eating in Lynnhaven Borough.

 

Hurd's (seafood restaurant) inhabited the back of the Little Neck area for decades..

At the time, the area was not incorporated in to Virginia Beach, so it's location was characterized as Lynnhaven (Borough). Today, there is still a Hurds Road located in the area.

In the days when MasterCard was still mastercharge.

I like this hand-drawn art on their menu cover.. and check out the prices~

contact- nat.rain@gmail.com

This month (January 2023) marks the 60th birthday of Virginia Beach (the independent city). 

I bascially inherited a 1983 issue of The Beacon honoring Virginia Beach's 20th birthday.. attached are some old ads from the print celebration.

This is an old, defunct spot.. from Bonney Road 1.0.. I think it was located where the extended stay hotel is at now.. I appreciate the hand-drawn art & lettering in it. Ironically I illustrated a couple ads for The Shopping News when I was a young guy, and The Shopping News' office was located on Bonney Road.

contact: nat.rain@gmail.com

Remembering the opening of Virginia Beach's Great American Outlet Mall.

contact- nat.rain@gmail.com

 

young Cavalier

Cavalier under construction. 1926

Aerial shot of the Cavalier. 1927.

What I find interesting about this view, you can see that Atlantic, Pacific, and Holly were already established routes. And they remained basically unchanged for a hundred years. I think Atlantic was recently truncated in to a dead end (to create space for new buildings), but.. Even just a few years back,  Atlantic Avenue still followed this 1927 route. 

There's a nice (mostly photo) book on the history of the Cavalier: The Cavalier. Reclaiming a Virginia Beach Icon. That's the source for the construction photo above. And the book has a lot of modern photos of the Cavalier's remodel. 

contact: nat.rain@gmail.com

 

Wendy's Jungian shadow.

contact- nat.rain@gmail.com

                                                           

 

                                                             

 

Bygone High's Ice Cream, Atlantic Avenue.

High's was a regional ice cream chain that began nearing extinction in the late '90s. It was founded in the 1930s, & for a chain that thrived & survived for 70 years, there isn't much info left to honor it.

I worked for High's for about 6 months as a young guy. I didn't mind travelling around Hampton Roads, so I worked @ Tidewater Drive, the shop they had downstairs in the original Waterside, and the Great Neck location (near Y-Not Pizza). And as a younger kid I was an occasional customer at their Princess Anne Plaza & Kempsville locations. The building that used to house their Kempsville shop has completely vanished (5129 Princess Anne Rd, near Withduck). I was a bigger fan of High's before I became an employee, but that's a typical experience, after seeing behind the proverbial (food service) curtain.

In 2006 The Virginian Pilot ran a brief article on what sounded like the last High's (in Portsmouth).. not sure if it's still operating.

It's regrettable seeing a popular, local business go under.. Their banana ice cream was good as Hell too.

contact- nat.rain@gmail.com

HQ

HQ (Home Quarters Warehouse) was basically the first hardware mega-store I remember in Virginia Beach. Which I guess makes sense, they were initially headquartered in Hampton Roads. There was a Hechinger hardware store that preceded the Barnes & Noble at Columbus. But it's floor plan was sort of in between a mega-store and smaller, traditional mom & pop hardware stores.

This is a photo from years after HQ was abandoned.. maybe 2006. This was the store I remember most, at Pembroke (where Wegman's is currently located).

(jokes kinda wrote themselves with this tagline)

contact- nat.rain@gmail.com