5 Things That Make Norfolk, Virginia, a Hidden Treasure

Your cab driver’s behavior can tell you a lot about a particular city or town. If he’s a bit rugged and blows the horn too much you might be in Queens. However, if you are greeted with a bottle of water and a fist bump you might be in Norfolk, Virginia, a place that’s refined enough to still be considered country and busy enough not to be boring. The editors at Forbes Travel Guide recently visited the coastal Virginia metropolis and discovered it had more to it than sheer hospitable chauffeurs at the airport. The city’s growing gastronomic and art scenes have it on the verge of exploding. If you visit now, you can enjoy without much of the metropolis fuss.

The Mermaids

Anywhere you look in the city, you will find some or the other mention of a mermaid. From its logo to Virginia’s first urban winery i.e. the legendary siren of the sea is all over the place. As the fable has it, mermaids would sing to soldiers back to safe coastline after battles on the cruel waters. Being the home of the world’s biggest naval station, the Naval station and the city adopted the creatures as a kind of mascot in the year 1999. Today the people with pride pose for pictures in front of the 100 mermaid statues located around the city and test their skills by painting mini replicas at the mermaid factory. When you are lost downtown the statues can come quite useful as landmarks.

The Arts

Norfolk is a creative place with the naval themed public arts project. The city has a number of diverse neighborhoods like the Norfolk Arts District and Ghent that are starting to fill with paintbrushes. The latter section of the town houses some notable exhibition halls (Okay Spark Gallery) and the famous Chrysler Museum of Art, a 220,000 square foot museum filled with European paintings, American art and the Glass art collection. Impressed by the museums Tiffany holdings, you can then proceed to the Chrysler Museum Glass Studio for a free demonstration of glassblowing and Kiln working session.

The Food

It is a known fact that the people of Virginia love their food, and love to eat. Along the coast Norfolk serves high end snacks (The Grilled Cheese Bistro) and rice bowls, to mouth watering seafood. At the 456 Fish you are served the best potato chip encrusted jumbo lump crab cake, And for dinner you can go for some privacy and have Grass fed lamb with a bottle of Fiore Sangiovese.

The Beer

When we were visiting town, the famous Virginia Beer festival was taking place at the town point park. There are 65 local beers available, but we could not taste all, but especially loved the Norfolk’s Smartmouth Brewing Company. The three year old beer is a Belgian saison with a fruity taste and peppers. Another winning area is the O’Connor Brewing company, which houses a taproom for sampling the El Guapo the Norfolk Canyon Ale.

The Location

Norfolk has the proximity to all the other important places like, Virginia Beach on 18 miles away. If you cross Elizabeth River and head south, you will reach Portsmouth. 17 miles north, you will come into Hampton and Newport News. 30 miles further you will be in Williamsburg a village where Thomas Jefferson and Paul Revere roamed in the 1700s. Close and a walkable distance is the History Museum, and just down the street is the Forbes Travel Guide Four stars Williamsburg Inn and the Williamsburg Lodge which take care of tourists and guests like a family.