Norfolk Waterside
If you’re visiting Norfolk, VA or the greater Hampton Roads area, planning a trip over to The Waterside is a great idea. The Waterside is located on downtown Norfolk’s waterfront, along the Elizabeth River.
Inside, The Waterside is a large mall-like building, housing many restaurants, stores, and night clubs. Restaurants include Pastaria Italian Eatery, Thai Cuisine, Kings Chinese Restaurant, Outback Steakhouse, Blackfinn Restaurant and Saloon, Joe’s Crab Shack, and more. In pleasant weather, you can eat in many of the restaurants’ outdoor dining sections, or else take a sandwich and eat outside along the dock. Delicious desserts are easily found at Ben & Jerry’s.
If you’re up for a fun night out, Waterside offers five night clubs to choose from, including Bar Norfolk, Have a Nice Day Café, The Southern Star, Blackfinn, and Jillian’s. Even if you have the kids, they will love Jillian’s for its large arcade section, full of billiards, pinball, skeeball, simulation games, a Shooting Gallery, many other classic theme park and arcade games, a hibachi grill, and a large outdoor deck.
Waterside evenings are frequently full of live entertainment throughout the year, and their website lists events throughout each month. This is located at: http://www.watersidemarketplace.com/
A long brick walkway follows the edge of the Elizabeth River, dotted with park benches and grassy areas for enjoying the sunny afternoons. Jutting out into the river, The Waterside docks provide a resting spot for many private and commercial boats. Frequently, you will be treated to a view of a visiting historical vessel or The American Rover, Norfolk’s three-mast sailing ship.
Day or night, visitors can take Waterside’s passenger ferry across the Elizabeth River to Portsmouth. This is a really easy and entertaining way to visit Portsmouth’s Old Town and downtown areas. Portsmouth offers a number of upscale restaurants for a nice date, including The 319, as well as The Commodore, a splendidly restored 1945 movie theater in which you watch the movie from tables and are served either lunch or dinner.
If you prefer to stay on dry land while visiting Norfolk’s Waterside, there are a number of attractions within walking distance. A few steps away from The Waterside, and also along the Norfolk waterfront, is the Town Point Park. This park is a host to frequent concerts including performances from latino, big band, acoustic, jazz, and many other bands. One of Town Point’s most popular series is the “TGIF” music party every Friday in May after work. Town Point Park also hosts other events, including the Annual Virginia Beer Festival, the Great American 4th of July Picnic & Fireworks, the Annual Town Point Virginia Wine Festival, and more.
Just past the Town Point Park is Norfolk’s Nauticus Museum, home to the battleship Wisconsin. Inside Nauticus, you will find a range of permanent and changing exhibits focusing on Norfolk’s Maritime present and history. A few of the many permanent exhibits include “1907: The Jamestown Exposition & Launching of the Steel Navy,” “Secrets of the Deep” (in which you can explore NOAA’s underwater parks and go inside an underwater submersible), the “Touch Tank,” where you can touch nurse sharks and a variety of other sea animals, and many more. The USS Wisconsin is one of the largest battleships made by the U.S. Navy; it has been converted into a floating museum for your exploration. Exhibits onboard feature tons of new technology.
A short walk in the opposite direction from The Waterside leads you to the Norfolk Tide’s Harbor Park, a baseball stadium home the to Norfolk Tides. Harbor Park, opened in 1993, was built with a nautical theme in mind, with light towers evoking the shipyard, and an entrance full of flying flags. The stadium can seat over 12,000, and even includes a restaurant indoors, overlooking the playing field. The Tides’ season begins in April and spans through the beginning of September.
If you cannot find what you’re looking for in The Waterside’s restaurant options, you can wander across a few streets to the many restaurants Norfolk offers in its downtown area. You can find tons of familiar chains, as well as local treasures, all placed in an urban, city environment that has developed a lot in the past decade. Visitors can find sports bars, night clubs, and fine dining; Norfolk has a number of vegetarian friendly restaurants, as well as those specializing in fresh seafood, Italian, contemporary American, and many other types of cuisine.
Susannah Fuller is a freelance writer in Virginia whose work has appeared in a variety of magazines and publications
Virginia Tourists Guide - Norfolk, Virginia
Inside, The Waterside is a large mall-like building, housing many restaurants, stores, and night clubs. Restaurants include Pastaria Italian Eatery, Thai Cuisine, Kings Chinese Restaurant, Outback Steakhouse, Blackfinn Restaurant and Saloon, Joe’s Crab Shack, and more. In pleasant weather, you can eat in many of the restaurants’ outdoor dining sections, or else take a sandwich and eat outside along the dock. Delicious desserts are easily found at Ben & Jerry’s.
If you’re up for a fun night out, Waterside offers five night clubs to choose from, including Bar Norfolk, Have a Nice Day Café, The Southern Star, Blackfinn, and Jillian’s. Even if you have the kids, they will love Jillian’s for its large arcade section, full of billiards, pinball, skeeball, simulation games, a Shooting Gallery, many other classic theme park and arcade games, a hibachi grill, and a large outdoor deck.
Waterside evenings are frequently full of live entertainment throughout the year, and their website lists events throughout each month. This is located at: http://www.watersidemarketplace.com/
A long brick walkway follows the edge of the Elizabeth River, dotted with park benches and grassy areas for enjoying the sunny afternoons. Jutting out into the river, The Waterside docks provide a resting spot for many private and commercial boats. Frequently, you will be treated to a view of a visiting historical vessel or The American Rover, Norfolk’s three-mast sailing ship.
Day or night, visitors can take Waterside’s passenger ferry across the Elizabeth River to Portsmouth. This is a really easy and entertaining way to visit Portsmouth’s Old Town and downtown areas. Portsmouth offers a number of upscale restaurants for a nice date, including The 319, as well as The Commodore, a splendidly restored 1945 movie theater in which you watch the movie from tables and are served either lunch or dinner.
If you prefer to stay on dry land while visiting Norfolk’s Waterside, there are a number of attractions within walking distance. A few steps away from The Waterside, and also along the Norfolk waterfront, is the Town Point Park. This park is a host to frequent concerts including performances from latino, big band, acoustic, jazz, and many other bands. One of Town Point’s most popular series is the “TGIF” music party every Friday in May after work. Town Point Park also hosts other events, including the Annual Virginia Beer Festival, the Great American 4th of July Picnic & Fireworks, the Annual Town Point Virginia Wine Festival, and more.
Just past the Town Point Park is Norfolk’s Nauticus Museum, home to the battleship Wisconsin. Inside Nauticus, you will find a range of permanent and changing exhibits focusing on Norfolk’s Maritime present and history. A few of the many permanent exhibits include “1907: The Jamestown Exposition & Launching of the Steel Navy,” “Secrets of the Deep” (in which you can explore NOAA’s underwater parks and go inside an underwater submersible), the “Touch Tank,” where you can touch nurse sharks and a variety of other sea animals, and many more. The USS Wisconsin is one of the largest battleships made by the U.S. Navy; it has been converted into a floating museum for your exploration. Exhibits onboard feature tons of new technology.
A short walk in the opposite direction from The Waterside leads you to the Norfolk Tide’s Harbor Park, a baseball stadium home the to Norfolk Tides. Harbor Park, opened in 1993, was built with a nautical theme in mind, with light towers evoking the shipyard, and an entrance full of flying flags. The stadium can seat over 12,000, and even includes a restaurant indoors, overlooking the playing field. The Tides’ season begins in April and spans through the beginning of September.
If you cannot find what you’re looking for in The Waterside’s restaurant options, you can wander across a few streets to the many restaurants Norfolk offers in its downtown area. You can find tons of familiar chains, as well as local treasures, all placed in an urban, city environment that has developed a lot in the past decade. Visitors can find sports bars, night clubs, and fine dining; Norfolk has a number of vegetarian friendly restaurants, as well as those specializing in fresh seafood, Italian, contemporary American, and many other types of cuisine.
Susannah Fuller is a freelance writer in Virginia whose work has appeared in a variety of magazines and publications
Virginia Tourists Guide - Norfolk, Virginia
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