THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 19, 1995 TAG: 9507180103
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
LENGTH: Long : 245 lines
ROD DAIGLE SOARED DOWN the Boardwalk on a pair of bright purple Rollerblades, part of the cruising parade of in-line skaters and bicyclists along the resort strip.
He skated south near 24th Street, heading for the end of the 4 1/2-mile Boardwalk.
Daigle, a middle-aged visitor from Clifton Park, N.Y., looked only slightly unsure of himself as he lowered the heels of the in-line skates and brought himself to a stop.
He leaned on the rail, wiped sweat from his brow and removed his helmet in the 90 plus-degree heat.
``This is my first time on a pair of these,'' he said, lifting his encased left foot and smiling.
``I ice-skate at home all the time in the winter and stopping these is a little different.'' The brakes are attached to the heel of the Rollerblades, so skaters stop by raising the front of the skates.
``Other than getting used to that, I'm having a great time,'' said Daigle. ``It's good exercise and a good way to see the beach.''
One oceanfront stand even hands out brochures saying in-line skating burns about 650 calories an hour.
Daigle rented his skates at one of the many bicycle and/or blade rental stands that dot the resort strip. Most charge an hourly or a daily rate and provide safety equipment. City law requires bikers under the age of 15 to wear helmets; some stands require in-line skaters of all ages to wear knee pads, wrist guards and helmets.
Ashley Zurcher, 11, didn't have to leave her hotel to find a bike.
She sped along the oceanfront's asphalt bike path on a small pink beach cruiser behind her father, Karl.
``The hotel we're staying at makes them available,'' said Karl Zurcher, whose family was visiting from the Pittsburgh, Pa., area.
Two 14-year-old friends from Roxbury, N.J., Erika Fiscella and Elissa Kraskouskas, were test-driving their Rollerblades.
``We skate sometimes at home,'' said Fiscella. ``It cost us $5 an hour to rent these.''
As they headed north from 24th Street, Kraskouskas said, ``We might rent them again this afternoon.''
``Or, all day tomorrow,'' said Fiscella.
- Gary Edwards Discovery-ing where the well-heeled live
IF YOU LIKE THE TABLOID show ``Hard Copy,'' you'll love going on a Discovery cruise.
And if you've ever dreamed of owning a waterfront estate, this cruise is an excellent way of seeing some outstanding real estate up close. It could be called ``Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous in Virginia Beach.''
As you sail on the calm inland waterways on an 80-foot luxury yacht, the captain comments on the ritzy neighborhoods that line the banks. Birdneck Point and Linkhorn Park were developed in the 1930s and '40s, said Terry Browning, the operator of Discovery.
``Most lots sold for about $18,000 back then,'' he said from the pilot house. ``Today, those same lots would sell for $500,000 and over.''
The yacht continues up Linkhorn Bay, and Browning points out a magnificent home on the starboard side.
``This is the most expensive home at the Beach,'' said Browning, as the few passengers in the enclosed, air-conditioned first-floor deck turn their necks for a better look. ``The owner is in the clothing manufacturing business and reportedly spent over $6 million in construction.''
Browning is piloting the daily lunch and sightseeing cruise, which pushes off at noon and lasts about two hours. Only 17 passengers have signed up for this cruise, mixed evenly between tourists and locals.
Six local retired C&P Telephone employees are enjoying their first Discovery cruise, oohing and aahing at the estates between bites of stuffed chicken breast. Irene Sutton said that they go out to lunch every month and decided to try something different.
``We thought this would be a change,'' said Sutton. ``None of us had taken one before - this has been real nice.''
Browning, still providing a running commentary on the sights he passes, maneuvers the yacht through The Narrows and Broad Bay and up to the Lynnhaven Inlet, where he turns the yacht around. The yacht runs daily lunch and dinner cruises from April 1 to Oct. 1 but is available year-round for private charters, he says. It's Virginia Beach's only dining and sightseeing yacht.
``When I had the boat built I thought that tourists would be our main business,'' says Browning. ``But now it has turned around. A lot of people bring out-of-town guests on the cruise. It's a little more relaxing. We use our scenery as entertainment.''
- Pam Starr Duck outing includes jokes and some quacking
WHY IS ONE SIDE of the V formation that ducks fly in always longer than the other?
Because there are more ducks on one side than the other!
That's one of many duck jokes told by Capt. Jim Clyde, master of one of the sightseeing Duck vehicles at the Oceanfront. Occasionally Capt. Jim also makes like a duck himself, using a duck caller to quack at startled folks along the resort strip.
Capt. Jim also regales his passengers with lots of shaggy ``duck'' stories on the one-hour plus tour of Virginia Beach. Talking all the way, he drives the open air amphibious vehicle up Atlantic Avenue, down 64th Street into First Landing/Seashore State Park and right down the boat ramp and into the water at the Narrows and then back again.
Speaking through a microphone, Capt. Jim can generally be heard even above the Duck's loud motor as he also tells his 30 or so passengers bits of local lore. As part of the tour, he recounts a little history (and a lot of jokes) and points out various landmarks, like the Cavalier Hotel.
At the park entrance, he asks passengers to quack, quack, quack. The quackers are then met by a park ranger who speaks briefly, but in all seriousness, about the ecology of the park with its Spanish moss and cypress ponds.
Once in the water at the Narrows, Capt. Jim shows off the Duck's maneuvers, primarily its ability to turn in a tight circle. He also revs the Duck up to move forward at its top speed - a whopping 6 mph.
Once the Duck is in the water, folks of all ages are invited to come forward and drive the vehicle under Capt. Jim's tutelage, but there isn't much a novice could do wrong. Like Old Man River, the Duck just keeps rolling along. Back at the kiosk, all the Duck captains get certificates attesting to their driving ability.
The Duck gets its name from DUKW, the model designation for these World War II landing craft built by General Motors. More than 21,000 Ducks were used as troop and supply transports in the war years. Over 2,000 of them helped Allied troops storm the beaches of Normandy.
Today four of them have been converted by Recreational Concepts for use in Ride the Ducks, the resort strip's newest sightseeing tour.
- Mary Reid Barrow No mechanical dolphins on museum's jaunt
IF YOU PLAN TO TAKE a dolphin watching trip, there's one thing you need to understand.
These are not Disney productions with computer-guided plastic boats sailing through manmade ponds on their way to some predetermined point where Flipper and his buddies will surface 30 yards off the port bow to perform water ballets for the crowd.
These are real boats, staffed by real crews, sailing on a real ocean in search of real critters who will make up their own minds where, when or even if they'll make an appearance.
Fortunately, the dolphins rarely take a day off. Not even when the going gets a little rough as it did on a recent morning when stiff offshore breezes whipped up the seas.
``I'd have liked this a little better if it wasn't so rough,'' Becky Hall of Chesapeake said as she watched a pod of bottlenoses bobbing in the swells near the boat.
``Yeah, but it's still a good chance to go out and see those things,'' Tony Gelormine, her less queasy classmate at Western Branch High School, replied.
If the worst happens and Flipper and friends turn out to be no-shows, the Virginia Marine Science Museum trips are still a great way to spend a couple of hours. The view of the beach and the oceanfront skyline from offshore are well worth the time and money.
Every bit as much fun, especially for the kids, is the museum's weekly Ocean Collections trip.
On these popular excursions the boat trawls the ocean bottom to see what natural treasures its large net will bring up.
The net's arrival on deck can produce anything from sea stars and sand dollars to an assortment of irate fish and crabs, all of which a museum staffer will explain to those aboard and all of which will be returned safely to the water before the boat docks.
Unless, of course, any of the catch is of museum quality. That was the case with one hapless crab on a recent trip. ``I'm going to take him back for our blue crab exhibit,'' museum education program specialist Chris Mast said of a jimmy (male crab) big enough to qualify as a one-crustacean blue plate special.
Netted specimens are put on display in special containers for the duration of the trip. Some are even available for handling.
``The girls won't leave the touch tank,'' Elise Zandboer of Winnipeg, Canada, said as she kept a close eye on her daughters Tasia, 7, and Athena, 5, who were inspecting sand dollars and sea cucumbers.
The Zandboers were making their trip on Owl Creek where the boat goes when the ocean is too rough. ``We bring up the same specimens in here that we would in the ocean and it's a lot more comfortable on a day like today,'' museum educator Chris Mast explained.
- Jo-Ann Clegg MEMO: THE MILD SIDE
THE DISCOVERY
The boat docks at 600 Laskin Road, where free parking is available.
Dinner cruises cost $28 per person, or $15 for just sightseeing. Lunch
cruises are $16.75 or $10.50 for only sightseeing. Reservations are
required. Call 422-2900 for cruise times and reservations.
BOARDWALK TRANSPORTATION
Bicycles
Rentals are generally by the hour and by the day. Many stands offer
beach cuisers, mountain bicycles and tandem bicycles as well as
kid-sized bicycles. Cost is generally about $5 for one hour on a beach
cruiser. Rental stands are up and down the Boardwalk, as well as
Atlantic Avenue and in some hotels. Most rental stands provide helmets
for renters 14 and under. On the Boardwalk, bikes are restricted to the
bike trail. Hours vary.
In-line skating
Rentals are usually by the hour and skaters can expect to pay at
least $5 an hour. The price often includes the price of wrist guards,
knee pads, elbow pads and helmets. Some stands offer lessons. Skaters
use the Boardwalk. Hours vary.
RIDE THE DUCKS
10 a.m. to 7 p.m., every hour on the hour, rain or shine (unless
there's lightning); starting at the Kiosk at 19th Street and Pacific
Avenue; $9.95, adults, $7.95, seniors, $6.95, children 4 to 11, and
under 4, free with a paying adult. The only way to make a reservation
for a certain hour is to purchase a ticket earlier in the day. Call
437-8600. Parking: meters on the street and the city lot at the Dome.
You can bring along drinks or a snack, but seating is tight so don't
carry on anything large because it will only be in the way.
VA. MARINE SCIENCE MUSEUM
Free parking is available for all three of these tours. Reservations
required.
Dolphin Watch
Trips leave from the Virginia Beach Fishing Center at 5th and Pacific
at 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday and at 4:30 p.m.
Saturdays and Sundays through Sept. 3. Cost is $12 for adults, $10 for
children. Call 437-4949 for reservations.
Ocean Collections
Trips leave from the Fishing Center at 12:45 each Wednesday through
Aug. 30. Cost is $10 for adults, $8 for children. Call 437-4949 for
reservations.
Sunset dolphin watch
Cruises at the mouth of the Chesapeake are available each evening at
7 from the Lynnhaven Seafood Market and Marina at 3311 Shore Drive. Cost
is $10 for adults, $7 for children. Call 481-4545 for reservations.
ILLUSTRATION: [Cover Story]
A WALK ON THE MILD SIDE
Staff photos by CHARLIE MEADS
ABOVE: Ashley Zurcher, 11, of Pittsburgh, didn't have to leave her
hotel to find a small pink beach cruiser to tour the bike path.
LEFT: Erika Fiscella, left, and Elissa Kraskouskas, both
14-year-olds from Roxbury, N.J., enjoy their $5 rental rollerblades
along the Boardwalk.
Staff photos by CHARLIE MEADS
The Discovery, an 80-foot yacht, cruises the inland waterways,
checking out such ritzy neighborhoods as Birdneck Point and Linkhorn
Park.
The Duck, a converted World War II amphibious vehicle, comes ashore
at First Landing/Seashore State Park on its way back to Atlantic
Avenue on a sightseeing tour.
Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
Elise Zandboer and her two daughters, Tasia, left, and Athena, all
of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, inspect plankton in a bag of seawater
on their Ocean Collections trip on Owl Creek.
by CNB