Chic's Beach

This is a video of Chesapeake Beach also known as (Chic's Beach) located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. I will give the link for the seafood restaurant shown in this video.
Buoy 44- www.buoy44.com/

[@carolynbouley4461]

Buoy 44 used to be Alexander’s on the Bay. Great restaurant back then.

[@JeffOnboard]

I have heard that before sadly I never got to try it but I imagine it was great just like you say.

[@PualyC]

The machine is called a gantry, it was used for hanging and setting the precast sections for the new bridge

[@JeffOnboard]

Thanks for that info! Much appreciated.

[@WhoFlungPoo2024]

{Sorry for the lengthy comment.] I just caught your "Chic's Beach" vlog and can't pass up the chance to thank you and to pass on some (and probably useless to many of your viewers) recollections of what was Virginia Beach's Shore Drive in the late 60's. From March of '67 until November 1969, while stationed at the Naval Operating Base in Norfolk, I lived at two separate addresses that were immediately north of Shore Drive, between that thoroughfare and the bay front. My naval shore assignment was on an antisubmarine tactical warfare simulator, where I chased down electronic and mechanical glitches from midnight until nine or ten the following morning. During my assignment with the Atlantic Fleet ASW School, its giant tactical antisubmarine simulator occupied a two-story brick structure that still stands and that resembles a present-day small tenant building, much like you see in today's office parks. It is encircled by C St, 1st St and D Ave, in the southeast corner of the D&S Pier's subsection of the sprawling base and designated as building CP-86 by the Navy. In 1968, I first resided in a wood frame and brick two-floor beach house that also still stands behind the dunes and at that time, was the closest you could get to the actual shoreline. My first wife and I occupied the lower apartment and a single woman lived upstairs. I still recall an oddity of the brick breezeway of our lower balcony. You could only access it from the outside and had to climb over its 3-foot high bricked-in surrounding. The immediate area was comprised of scattered beach-type houses (then occupied by many permanent residents) with almost nothing over 2-stories high. Ocean Shore Avenue did not exist and at the time, all the streets that ran perpendicular to Shore Drive dead-ended at Ocean Shore's current right-of-way. Everything towards the bay's shoreline was lightly vegetated and bordered an almost continuous sand dune that was about eight or nine feet high and that blocked the view of the sea from our apartment. On many summer nights, local residents could be seen "crabbing" for the unforgettable blue crab, using chicken necks tied to long lengths of twine. It was not unusual to see some crabbers with a bushel basket or two full of squirming crabs. Following my divorce, I moved west down Shore Drive to a cozy family "resort" [the former space is now occupied by the Cape Henry Towers apartment complex and a portion of those residential units immediately to its northeast) that consisted of a large 2-story wood frame house that served both as the little resort's office and as a boarding house, for those of us who resided therein. The "resort," which consisted of 8-10 cozy and clean whitewashed cabins, was a summer haven for families with many being regulars who returned yearly. Each contained a minimal kitchenette, one or two bedrooms and an adequate living space, all furnished in a potpourri of items from the late 50's. Two of the cabins were occupied by long-term residents. Sadly, those structures are now long gone. The resort's owner was a wonderful elderly woman named Thelma Fiddler, who ran the facility with an iron fist but a velvet glove, at least to those of us who she liked. There were three of us who occupied the upstairs bedrooms: myself, a hilarious tug boat captain who drove the Chesapeake Bridge Tunnel to his job in Maryland every three days and an old Navy chief, who I never really got to know. In those days, there was no central air conditioning but by opening a couple windows and by using a window fan on very warm nights, the sea breeze kept us perfectly comfortable. The house was located on an adjacent drive, about 500 feet past the eastern end of the Lynnhaven Inlet bridge and on the northwest side of the highway, about 200 feet back. The cabins were scattered around the large house and if my memory serves me correctly, I think the neat and immaculately clean complex was called Lynnhaven Court. The grounds were shaded by a number of large and ancient hardwood trees and I recall how their colors stood brilliantly out in autumn. If you walked west from the front door, the shoreline was only about 800 feet away. The beach was spotlessly clean and during the warm months, it was always sprinkled with kids and families. On the shoreline, south of the resort and almost abutting the bridge, was a seafood restaurant and bar, on stilts, and its parking lot was literally just off the road and a matter of a couple hundred feet before the beginning of the bridge's eastern abutment. That site is now occupied by Sadly, I lost track of Mrs. Fidler following my discharge in 1969 but during my trip west to Chicago to begin my civilian career, she accompanied me on the drive, where I dropped her off at O'Hare Airport, where she flew west to spend time with her family in California. When I lived at her boarding house, she was in her late 70's but had the vitality of a 30-year old. At the time we departed company, Mrs. Fidler was in discussions to sell her business and property and she had indicated she was offered a "fortune," at least in 1969. I fervently hope she and her family lived comfortably and happily ever after. While watching your drive east along Shore Drive, I was utterly dumbfounded by the changes on the east side of the inlet. While I was there, there were only occasional gas stations or fishing-related businesses along the drive and other than the permanent residents and us renters or boarders, it was basically open land all the way east to Cape Henry. There was a small marina, almost directly across the previously mentioned seafood establishment, and on the south side of the highway and now the location of two of the Virginia pilot's organizations; also at the eastern bridge abutment. It catered to local fisherman and small craft. While it's been over 51 years since I resided at those two locations, my memories of living there are vivid and for me, it was a fun time and I ended up with a great naval tour. I would be remiss if I did not mention that so many of my fellow veterans, both living and dead, served in Viet Nam in both combat and non-combat roles during that same time and I consider myself extremely fortunate of having a "gravy" assignment to fulfill my service obligation. I salute each and every one of them as American heroes. (If you're interested in Google Map links to the buildings that still stand, I would be glad to provide them)

[@LSander153]

I lived here in 1963-1965, during the final days of construction of the bridge tunnel. The entrance to the bridge-tunnel was a few hundred feet down our street from the newly-built duplex where I lived. I think Alexander's was there then, but I remember it as just a little beach food joint. We could walk to the beach, about three blocks from our house. Nice place to live. I was a young Naval officer then, based at Little Creek. I would come home for lunch every day that I wasn't deployed. I'd watch soap operas with my wife on black and white TV until I had to get back to work. Chics Beach has built up tremendously since those days.

[@LSander153]

I consulted Google Maps, which helped to narrow things down. I lived in a duplex at 4628 Coronet Avenue, about half way between Fentress Avenue and the beach. The apartments were side by side in those days, similar to the one at 4621 Lee St. (across from our back yard, a few houses away). They rebuilt it and some of its neighbors as two-story structures, and seem to have added some buildings in between the rebuilt ones. What is now HK on the Bay, on Fentress between Coronet and the beach, was a bar and maybe restaurant back then. So it lives on, just as Alexander's / Buoy 44. As mentioned previously, in the 1960s, Buoy 44 was just a little beach joint where you could buy snacks. The parking lot on the beach next to Buoy 44 was there back then, too. I don't remember any houses along the beach, though there may have been a few. There WAS some sort of WWII-era concrete observation tower on the beach, somewhere not far from the parking lot.

[@LSander153]

See goo.gl/maps/X5b3UiSZdGopAQP68 for Google Maps

[@williamlong518]

Hey Lou, if you lived in the duplex on Coronet in 63 to 65 you lived across the street from me. I lived at 4617 in between the Lee's and Zirnhelds. We moved from there in 68.

[@LSander153]

@@williamlong518 That is definitely where I lived! I have no recollection of the neighbors, though, except for a few who also lived in the duplexes. Those places have been radically rebuilt since then. I lived at 4628 Coronet.

[@williamlong518]

I was up there 3weeks ago and went by my old house its still there with some new vinyl siding I guess. My dad worked for Esso as a dock master when he got out of the Navy. I have so many good memories of my childhood on that road

[@ewtam24]

Thank you for the great footage. The construction equipment was for another bridge to make more lanes. The construction is done and traffic flow is better.

[@ShibainuKojiro]

beautiful place💕

[@JeffOnboard]

Yes it is a local beach in the city where I live.....

[@joels1234]

followed with google maps...nice..

[@shawncheney1496]

I was at Ocean View in August 2019. I t was an interesting area with a lot of history, for sure. I went to Va Beach the next day. Mistake. I think Ocean View and Chics are way more relaxing, and I would like to explore the area again. That area is very busy, though. The traffic in Va Beach and Norfolk is something to reckon with.

[@starcitylife6415]

Chic's Beach = awesome

[@Excaliburhope]

Thanks man, used to live by there. Brings back memories.I remember Alexander's by the Bay and the Starbucks. I used to hang at that Starbucks all the time. Sad it's gone.

[@JeffOnboard]

Jazz Man yes that was my favorite Starbucks as well glad you enjoyed the video

[@LukaDonesnitch]

@@JeffOnboard Looks like the Sugar Shack closed too because on google it say's permanently closed.

[@aantonic]

Buoy 44 used to be called Alexander,s as i can remember

[@JeffOnboard]

aantonic oh that's cool I want to try the restaurant actually I have never eaten there thanks for the information

[@WilliamPozo]

Segmental bridge gantry crane! aka.. horizontal crane.

[@PussPussXXX]

Hi Matthew! Thank you for filming and posting videos of VA Beach an nearby areas. I will be visiting the area soon and your videos have been very informative in planning my trip. Keep up the good work :)

[@JeffOnboard]

sorry the late reply, but thank you so much and hope you enjoyed your time here...If ever any requests for videos let us know...