Photography By Scott Suchman
Chic’s Beach, Chick’s Beach, or Chesapeake Beach. It’s a matter of preference what to call this cozy beach community, located in northwest Virginia Beach, where centuries- old live oaks lend a fairytale character to the bayfront streets. Maps officially declare it Chesapeake Beach, but blame the nickname confusion on its namesake, entrepreneur Luther “Chic” Ledington, who ran a beachfront concession stand with his wife, Audrey, in this area in the late 1940s through the ‘60s. Complete with jukebox, picnic tables, and raft rentals, it became a popular teenage hangout, ˆ la the Gidget and Moondoggie scene. In the summer, local youths’ mantra was “Meet you at Chic’s Beach.” Like sand between the toes, the name stuck.
In more recent years, the spelling of the name has morphed into the trendier Chick’s Beach. Area businesses, even some technically outside the neighborhood’s boundaries, have adopted the catchy tag. “If you call it Chick’s Beach, we know you don’t live here-you’re not a purist,” points out Gee Faison, fifty-five-year-old lifelong resident and owner of a nearby gas station.
Established in 1919, the neighborhood, with an estimated population of 2,500, encompasses four freshwater lakes and borders a one-mile stretch of Bay beach. Much of the neighborhood’s early recorded history is skimpy at best, but its legends run thick, especially imaginative tales of pirates and plundering reflected in local street names like John Silver and Blackbeard. The oldest developed section has narrow but pretty winding lanes where half-million-dollar, modern beachfront homes mingle with older single-family bungalows. In this multigenerational neighborhood, it’s not uncommon to see successful business people happily living next to beach bums.
Think of Chick’s Beach as a quiet alternative to Virginia Beach, a good place for a hassle-free day trip where there’s no bumper-to-bumper traffic, congested boardwalk, or business district. Skip the crowds, and take the first exit immediately after getting off the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. You’ll arrive at a place where children play tag with the waves on the dog-friendly beach and line up horseshoe crab shells on the sand like toy soldiers. There are frequent community gatherings-block parties, an annual summer picnic and holiday party, blood drives, and community clean-ups.
During the Fourth of July, neighbors pool fireworks and meet down at the beach after the celebratory parade starring local bike-riding kids and fire engines. “It’s a wonderful walking neighborhood,” says Chesapeake Beach native Betty Beasley, sixty-five. She remembers the community before the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel cut through it. “In the early fifties, we had a community center where the bridge is now, and we had a teen club,” she says. “We learned ballroom dancing, and all the girls had fun vying for Queen of Chesapeake Beach.”
Besides a hair salon in a tiny porch-front cottage and the Junior Mart, a locally owned convenience store, there are only a few businesses here. One is the Leaping Lizard, where visitors can find an ever-changing inventory of unique home accessories such as whimsical pottery wine glasses, antique mirrors, or children’s specialty gifts like tea sets and designer clothing like Zackali 4 Kids.
Some residents have even opened their homes as shops. Each summer, resident potter Michele Zimmerman hosts “Art Under the Oaks” at her home, where tourists and locals alike browse local artisans’ wares. This year, on July 10 and 11, she promises a collection of pottery mermaids, turquoise jewelry, and stained- glass kaleidoscopes.
With no B&B in the neighborhood, find pampering at the nearby bayfront Virginia Beach Resort Hotel. Its Sunday brunch was voted “The Best of Virginia Beach” in the Virginian-Pilot’s Readers’ Choice Award for several years running.
While the shopping might be limited, there’s no shortage of eateries here. There’s upscale dining with a front-row view of the Chesapeake at Alexander’s on the Bay, specializing in seafood, beef, and pasta dishes. At Zia Marie, the proof’s in the pasta that both owners had Italian mamas. Try their signature veal saltimbocca: fresh veal pounded thin, dusted in flour, and sauteed in butter over a bed of fresh sauteed spinach and topped with prosciutto and fresh mozzarella.
Frankie’s Restaurant is a bastion of Chesapeake Beach dining and its oldest restaurant. It’s named for Frances Basemore, the grandmother who still presides over her staff of children and grandchildren, many of whom live in something of a family compound around the eatery. The restaurant does fish in a big way, including rainbow trout, tilapia, and catfish (as well as great crab cakes), while squeezing in southern treats such as fried corncakes, black-eyed peas, and hush puppies.
Chick’s Beach Cafe has the obligatory bar food, like chicken wings and mozzarella sticks, but doesn’t forget its beach connection with its seafood feast of crab cakes, fried shrimp, and flounder. It’s also the only neighborhood spot for breakfast, albeit only on weekends. Word of mouth is all the advertisement these establishments have needed to stay full even in the winter months.
Claude “Beetle” Bailey, whose outgoing personality had him proclaimed the unofficial mayor of Chesapeake Beach decades ago, spent a Huck Finn boyhood here. The shore was wilder then, he recalls, with tiny summer cottages tucked behind large dunes and swaying sea oats; the sand stretched on and on before it met the Bay. “There were all these scrub oaks, and we would crawl under them for shade,” says Bailey. “And when we got hungry, we’d eat the wild grapes growing on thick vines in the trees.”
As a member of the civic league, Michelle Zimmerman and her husband, Kenny, who have lovingly restored a 1930s cottage, work with her neighbors to protect the neighborhood’s live oaks, which she calls the “old goddesses of the beach.” They line the lakes and embrace the 1930s and ‘40s bungalows. Zimmerman says the Chesapeake Beach Civic League recently formed an architectural standards committee to slow down the erection of big box duplexes on postage stamp lots. “Change is inevitable,” she says, “but we are trying to maintain the old character while holding back the bulldozers.”
“Mayor” Bailey agrees things have changed, but the sandy neighborhood has kept its unpretentious, quirky charm. “For me,” says Bailey, “I don’t think there’s a better place.” All residents seem to agree: Whatever you call Chesapeake Beach, it’s good to call it home.
Donna Bozza Packer gets sand between her toes at her home in Cape Charles, Va.
Locals’ Guide to Chick’s Beach
Sunrise, sunset: This bayfront beach sets the perfect stage for Mother Nature’s daily opening act. A great vantage point is the sand near Alexander’s on the Bay Restaurant.
Early bird gets the space: On-street, free parking spots are close to the beach but very limited. Parking is also available at Alexander’s, at least until 4 p.m.
Sing for your supper: Sundays and Wednesdays are “Open Mic” night at Chick’s Beach Cafe. Or just watch other musicians perform every night but Monday. 4600 Lookout Rd. 757-460-2580.
Contacts
Alexander’s on the Bay
4536 Ocean View Ave.
757-464-4999
http://www.alexandersonthebay.com
Chesapeake Beach Civic League
P.O. Box 5118
Virginia Beach, Va. 23471
http://www.chesapeakebeach.org
Chick’s Beach Cafe
4600 Lookout Rd.
757-460-2580
Frankie’s Restaurant
4494 Lookout Rd.
757-464-9703
Leaping Lizard
4408 Shore Dr.
757-363-0161
Art Under the Oaks
2524 Chubb Lake Ave.
757-464-2017
Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau
800-VA-BEACH
http://www.vbfun.com
Virginia Beach Resort Hotel
2800 Shore Dr.
800-468-2722
http://www.virginiabeachresort.com
Zia Marie
4497 Lookout Rd. 757-460-0715
