I remember when... (Hampton: rental, theatre, law)

[lovnova]

Does anyone remember the water flume slide on Pacific in the 1970s. I worked there one summer. Lived in a closet. I was a "lifeguard" with no LG training.

How about zeros on pacific - 70s. We used to go to the original (i think) zeros subs on Pacific. They had a small window where you ordered subs. My brother and I still talk about the "mean" Lady that took the orders. You better not mix up or change what you wanted. I can still see the look on her face. Looking back really don't blame her, we were about half every time we went.

[Babe_Ruth]

Originally Posted by lovnova

How about zeros on pacific.. My brother and I still talk about the "mean" Lady that took the orders..

Lov, That Zero's was their original location, circa 1967.. and unfortunately it went under about two years ago. I saw an article in the paper where Zero's owner said cheap sub places like Subway, made it hard for him to compete. His subs are heartier, and as a result more costly. He opened a different restaurant in the same building (21st & Pacific) recently, which was a replacement structure for the original 60s & 70s Zero's building (that one was before my time tho). Never had the displeasure of meeting the mean Lady (peace)

[lovnova]

Thanks BR! Good info. They were good subs.

We used to go to a club called Brad's? Back in the mid 80s. I think it was on VB Blvd. Does that place ring a bell?

[kathleenfromMT]

I was born & raised in Portsmouth (Cradock), and later Va Beach (Princess Anne). Graduated PA HS, went to ODU. I remember taking school bus down Little Neck Road (all country), riding horses bare-back from Irving Kline's farm (Kline Cheverolet);
Remember as a teenager, sneaking into the Top Hat to dance.....band played live music and it was right on the ocean and dance floor was open to the beach...drinking cokes at the Jet, going to the beach in March, and lying on beach towel in between the dunes (cuz it was cold, windy) to get a start on my summer tan.
Remember even further back, when the "strip" on Atlantic & Pacific Aves was shut down for the winter, stop lights all on blink, only a few businesses open like Neptune's Corner and Jet......remember later in 70's going to the Bearded Clam at South end of beach to eat buckets of clams and drink beer! Those days were great.
Now I live in Montana (will be moving to Tucson late this year). I was in Va Beach Oct '14 and thoroughly enjoyed a long hike in Seashore State Park with my daughter, visiting the ARE, but traffic is awful and it is a very congested area for anything one wants to do (like eat out or see movies).
I was there summer of 2012 and wanted some wonderful fresh seafood I was greatly missing.........went to restaurant at Rudee Inlet where I'd eaten so many time (yum).....boy was I disappointed! The flounder had been frozen, was about a 6 oz portion and cost $12-13 along with some crummy frozen fries and canned slaw....sometimes, you really can't go home again!
I have fabulous memories of bike riding through then Princess Anne County, riding, walking the boardwalk, and many other wonderful beach memories going back to my age 6 (72 nowadays)! Goodbye my beautiful and wonderful Virginia Beach.

[lovnova]

Originally Posted by kathleenfromMT

I was born & raised in Portsmouth (Cradock), and later Va Beach (Princess Anne). Graduated PA HS, went to ODU. I remember taking school bus down Little Neck Road (all country), riding horses bare-back from Irving Kline's farm (Kline Cheverolet);
Remember as a teenager, sneaking into the Top Hat to dance.....band played live music and it was right on the ocean and dance floor was open to the beach...drinking cokes at the Jet, going to the beach in March, and lying on beach towel in between the dunes (cuz it was cold, windy) to get a start on my summer tan.
Remember even further back, when the "strip" on Atlantic & Pacific Aves was shut down for the winter, stop lights all on blink, only a few businesses open like Neptune's Corner and Jet......remember later in 70's going to the Bearded Clam at South end of beach to eat buckets of clams and drink beer! Those days were great.
Now I live in Montana (will be moving to Tucson late this year). I was in Va Beach Oct '14 and thoroughly enjoyed a long hike in Seashore State Park with my daughter, visiting the ARE, but traffic is awful and it is a very congested area for anything one wants to do (like eat out or see movies).
I was there summer of 2012 and wanted some wonderful fresh seafood I was greatly missing.........went to restaurant at Rudee Inlet where I'd eaten so many time (yum).....boy was I disappointed! The flounder had been frozen, was about a 6 oz portion and cost $12-13 along with some crummy frozen fries and canned slaw....sometimes, you really can't go home again!
I have fabulous memories of bike riding through then Princess Anne County, riding, walking the boardwalk, and many other wonderful beach memories going back to my age 6 (72 nowadays)! Goodbye my beautiful and wonderful Virginia Beach.

Good memories and stories. Thanks for sharing them!

[Star691]

-There was a traffic circle at Jefferson Ave and Mercury Blvd.(NN)

-What is now PH Mall was all farmland.(NN)

-I664 was under construction, and the M-M Bridge Tunnell opened.

-There was a drive in theater on Jefferson Ave in midtown NN. There was also one in Hampton on Pembroke Ave that had 2 screens. Originally, you would pull up to a post and hang a speaker on your window to hear the audio from the movie. Before they closed, the audio was broadcast on AM radio.

-There were supermarkets such as Safeway, Big Star, and Rack & Sack.

-There were hardware stores such as Hechinger, Builders Square, and HQ.

I moved out of the area over ten years ago, returned a couple of times more recently while on business, and noticed a lot of changes/development.

[tantan1968]

I can remember when every summer our family would go to Virginia Beach. This would be the 70s and 80s.

-that Photon lazer tag thing that was near Lynnhaven Mall.
-that little amusement park that was on the boardwalk ( Seaside Park ?? )
-the small mom & pop motels along the oceanfront such as The Tides Motor Lodge.
-the Sambos restaurant on Atlantic Ave.
-Ocean View Amusement Park...and that movie that showed the blowing up of their roller coaster.


Television...still remember Ed Hughes, Jim Kincaid, Terry Zahn, and Joe Foulkes ( sadly all of whom are now deceased ) and of course WAVY's Don Slater & Bruce Rader who are still there at channel 10. I also can recall when WAVY would call their news "Eyewitness News" back in the 70's until 1980 or so and then oddly enough WTKR channel 3 would pick it up in the early 90s. When WTKR dropped Eyewitness News ( in their case to become NewsChannel 3 ) at around the same time as the Richmond area's channel 8 and Roanoke's channel 10 did there are those TV news junkies who to this day believe that the name Eyewitness News is a bit of a "curse" in Virginia.

Radio...of course I can remember WGH 1310 and later "97 Star WGH" and what a big deal it was when WQRK ( 104 and a half ) had become Z104 in 1982. For some reason I can recall a lawsuit that made national news at the time ( 1990 give or take a year or two ) when a dj from Z104 had sued a dj at WGH for implying on the air that the Z104 dj was gay. Don't remember all of it nor do I remember the names of the djs involved but I do remember that WGH-FM had went country not too long after that. Oh yes.."The Spirit of Tidewater...79 W T A R".

For some reason I seem to recall that Norfolk International Airport had a lot more flights to many different places than they do now.

[Babe_Ruth]

Originally Posted by tantan1968

I remember..
-that Photon lazer tag thing that was near Lynnhaven Mall.
-Ocean View Amusement Park...and that movie that showed the blowing up of their roller coaster..

Good recollections.. I remember that lazer tag joint. Right off Lynnhaven Pkwy, it was big for birthday parties back in the mid & late 80s. Do u remember there was a Chuck E Cheese right down the street.. that turned into a Showbiz Pizza, that's reverted back to Chuck E Cheese now. They were popular for parties too.

There was a guy selling copies of The Death of Ocean View Park a few years back on Ebay. Cool flick, and piece of Tidewater history. Remember they had a hard time getting that coaster to come down.

[Star691]

-There was also the Buckroe Beach Amusement park in Hampton. I remember going there in the late 1970's. They also had a wooden roller coaster. I was maybe 5 or 6 years old at the time.

-K94 was a favorite radio station of mine. They went off the air in the early 80's. Returned in the mid 90's briefly before going back to The Coast.

-Christy Carlo was on the morning WAVY 10 news team in the late 90's before moving on to Imus in the morning. It was nice to see her cute smile before heading off to work. Really miss her.

[tantan1968]

Originally Posted by Babe_Ruth

Good recollections.. I remember that lazer tag joint. Right off Lynnhaven Pkwy, it was big for birthday parties back in the mid & late 80s. Do u remember there was a Chuck E Cheese right down the street.. that turned into a Showbiz Pizza, that's reverted back to Chuck E Cheese now. They were popular for parties too.

There was a guy selling copies of The Death of Ocean View Park a few years back on Ebay. Cool flick, and piece of Tidewater history. Remember they had a hard time getting that coaster to come down.

Actually I DO remember that Chuck E. Cheese

I have a copy of The Death of Ocean View Park in my collection though I have gotta admit I have not seen it in many years. Ocean View was also seen in 1977's ROLLERCOASTER but unfortunately was upstaged by Kings Dominion who was also seen in that thriller.

I do remember K94 and The Coast. I believe they and 96X as well as WTAR/WNIS were part of the now defunct "Benchmark Communications". I had actually work for them in Winchester back in the 90s ( I work in the Denver, Colorado market now ). Good stations but HORRIBLE COMPANY !! Benchmark back then had also owned some stations in Richmond and Roanoke as well as on the Maryland Eastern Shore such as Froggy 99.9 in Ocean City.

Buckroe Beach..never been there but I do know they had closed in 1985. When a buddy and I were driving through Hampton in the summer of 87 they were just about done demolishing their roller coaster. It was actually sad to see that,

Oh yes...back in the 80's wasn't there some kind of blue law for Hampton Roads that didn't allow clothes and many other things to be sold on Sundays ?? I remember seeing the film LA BAMBA at Lynnhaven Mall one Sunday afternoon back in the summer of 87 and remembering that most of the stores in that mall including the big department stores like Miller & Rhodes and JC Penney were closed. I thought that was strange.