEST - Motley Crue and more will be at the Virginia Beach Amphitheater this Sunday.

Honestly, there's not that much going on this weekend...

[Erma]

The random fireworks in neighborhoods is the scary part. I sure hope it rains...too dry lately for those bottle rockets!

[Rita Mordio]

Originally Posted by Erma

The random fireworks in neighborhoods is the scary part. I sure hope it rains...too dry lately for those bottle rockets!

I know.. last thing we need is another major fire because some people decided that they're above the law. In case people didn't know, it's illegal to have fireworks in Virginia.. at least without special permits.

[janeannwho]

Originally Posted by Kuharai

It's the 4th of July Weekend ahead. There are numerous places to go on Friday to see the fireworks:

- Virginia Beach OceanFront
- Mt. Trashmore (Virginia Beach)
- Busch Gardens (Williamsburg)
- Town Point Park (Norfolk)
- Colonial Williamsburg
- Ocean View Beach Park (Norfolk)
- Fort Monroe (Hampton)
- Random Neighborhoods all over every city (Hahaha)

The rest of the weekend is pretty quiet after all those explosions.

However, we've got the 20 Ton Peace Frog Festival out in Nags Head. North Carolina is pretty close, so I thought this would be fun....

Also this weekend is the Battle at the Bay BMX Regional in Hampton.

On Sunday is CRUEFEST - Motley Crue and more will be at the Virginia Beach Amphitheater this Sunday.

Honestly, there's not that much going on this weekend...

I am a big one for town celebrations on the Fourth of July, so when we got to the Beachfront with our foreign guests, we expected to see lots of music, community events, etc on the boardwalk and Atlantic avenue and realize quickly that the fireworks and and orchestra concert were the big thing. So we figured, once the fireworks were over, there would be concerts and dances on the beach and at all the bandshells on the boardwalk and all that happened was a major traffic jam. Luckily we only had adults in our group, so we were able to sit out the traffic in a bar, but I grew up going to shore and the boardwalks were alive until 2 am with music, games, food and dancing. Should we go somewhere else in Hampton Roads next year to get that hometown celebration feel? There we were, with eight German visitors, flush with cash and nowhere to spend it.

[Rita Mordio]

Originally Posted by janeannwho

I am a big one for town celebrations on the Fourth of July, so when we got to the Beachfront with our foreign guests, we expected to see lots of music, community events, etc on the boardwalk and Atlantic avenue and realize quickly that the fireworks and and orchestra concert were the big thing. So we figured, once the fireworks were over, there would be concerts and dances on the beach and at all the bandshells on the boardwalk and all that happened was a major traffic jam. Luckily we only had adults in our group, so we were able to sit out the traffic in a bar, but I grew up going to shore and the boardwalks were alive until 2 am with music, games, food and dancing. Should we go somewhere else in Hampton Roads next year to get that hometown celebration feel? There we were, with eight German visitors, flush with cash and nowhere to spend it.

Town Point Park or Mount Trashmore was the place to be for an entire celebration/festival dedicated to the Fourth of July. Problem is, most places do have really bad traffic jams for these events because people come en masse.

I'm lucky that my husband's parents live right next to Mount Trashmore. We parked our car at their place and walked over to enjoy the fireworks... then walked back to their place to wait out the traffic.

[wjjbward]

We braved the oceanfront traffic ourselves this year. We parked at the convention center and walked to the beach. One of these days we'll head to Mt Trashmore. What do they do about parking up there, though? There aren't many parking spaces there. Do they have off site parking somewhere and bus people in? Do people park at the YMCA?

We don't live near that part of VB and don't want to chance going up there and not getting a place to park.

A few years ago we were in Sandbridge for the 4th of July b/c my sister and her family were there for the week and had an extra parking pass for their condo. There were fireworks going on all around us right on the beach. It was pretty cool.