Tides Inn to Offer Complimentary Spa Services to Cancer Patients
On Nov. 6, the Journey Spa at Irvington’s Tides Inn will offer complimentary spa services to cancer patients in honor of the third annual Sparks of Light event. The Tides Inn is one of many spas participating in the nationwide Sparks of Light movement, a one-day event that encourages spas across the country to offer free [...]
Giving Back Awards Reception 2017
On Nov. 2, Coastal Virginia Magazine honored nonprofit organizations featured in the 6th Annual Giving Back Awards and businesses featured in CoVa Biz’s Community Impact Awards at a special reception at Virginia MOCA in Virginia Beach. Guests posed for photos in front of a green screen provided by Premier Events, enjoyed a selection of Southern-style culinary [...]
Coastal Virginia Spirits Soiree
On Nov. 4, Coastal Virginia Magazine and the Virginia Distillers Association hosted the first ever Coastal Virginia Spirits Soiree at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. Distilleries from all over the state, vendors and guests gathered to celebrate the resurgence of spirits in the Commonwealth with bourbon, whiskey, rum, brandy, vodka and gin tastings and cocktails [...]
Save And Savor These Dates For Oyster Roasts
Oysters, how do we love thee? Let us count the ways. We love thee served raw or roasted, dressed with mignonette or cocktail sauce—or simply a splash of lemon. We love thee consumed with tiny forks but mostly slurped right from the shell. And we love thee paired with wine or beer, in the company [...]
Restaurants To Visit On Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving has long been known as a holiday meant to be spent at home, gobbling turkey and stuffing yourself with—well, stuffing—at the dinner table while giving thanks for being with the loving company of family and friends. There are some downsides to celebrating at home though, such as the added stress from shopping for different [...]
Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown Holiday Events
There is something very special about the holidays in Historic Yorktown, Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown. As Kevin Ritchie, event planner at York County Parks, Recreation and Tourism puts it, “Yorktown has a small town, down home feel to it, so it’s a great place to hold events, and we love putting them on. With the [...]
Arts + Eats Walking Tour in ViBe Creative District
While simultaneous eating and talking almost always gets a bad rap, a new Virginia Beach tour proves eating and walking can be a most favorable—and flavorful—activity. The ViBe Creative District nonprofit, in partnership with Taste Virginia Food, Wine, Brewery & Spirits Tours, began offering a monthly Arts + Eats Walking Tour this fall. The approximately [...]
The Creative Wedge: An Artisan Market in Virginia Beach
Barbara Densley and Sloane Solanto refer to themselves as “makers.” These artists met on the show circuit and eventually found themselves in business together. Since 2013, their Hilltop shop, The Creative Wedge: An Artisan Market, has celebrated the handmade from here, there and everywhere, including more than 100 Virginia vendors, many of whom the co-owners [...]
Doctors Look for New Ways to Treat an Aging Population
The average life expectancy for people in the United States (men and women combined) is just less than 79 years. Right now, there are almost 75 million people in the U.S. between the ages of 51 and 69. As that population continues to age, medical professionals are looking for ways to stay on top of [...]
Restaurants Get Innovative With Their Cocktail Programs
Maybe you like Scotch. Neat. Or perhaps a cosmo is your go-to. There’s nothing wrong with knowing yourself, but don’t let your drink define you. Stepping outside your Southern Comfort zone can be revelatory. These CoVa “movers and cocktail shakers” are pros at a staggering array of libations from canonical to contemporary but especially delight [...]
Restaurant Craft Cocktail Recipes
Local restaurants are shaking things up with some innovative and outright ingenious cocktails, inspiring imbibers to craft their own with these favorite recipes. Photo by Jim Pile Vida Bandida Serve in a Collins glass While every last detail is tended to at Coastal Virginia's finest bars, including scratch tinctures, you don’t have to be that obsessive [...]
Tips For Choosing The Best Private School For Your Child
Private schools often provide a number of advantages over public schools. They generally have smaller class sizes so students get a more one-on-one education. They tend to have more highly qualified educators and administrators to provide your student with a customized approach to learning. They frequently offer a number of course options and extra-curricular activities [...]
6th Annual Giving Back Awards: Top 25 Hampton Roads Nonprofits
It’s easy to list all the negative concerns we wish we could eliminate from the world: domestic violence, racism, cancer, poverty, terminal illnesses, homelessness, sexual abuse, human trafficking, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes, infant loss, inadequate care for the elderly, unequal educational opportunities, insufficient care for veterans, neglected animals. The list [...]
Giving Back Awards: H.E.R. Shelter
“One third of Virginia deaths are due to domestic violence,” says Beth Cross, executive director for H.E.R. Shelter. “That’s 33 percent.” Looking at those statistics, Cross explains how the shelter is more than “a nice program to help people. It’s actually homicide reduction.” We’re sitting in a private room inside the organization’s Portsmouth shelter, where [...]
Giving Back Awards: SMILE
Annabelle's bedroom looks exactly like that of any 4-year-old "girlie girl," as her mother describers her. Cozy stuffed animals overflow from a toy hammock in one corner, and bows in every color of the rainbow adorn the walls along with a sign that reads, "Giggles and curls, ribbons and bows, she's adorable from her head [...]
Giving Back Awards: Peninsula READS
Those who come to Peninsula READS come from all walks of life, each with aspirations for making a better life for themselves by achieving their goals and seeing their dreams come true. For many of us in Coastal Virginia—and the United States—we are not aware of the severity of the issue of not being able [...]
Searching for God in the 7 Cities: Christianity, Part 2
Wave Church And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:13 When you hear the word “church,” what comes to mind? For me it sparks memories of specific sights and sounds: towering steeples and ringing bells, stained-glass windows and well-worn pews, priests in elaborate [...]
Rick Wasmund Reinvents Spirits at Copper Fox Distillery
The man who is reinventing whiskey talks about his eureka moment. "No one else was doing it," says Rick Wasmund, standing with a rake in the middle of a huge row of barley in the new Williamsburg location of his distillery, Copper Fox. "It's still a little hard to believe." In another life, he was [...]
5 Unique Ways To Decorate With Holiday Wreaths
It’s a tradition for many to deck the halls with twinkling white lights, shimmering garland and fresh, plump wreaths ornamented with a big red bow. The customary balsam fir wreaths that adorn the front doors and exterior windows of Coastal Virginia homes are actually quite versatile and can also add a touch of cheer to [...]
Top Pediatric Dentist Dr. Jessica Clark
Dr. Jessica Clark knew she wanted to be in pediatrics long before she chose to be a dentist. She started babysitting when she was only 12 years old and has always loved working with children. It wasn’t until she was in college that her career path made itself known to her. “A friend mentioned they [...]
A Trip Down Memory Lane Leads To North Carolina’s Mount Airy
Outside the Andy Griffith Museum, an iconic bronze statue of Andy and Opie, titled "Goin' Fishin,'" was dedicated by TV Land in 2004. Growing up, I watched “The Andy Griffith Show” more than any elementary school-aged kid I knew. It was part of a weekly afternoon tradition, where my mom would come home from work [...]
Sam The Lasagna Lady
For Samantha A. Peavy, life, like lasagna, has many layers to it, each with lessons in resilience, endurance, loving again and victory. As the author of Life Through Lasagna Eyes: The Recipes for Life and award-winning owner and chef of Sam’s Gourmet Lasagna, Peavy shares her love and lessons with family, friends and the community [...]
Sam The Lasagna Lady’s Spicy Chicken Lasagna With Pineapple Mango Salsa
Photo by David Uhrin This tasty Spicy Chicken Lasagna with Pineapple Mango Salsa recipe comes from author, chef and owner of Sam's Gourmet Lasagna, Samantha A. Peavy, also known as Sam The Lasagna Lady. Ingredients 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast Pineapple Mango Salsa (preparation below) 1 tbs. of habanero ground pepper 1 ear of [...]
Feeding The Wild At Virginia Living Museum
Interested in trying something wild? Amber Warren has just the thing for you. As Animal Room volunteer manager for the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News, she can find all kinds of ways to get you up close and personal with some of the facility’s furry, finned or feathered residents. I had an opportunity to [...]
Tips For A Child’s First Trip To The Dentist
Childhood is full of firsts—first words, first steps and first birthdays. With every first a child experiences, their rush of excitement can also be accompanied by fear of the unknown. This is often the case with a child’s first trip to the dentist. To alleviate dental jitters, we asked pediatric dentist Dr. Mark A. Huie, [...]
Norfolk Novelist Lydia Netzer Explores Love and Outer Space In Her Books
Norfolk author Lydia Netzer’s books don’t fit neatly into a single box. But then neither do love or science, both of which are themes she explores through her writing. Set in Norfolk and outer space, Netzer’s debut novel, Shine, Shine, Shine, tells the story of Sunny and Maxon, along with their son, Bubber. Maxon is [...]
Right Side: Political Debates In Media
I initially thought I would begin this article with a Chinese parable about the futility of shouting at the skies and cursing the weather. But, then I remembered the Oscar Wilde quote, "Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative." I already did that for 20 years on television, but the analogy [...]
Left Side: Political Debates In Media
One evening about 20 years ago, I sat down to dinner with Charlton Heston to celebrate the publication of a book we’d been working on together. Our conversation covered a wide range of topics, from his early childhood to his love of Shakespeare. But one comment stands out in my mind above all. After recalling [...]
How To Reuse Or Recycle Your Christmas Tree In Hampton Roads
A naturally grown Christmas tree can serve as a festive backdrop throughout the holidays, but once the needles start dropping it’s time to consider either reusing or recycling your tree. Christmas trees can be repurposed as a backyard habitat for wintering birds and other creatures, or you can use a few small branches for an [...]
False Cape State Park’s Winter Wonderland
False Cape State Park, a 4,800-acre wilderness park located on a 1-mile wide barrier strip between the Atlantic Ocean and Back Bay at Virginia Beach’s southern tip, is most often associated with summertime activities such as ocean swimming or fishing. The park also offers a variety of activities during the late fall and winter, although [...]
8 Healthy Lifestyle Choices That May Reduce Your Risk To Alzheimer’s
Leon’s dad has Alzheimer’s disease. It’s been six years now. As he puts it, he and his family are “trying to manage it the best we can. My mom is providing some care with the help of the Alzheimer’s Association. We’ve had some people come in during the day so Mom can have respite. It’s [...]
Norfolk’s Margaret Sullavan Reached Stardom In Hollywood’s Golden Age
Daisy Heath is a lazy, selfish nightclub diva who has fame, money and beauty—everything but a soul. To her, World War I is a huge inconvenience; the brass bands that accompany the boys marching off to battle only disturb her beauty rest. "It's 11 a.m.," she whines after a night of drinking and partying, ordering [...]
