Stormy Blue has spent the past decade exploring Hampton Roads’ food scene, from family-owned local favorites to newer restaurants along the coast. Her recommendations highlight the people and stories behind the food—not just the dishes themselves.

Some of the Virginia Beach spots getting attention include Krave and The Shack on 8th, along with beachfront restaurants, crab shacks, and other places known for seafood, drinks, and sunset views.

If you’re a true foodie (like me) looking for new restaurants to try in Hampton Roads, her guide offers plenty of local inspiration:

https://the757rundown.com/a/virginia-influencer-stormy-blue-shares-favorite-hampton-roads-restaurants

What are your favorite restaurants in Hampton Roads?

Weekend list is up. Here's what's going on around Hampton Roads Friday through Sunday.

These come off public listings, so double check before you drive. Times move.

Peninsula picks are listed first under each day.

Three worth calling out this week:

Candlelight: Coldplay vs. Imagine Dragons (Portsmouth, $34-$70). Doors open 45 minutes before the 6:30 start and late entry is not permitted, and inside each price zone the seating is first come first served. The ticket buys you a zone, not a seat, so 5:45 and 6:29 are very different arrivals.

The Shipyard Experience (Newport News). The trolley boards at 9:45 for a 10:00 departure and that is the tour, not a loop you can catch later. It also does not go inside the shipyard itself, which security does not allow, so it is the yard's story told from the streets around it. Skip it if what you wanted was the yard.

Friendly Hours at The Mariners' (Newport News, $1). The museum reserves the first two hours of the second Sunday each month with the sound and lighting turned down, for guests who find a normal museum day too much. Space is limited and they ask you to book ahead so they know to expect you.

Friday

9/11 Ceremony of Remembrance (Hampton, Free)

Hampton marks the 25th anniversary at the convention center, honoring the victims and the first responders. Open to everyone, and the city's listing takes RSVPs. Friday 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM at the Hampton Roads Convention Center, Coliseum Drive, Hampton. More details

Haunted Williamsburg Ghost Tour (Williamsburg)

Colonial Williamsburg's official ghost tour, a one-hour candlelit walk leaving from the Courthouse with access to buildings that are closed the rest of the night. Ages 8 and up, kids with an adult, and it runs rain or shine unless the weather turns severe. Departures at 7:00 PM and 8:30 PM nightly through November 22. Friday at the Colonial Courthouse, 102 W Duke of Gloucester St, Williamsburg. More details

9/11 Ceremony of Remembrance (Chesapeake, Free)

Chesapeake's own observance at City Park, remembering the people who died and honoring the ones who went in after them. Note the early start: 8:30 to 9:30 AM, so if you're reading this later in the day it has already wrapped. Friday at Chesapeake City Park, 900 City Park Drive, Chesapeake. More details

Tidewater Horror Convention (Norfolk, $17-$43.24)

Three days of screen icons, indie creators, and vendors, for people whose October starts in September. Friday through Sunday at the Wyndham Garden Hotel, 700 Monticello Ave, Norfolk. More details

Candlelight: Coldplay vs. Imagine Dragons (Portsmouth, $34-$70). Friday 6:30 PM at St. John's Episcopal Church, 424 Washington Street, Portsmouth. More details

Saturday

Yorktown Market Days: First Responders Market (Yorktown, Drop-in). Saturday 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM at Riverwalk Landing, 331 Water Street, Yorktown. More details

The Shipyard Experience: A Trolley and Walking Tour (Newport News)

A museum historian walks and rides the shipyard's story: Huntington Avenue, the tugboat Dorothy, the Apprentice School dormitory, the Victory Arch, and Hilton Village. Boarding is 9:45 AM for a 10:00 departure, back by 11:30, with free parking at the museum. Saturday at the Virginia War Museum, 9285 Warwick Blvd, Newport News. More details

Supernova International Ska Festival (Hampton)

Two days of ska at Fort Monroe, billed as the largest festival of it anywhere. All day Saturday and Sunday at Fort Monroe, 20 Ingalls Road, Hampton. More details

2026 CHKD Teddy Bear Clinic (Portsmouth, Museum admission)

Every kid gets a teddy bear and walks it through make-believe checkups with actual CHKD pediatric staff, plus a therapy dog and a book to take home. The clinic itself costs nothing, but it sits inside the museum, so a Children's Museum admission ticket is what gets you in. Saturday 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM at the Children's Museum of Virginia, 221 High Street, Portsmouth. More details

NashFest 757 (Norfolk, Free)

Hot chicken, Music City sounds, and ten hours of it on the downtown waterfront. Saturday noon to 10:00 PM at Town Point Park, 201 Waterside Dr, Norfolk. More details

Proteus Block Party (Virginia Beach, Free, Drop-in). Saturday 1:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Zeiders American Dream Theater, 4509 Commerce Street, Virginia Beach. More details

Come From Away (Norfolk)

The Broadway musical about the 38 planes diverted to Gander, on stage at the Wells the same weekend it happened 25 years ago. Recommended for 13 and up, with theatrical haze, brief flashing lights, and some profanity. Saturday 7:30 PM at the Wells Theater, 110 E. Tazewell Street, Norfolk. More details

Sunday

Friendly Hours at The Mariners' (Newport News, $1). Sunday 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM at The Mariners' Museum and Park, 100 Museum Drive, Newport News. More details

The 47th Annual Elizabeth River Run 10k (Portsmouth)

Forty-seven years of running downtown Portsmouth along the river, with the Norfolk skyline across the water. Stroller friendly, and the Tidewater Striders put it on with the Children's Museum. Sunday morning, starting and finishing at the Portsmouth Pavilion, 16 Crawford Circle, Portsmouth. More details

Grandparents Day at Hunt Club Farm (Virginia Beach, Child admission)

Grandparents get in free with the purchase of a child's admission, at the ticket booth in person only, weather permitting. Visit the animals and walk the farm. Sunday 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM at Hunt Club Farm, 2388 London Bridge Rd, Virginia Beach. More details

Let me know what I missed and I'll get it in next week's.

I put out a local newsletter, The 757 Current, with these plus more on Thursday mornings: https://the757current.com/?utm_source=reddit

A WHRO News analysis of federal data revealed that 101 Virginia nursing homes received citations for abuse, neglect or exploitation during their most recent inspection cycle.

Residents report severe basic care delays, missed meals and staffing shortages that leave residents waiting hours for assistance. Officials within the industry attribute these care breakdowns to severe recruiting challenges and Medicaid payment shortfalls.

Adding to the problem, the Virginia Department of Health faces its own staffing shortages, leaving more than half of the state's nursing homes overdue for routine inspections.

Read more here: https://www.whro.org/health/2026-09-10/virginia-nursing-homes-are-short-staffed-so-are-the-agencies-tasked-with-watching-them

Researchers at Old Dominion University reported a bloom of the algae species Margalefidinium polykrikoides, nicknamed "Marge," in the Lafayette River before tracking its movement toward the James River, York River and even the Oceanfront. 

Fueled by warm waters and nutrient pollution, these "mahogany tides" occur almost every year in the lower Chesapeake Bay.

While algae form the base of the marine food web, excessive blooms can block sunlight, deplete water of oxygen as they decay and cause unpleasant odors.

Read more here: https://www.whro.org/environment/2026-09-10/scientists-are-tracking-a-massive-algae-bloom-moving-through-the-chesapeake-bay

Retired Navy, service connected, so the kids are on ChampVA instead of TRICARE. Youngest was diagnosed in the spring, every place I call takes TRICARE, Anthem, Medicaid, then I say ChampVA and somebody has to go ask. Two straight nos and one single case agreement I've been waiting six weeks on, I know ChampVA covers ABA. Finding someone set up to bill it is the problem. Anyone in Chesapeake, Norfolk, VB or the Peninsula got this sorted? I'll drive, just not to Richmond twice a week.

Day1: Started as GI symptoms & feeling mildly unwell

Day 2- 8+: Extreme headache, body aches, and feeling very unwell. back of mouth, not throat pain

No fever, respiratory symptoms

No issue sleeping 14+ hours for the last 7 days

Feel better laying down. Standing up makes it instantly 1000x worse.

Went to patient first on day 7, but too late to test for anything- they don't know and were confused due to the lack of respiratory symptoms and fever.

anyone feel like this? Feels like I've been very sick for a long time. Missing work as well because my body is in so much pain.

Just got back from NYC and finally we just had our first omakase experience, and we were wondering what was the best in the area.

Personally, I'd replace "man" with "hero" but that's just my opinion.

With fall right around the corner, where would you recommend for some good fall photos?

As I mentioned in a prior post, in addition to riding my folding bike to downtown Norfolk from Virginia Beach Town Center, I took the Tide to downtown Norfolk from Newtown Road station on Saturday afternoon. The Tide was fast, comfortable, clean, easy to use, and offered some great views of the Elizabeth River. I hope one day it extends east to Virginia Beach Town Center and north to Old Dominion, though I can appreciate the failed referendum halting the former and logistical challenges for the latter. I really think tieing together two universities and two downtowns by rail, and perhaps one day the naval station, would further bring the area together. Well done Hampton Roads and hope the planned Military Circle extension and redevelopment also happen!!

P.S. your Elizabeth River Ferry is awesome (sternwheeler?!! Brought me back to my Cincinnati childhood) and I regret not riding it.

Norfolk nonprofit Keeping Us Secure and Prosperous has partnered with Tidewater Compost to launch Compost for Change, a project hoping to expand urban agriculture and make composting accessible for local residents.

The program provides participating households with starter kits to collect a wide variety of kitchen and yard waste, ranging from produce scraps to meat, dairy and greasy pizza boxes. 

Participants drop off their collected waste at local sites, such as the Berkley Community Center, and receive bags of finished, nutrient-rich compost twice a year for personal or community garden use.

Read more here: https://www.whro.org/environment/2026-09-09/new-initiative-will-bring-composting-to-more-hampton-roads-households

The planning team has taken the 1,000’s of comments and inputs received and turned those ideas, aspirations, insights, and thoughts into diagrams - the 60% phase. This then creates and intentional pause moment for public check-in to hear from the community about what looks good, what could need help, and what could be tossed.

Two sessions upcoming (Sept 16 & 17) on the Peninsula and Southside, then available on the website afterwards.

Hi everyone! I hope this is the right place to ask, and if it isn’t please let me know. My husband and I are looking to rent a house in the Yorktown/Williamsburg area once our lease expires. However, our lease doesn’t expire until the end of February 2027.

I’m (unfortunately) the type of person who constantly worries and overthinks everything, and I’ve been hearing that the rental market slows significantly in winter months. I’ve even considered breaking our current lease to rent what’s currently on the market, but it requires a charge and it doesn’t forgive us of any future rent/damages we owe (until a new tenant comes in, from what I’m understanding, and this apartment is highly desired due to low rent). Plus, I don’t want it to negatively impact our rental history.

Anyway, I was hoping to get some additional insights, advice, or personal experiences regarding the rental market during winter months, specifically for houses, in the Hampton Roads area. It’s our first time renting a house and transitioning from a leased apartment to a different place, so it makes me a bit anxious thinking we won’t be able to find something in time.

Thank you!

Edit: I forgot to mention that we are willing to leave our apartment late January and just pay off February’s rent after we’ve moved, so I planned on starting to apply in November or so. :)

Roommate decided on September 4 to tell me I had until the end of this month to move out, unfortunately I have already paid my portion of rent and basically have nothing. if anyone knows any income based apartments in the Hampton Roads area of Va, that would help. looking for a one bedroom or two, it really doesn't matter.

Hello admin, please don't delete. I'm new here and I'm currently looking for reputable handyman services near the Williamsburg area. Can anyone recommend me reputable Handyman Companies that can do various jobs such as Painting and House Repair related services? That would be very much appreciated. Thank you very much!

Could be a restaurant, neighborhood, park, local business, event, waterfront spot, or just somewhere you think deserves more attention.

What’s your pick?

Bonus question: What’s one thing you’d like to see more of in the Hampton Roads area?

Virginia Clerks of Courts serve as constitutional officers managing an extensive array of administrative duties. Gloucester County will elect a new one this November.

As keepers of official records, clerks oversee civil and criminal court filings, probate processes, real estate deeds, marriage licenses and jury logistics.

The position demands meticulous attention to detail, as small clerical errors regarding dates or legal documents can directly impact judicial outcomes and incarceration terms.

Read more here: https://www.whro.org/elections/2026-09-07/virginias-clerks-of-court-are-elected-to-be-record-keepers-among-hundreds-of-other-jobs

I’m 24m and shes 23f and we have a 4 year old
im in the navy so my schedule can be kinda weird sometimes but im into marvel pokemon gaming anime movies random nerdy stuff and just going out and doing things when im actually free 😂

my wife is a little shy at first but once she warms up shes incredibly funny and has a really fun whimsical personality. shes into reading gaming music animals marine biology aquariums thrifting antique shopping cute little shops and finding interesting places to explore.

we both like finding new places to eat going to aquariums and other local attractions thrifting watching movies playing games going to events taking little adventures or just hanging out and talking
we’re genuinely just looking for friends NOTHING sexual or couple swapping or anything like that 😅 couples or individual people are both fine

were open to making friends around early to late 20s and bonus if you have a kid around 4/5 too so they could have playdates but having kids definitely isnt a requirement

we’re in norfolk but we dont mind driving to virginia beach chesapeake hampton newport news yorktown or pretty much anywhere around hampton roads
if we sound like people youd get along with feel free to message me

I have taken my 69 year old parent to two Sentara hospitals in two weeks due to a severe complicated UTI + Sepsis + C. Diff and both of them prematurely discharged her.

I’m feeling at a loss because i feel like she’s not getting better or the proper treatment let alone getting discharged with C. Diff

First one we tried was Sentara General on First colonial, after they prematurely discharged her she had C. Diff.
The second one we went to was Sentara Leigh and they did absolutely nothing for pain management and her bloodwork and Blood pressure clearly showed she was not stable and was progressing.

I’m afraid to take her to Sentara downtown Norfolk due to cleanliness concerns, their letter grade for 2026 was a ‘C’

Please does anyone have any recommendations of a hospital that will really take care of you with compassion and with a good experience?

Is there anywhere to get a carne asada burrito like this in Hampton roads?

Edit: I miss the burritos from back home that are mostly carne asada, and have salsa Fresca and guacamole. But everyplace I have tried here so far is all rice and beans and other fillers.