THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 31, 1995 TAG: 9508290142
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Scott McCaskey
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
You can compare summer to a weekend.
June is like Friday. July is like Saturday, and August is like Sunday.
And as with a waning weekend - when the promise of Friday evening fades into the finality of Sunday night - the end of August means saying goodbye to ``that summer feeling.''
Although it might be 90 degrees outside, the morning after Labor Day sees the beaches near-deserted, the sweaters out of the closet and that ``Back To Business'' ad being aired by the Wall Street Journal. The Virginia Beach bars are again returned to the locals, football replaces talk about the surf, and the kids are in the classroom instead of staging water battles around the block.
Even before the end of the season, Mother Nature brings hints of the specter of shorter days. The sunsets are different. Pink and young in June, they age to a golden cast by August. If there's an early cold front, as with this season, the feeling subsides even sooner.
The Beach Boys' music doesn't ring as true, and thoughts of a summer fling are history. Gone are those evening swims in the pool, the balmy yard parties at Virginia Beach's North End and sunsets approaching 9 o'clock. Gone is the sound of locusts signaling another hot day. That carefree vacation mentality, that summer glow, cools.
While an Indian summer is somewhat of a reprieve, the writing on the wall is in crisper skies, and the attitude just isn't the same.
But as I lament summer's passing, others enthusiastically embrace the fall. Of course, there is nothing to be done about the change of seasons, outside of moving to the tropics.
``We're finally out of the oven,'' my friend Louis says. ``It's getting to be sleeping weather.''
I suppose there are some bright aspects to fall. The surf is good and though the beach is on its way to becoming a ghost town - except for the Neptune Festival's Boardwalk Weekend - there is renewal and fresh life in the city. The corridors of downtown Norfolk and Ghent breathe a rejuvenated ambiance. People are putting on new clothes, and the restaurant and shop doors seem to be open wider and more often.
One highlight for this season is the birth of Granby Row. The old architecture of the 100 block strip has been restored with art galleries, unique retailers and a restaurant. The site once was ground zero for Norfolk's rowdy sailors during and after World War II. Beginning with a kickoff block party the evening of Sept. 14, the street promises to be a burgeoning cosmopolitan scene.
And there is new life on an established downtown vein. Bugatti's, a posh, private nightclub, is set to open on College Place any day now. Across the street, La Galleria is beginning to get going again.
Along the riverfront, northeast breezes are welcome refreshers at Town Point's remaining events, which conclude with the Virginia Wine Festival on Oct. 21. The Tides may offer some excitement in Harbor Park. They're already in the playoffs.
In Ghent, the fall Stockley Gardens Art Festival returns Oct. 14-15. This hip and for-a-good-cause gathering - located exactly where it should be - has a bolstered musical lineup from last spring; including the United Souls reggae band, the H.M. Johnson jazz/blues group and a Saturday afternoon/evening performance by the Blind Venetians.
Even though there still may be some warm days, by late October there's no looking back to summer. Fall actually goes on a roll into early winter: Halloween, the Oyster Bowl, Thanksgiving, Christmas and the city's inaugural First Night New Year's Eve celebration.
Compared to the real abyss, February's 35 degrees and raining, I guess fall isn't that bad. But next year, I'll bask in ``that summer feeling'' in June. by CNB