Tidewater Landfalls is a 1969 hardcover collection of newspaper columns authored by George H Tucker. Basically Tucker wrote about the cultural habits and quirks of southeastern Virginia (then mostly known as Tidewater, now more Hampton Roads). Below is a column, where Tucker made a compelling case for Hampton Roads to show love for the under-respected seagull:

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Couple pics of the old bank building, at the corner of Princess Anne Plaza's parking lot. Looks like it's marked for remodeling.. or extinction. It was kind of a monument to the elegant banking of the past. With most people doing online, or ATM banking, direct deposit, etc. now.. I don't think you'll see these large bank branches built anymore, as signals of brand strength.

An old Princess Anne Plaza ad from the early 80s, listing a pair of banks. that could've inhabited this building around 1983. I think at one point in the 90s, it was also a Nationsbank.

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The end of Columbus Square 1.0

This complex at the corner of Constitution & Virginia Beach Blvd used to be a Hechinger hardware, that was converted into a large Barnes & Noble. Then it was Planet Music, then it was carved up in to various retail businesses. I don't really remember when the Bed, Bath, and Beyond was added (I was probably out of the area).. but looks like it's getting leveled. And in the process of remodeling the area, they dumped their old Columbus Square sign, that had probably been there 30+ years.

Rest in peace, gothic(ish) lettering..

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The old Hostess/Wonder Bread store on Bonney Road was vacated many years ago (I think). It then looked like it was being used as overflow parking for the nearby car dealership. But I guess it's finally being re-developed.

There aren't many good reasons to go to Bonney Road these days, but that Hostess outlet used to be the spot for your bulk Twinkie needs.

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extinction of Lynnhaven East..

Looks like the old Lynnhaven East strip mall is being remodeled (or torn down). It lost its Toys R Us anchor a while ago. Toys R Us went up in the late '8os, along with a couple other tenants.

This is the strip's listing in the 1992 phone directory. They weren't kidding when they described the non-consecutive suite addresses as 'Irregular'. Toys R Us and Schlotzsky's had different physical but identical (mailing) addresses?

The shell of Toys R Us. A lot of memories from this place. And it was a bold move opening there, because if I remember right.. Children's Palace was still operating just across the street when they opened, and Toy Castle was still in business just another couple blocks away. Rest in peace.

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Remembering a local men's suit shop, Alexander Beegle. There was one near the Oceanfront, and a location inside Military Circle. This is a newspaper ad from December 1979. 

I found an old interview where I pulled this screen cap, of Beegle's Military Circle facade.

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Great Neck's Chesapeake Indians

During the early & mid 8os, the Great Neck area of Virginia Beach was excavated for artifacts from a long-gone Chesapeake Indian settlement. In this photo, you can see postholes that had been left behind for centuries. There were once part of their dwellings. This site was on Thomas Bishop Lane, photo is from the mid 8os.

Nearby postholes..

When you enter the neighborhood today, there's this historical marker giving some backstory on the local Chesapeake.

^ this is some legal and technical info I found from an old government publication on the Great Neck excavation.

Linked comic on the Chesapeake Indians: The Disappearance of the Chesapeake Indians.

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