Recently streamed the movie 'Boardwalk Winter'. It was filmed in Virginia Beach, and makes good use of the beach... though I don't think its' setting is ever explicitly identified as Va Beach. But film locations will be recognizable to locals and recurring tourists. 

A lot of the story is set at a hotel and boardwalk around 23rd and Atlantic. But there's also some recognizable shooting around Sandbridge and Rudee Inlet loop. Also some cool shots on Jungle Golf's course. Jungle Golf scene also included an accurate reference to a nearby, but unnamed pirate mini golf (Pirate's Paradise).. Kinda noticed some other nods to Hampton Roads culture, without explicitly naming the area. The lead male character uses a WRV board, and a local chilling on a boardwalk bench is wearing a Navy vet cap. 

Without spoiling too much plot, Boardwalk Winter lays out a relationship that feels doomed from its start. And the couple has to decide/feel a best course forward. Female lead (Fern) is living in an offseason, oceanfront hotel. She's sub-letting part of the small place to a likeable and funny character. And she has an interesting and caring neighbor (played by Victoria Jackson, I think the cast and crew were probably a mix of Los Angeles & locals?), and a friend who frequently visits (Tiffany). 'Tiffany' was a perfect casting for a VB friend, though I recognize this was set in basically anywhere beach USA, the locale wasn't the story. Don't know if the actress portraying Tiffany is a local, but I could see her as a natural in a 17th St hoodie. 

Interesting relationship test in Boardwalk Winter that depicts a timeless (but urgent in this story) dilemma of loving and losing, or just preemptively avoiding love. 

I streamed it on Prime, it's a good watch for couples and/or families. And commendable use of VB, which seems to have untapped filming potential. I can relate to some Boardwalk winters having spent some myself. And ironically, during one of my own winter oceanfront tours, there was some filming going on for the ol' true crime show New Detectives. I will say, Fern's place was a lot nicer than some of the long-gone, grimy motels that used to do off-season rentals back in the day.. and it's always cool seeing VB on the big and small screen.

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This is more Lost Norfolk, than Lost Virginia Beach, but..

The 4300 block of Hampton Blvd, before ODU built their current basketball arena (The Ted, turned Chartway Arena). This pic was taken (probably Fall) 1999. The good ol' days of Hampton Blvd's seedy clubs/bars and trash-strewn vacant lots. 

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Found an old piece of Oceans II letterhead, down on Atlantic. This specific piece of paper came from the late '90s. Who knows how long the logo predates that though. Thought it was a cool, nostalgic logo. I removed part of the phone number, but wanted to leave in Hampton Roads' old 804 area code.

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I've referenced this archaeology before.. the excavation of an American Indian settlement around Great Neck in the late 70s & early 80s.. as the area was being gradually developed, like the plot from Poltergeist II. It's a very thorough accounting of the artifacts, arrowheads, etc found around the area that is today near John B Dey elementary and Thomas Bishop Lane.

This diagram (of the yet developed lot numbers) is in the Great Neck report, though it predates the excavation by about a decade. It's an interesting artifact in itself though.. because it shows the area prior to the current bridge. The old bridge was the only route over Long Creek in the early 70s. And that route is now 'West Great Neck Road' (the road that is angling to the left of the map).

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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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