
DATE: Sunday, August 31, 1997               TAG: 9708310071

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MIKE ABRAMS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:  105 lines

STYLES OF FUN MIX AT THE BEACH SURF, SUN, SAND AND MUSIC DRAW BIG CROWDS TO THE BEACH ALL SUMMER, BUT THE LABOR DAY WEEKEND IS LIKE NO OTHER.

The car cost ``a lot,'' Devine Lewis said as he crossed his arms and smiled a coy, confident smile.

White with gold trim and decked out with shiny chrome wheel covers, his '94 Lexus glistened. It stood out even among the scores of other stylish cars on the resort strip Friday night.

The Patterson, N.J., man, a production engineer by trade, traveled this weekend to the Beach in a caravan of six slick automobiles. Two Acura Legends led the pack.

Lewis, 28, prefers his Lexus with leather seats.

``It attracts attention with the ladies,'' he said. ``We own our cars. Some people lease them. We own them and fix them up.''

The cars are part of what makes Virginia Beach's Labor Day weekend unique.

Nearly a decade after fighting and racial unrest marred the holiday for the resort city, young African Americans continue to visit the Oceanfront. They join other tourists and locals who stroll along the Boardwalk and Atlantic Avenue.

But the expensive cars some of them bring, the roaming groups many of them form and the video camera games a select few of them play, make for a Hollywood scene.

``The cars are nice,'' said Holly Bird, an 18-year-old local. ``Chrome - it's just my style.''

She hit the strip Friday night to check out the visitors. She said she doesn't mind being approached by men she doesn't know. She said she also doesn't mind being videotaped or photographed.

``It's just to have fun,'' she said. ``They're just looking for girls. I don't care.''

John Johnson, a bus driver from New York, and Chase Warren, a Yellow Pages employee from the Bronx, have frequented the same Oceanfront hotel six out of the last seven years.

They reserved their room - on the first floor - months in advance. They asked for it so they could walk right out a screen door onto the Boardwalk.

That's where they spent Friday afternoon dancing, drinking and taking pictures of women they had never met. Johnson first caught glimpses of women through binoculars.

``They see me from a distance, and they start smiling,'' he said.

Once the women approached Johnson, he had Warren take pictures. He said he hopes to have upwards of 150 pictures by the end of the holiday.

``I can tell a lot of lies when I go home,'' he said. ``It's all in fun. There's no sex.''

To be sure, the resort strip isn't entirely this way.

People of all ages and backgrounds attended concerts Friday night. Couples walked along the Boardwalk in the cool night air. Dads hoisted sons onto their shoulders when the crowds got intense. Friends flew kites. Parents pushed strollers. Surfers caught waves.

Yet certain blocks along the 3 1/2-mile strip attracted distinctive crowds that differed in age and sometimes race.

An older group of all backgrounds appeared in huge numbers along the lower-number streets near the main stage. Yesteryear acts such as K.C. & The Sunshine Band and the Village People played there.

Couples and young families surrounded recreational areas, where ice cream and small amusement park rides beckoned.

And the young African-American crowd dominated Atlantic Avenue from 21st to 24th streets.

Why was it divided?

``There are more parties this way,'' 16-year-old Amy Kidd of Yorktown guessed as she pointed north. Then, she looked to the south and said, ``and no parties that way.''

Lewis, the Lexus owner, didn't have a guess.

``I couldn't really tell you,'' he said. ``I'm just down here to have a good time.''

Kirstie Slater, 21, agreed that some people might not understand the culture of the weekend - things like the cars and video cameras. This was her first visit to Virginia Beach. She traveled with friends from Springfield, Mass.

``We're just having fun,'' she said. ``We're just here to have a good time.''

Junior Lopez, 32, and Michael Alexis, 24, said there's not much to understand. The men ride in the cars and take pictures of the women they find attractive. Both sexes, they said, do what they can to draw attention.

Nikki Sames, 17, said she enjoys the attention. She said she doesn't mind that some men wanted to touch the dolphin tattoo on her belly.

``One day I want to be famous,'' she said. ``I want to be a model or a movie star.''

For a weekend, at least, she was in the right place. ILLUSTRATION: D. KEVIN ELLIOTT color photos/The Virginian-Pilot

The holiday weekend is simply a labor of fun for some visitors.

Jibri McBride, 26, left, and Mike Tysonn, 23, right, both of New

Haven, Conn., use their video cameras to capture the local scene,

including Chantelle White, 18, of Richmond, Friday night at the

Oceanfront.

While some tourists and locals spent Friday night at the music

festival and other Beach festivities, James Clark of Norfolk, right,

uses his time to preach.

Photo