NEWS: Diana Blanchard Gross Lands in Hampton
(Diana L. Blanchard Gross preparing for the 2022 Virginia Artists Juried Exhibition.) By Betsy DiJulio Coming under the umbrella of Hampton Arts—aka the Hampton Arts Commission, which was created by Hampton City Council in 1987—together with The American Theatre and...
ESSAY: Young and Free
(My childhood home, shortly before my family moved in, in 1959.) By Tom Robotham During this summer’s heatwave, when I stayed home as much as possible, I spent a few afternoons binge-watching The Andy Griffith Show. I loved the program when it aired in primetime,...
BUSINESS: Matthew Stewart Rides into Retirement
(Matthew Stewart hits the retirement road) By Jeff Maisey After 43 years, Coastal Import Repair founding owner Matthew Stewart has decided to ride off into the sunset of retirement. To many in Hampton Roads, and especially in Norfolk, Coastal Import Repair has been a...
LECTURE: Rick Steves Returns Through the Back Door
(European travel guru Rick Steves kicks off Norfolk Forum’s 90th season. Photo by Zachary Scott) By Jeff Maisey When Rick Steves returns from his European vacation — he’ll be in Burgundy and the Swiss Alps in August — one of the first work-related duties he’ll be...
ESSAY: In My Travels
By Tom Robotham This summer, for the first time in a long while, I haven’t ventured outside of Hampton Roads. There are a number of reasons for that, a tight budget chief among them. If all goes well, I’ll wander farther afield in 2023. Meanwhile, I’m moved to reflect...
Elizabeth River Project begins expansion on North Colley
(A rendering of its Knitting Mill Creek boardwalk.) By Jim Roberts The Elizabeth River Project has spent 30 years transforming its namesake waterway. Now it’s preparing to transform Norfolk’s North Colley business corridor and adjacent Knitting Mill Creek. The...
Why We Started WINDSdays
(THE ANSWER IS BLOWING IN THE WIND: A group of environmental activists share a fun moment with their hand-fans promoting wind energy.) By Joel Rubin When you are a public relations professional, you yearn for clients as large and established as Dominion Energy. You...
Mermaid Winery On The Move
By Jeff Maisey Early next year, Mermaid Winery, which opened in 2012 as Virginia’s first designated Urban Winery, will move its original Ghent location to bustling downtown in the former Norfolk Taproom location at the corner of Main and Granby Street. For...
101 Things to Do This Summer in Coastal Virginia
(Symphony By The Sea will feature Virginia Symphony Orchestra on July 28 at 31st Street park at the Oceanfront. Free admission. Presented by Neptune Festival)) By Staff Three and six years ago we published lists of 101 Things to Do in Hampton Roads Before You Die. The...
ESSAY: This Old Man
By Tom Robotham Well, it’s official: I’m an old man. I could have claimed that status last year, when I turned 65—the age at which one traditionally earns the title of senior citizen. But this year, I passed a more significant milestone: a week before my...
THEATER: Escape to Margaritaville
(The cast from Little Theatre of Virginia Beach’s “Margaritaville.” Photo by Joshua Stubbs. By Jim Roberts Jimmy Buffett’s not touring this summer, but Hampton Roads’ “Parrotheads” can experience the next best thing when the Little Theater of Virginia Beach presents...
ART: A Curatorial Gem
(Matt Lively, “Orbit”) By Betsy DiJulio I go to art museums to be inspired, transported, challenged, and even provoked, but not perplexed. Feeling baffled in an art exhibition is deeply unsatisfying and, frankly, irks me because it generally means someone hasn’t...
Benoit & Rosano Team-Up for Album and Tour
By Jim Morrison Tab Benoit may be best known as one of Louisiana's finest blues guitarists and vocalists with a three-decade career releasing solo records and working with legends like Anders Osborne, George Porter, Jr., and Cyril Neville. But Benoit has also been a...
The Icon & Iconic Album Cover
By Jeff Maisey One of the most recognizable, iconic record album covers in pop culture almost never saw the light of day. “If it was up to me I would have rejected the cover,” said legendary trumpet player Herb Alpert, who released “Whipped Cream & Other...
SWING TIME: New Releases from Jae Sinnett & Eddie Williams
By Tom Robotham Hampton Roads has long been home to some first-rate jazz musicians, and I can think of no better evidence of this fact than the superb quality of two recently released albums by musicians who live here: Commitment, featuring drummer-composer Jae...
Focus on Modern Jazz Composers
Trumpeter Taylor Barnett will perform with local jazz musicians for “The Modernists” By Jerome Langston “I broke my finger 3 weeks ago while on vacation,” bassist Jimmy Masters says to me earlier this week, before we even start chatting about the latest show in...
Beaching It with Alana Springsteen
By Jeff Maisey Coastal Country is a thing, just ask rising music star Alana Springsteen, who was born and raised in Virginia Beach. “I’m a Beach girl through and through,” said Springsteen. “It made me who I am. It comes out in so many ways in the music that I write....
Top 40 Concerts of Summer
(Neo-soul crooner Anthony Hamilton headlines the opening night of Hampton Jazz Festival By Staff Nine-time Grammy nominated smooth jazz saxophonist Dave Koz recently told Veer Magazine the summer of 2023 will mark the true, post-pandemic return to form for the concert...
ART REVIEW: Heart Pulsates with Fantastical Intrigue
(Claudia Bueno’s fantastical art exhibition extends to the exterior of the Hermitage Museum. Photo by Lindsay Collette.) By Betsy DiJulio Born of shattering heartbreak and a deeply integrated process of healing, Echoes of the Heart embodies artist Claudia Bueno’s...
Reliving the Music of Luther Vandross
By Jerome Langston “If you’ve never been to a Luther Vandross show, the real thing—we’re gonna be as close as you’re gonna get,” says singer William “Smooth” Wardlaw, during our recent phone chat about his upcoming tribute show honoring soul music icon, Luther...
Coastal Virginia Brewery Alliance Festival
(Porter Hardy IV is President of the Coastal Virginia Brewery Alliance and Smartmouth Brewing Co) By Jeff Maisey The 30 independent craft breweries counting themselves as members of the recently formed Coastal Virginia Brewery Alliance (CVBA) are hosting a party and...
Precarious Beer Hall – Ale, Arcade, and Americana
(Spacious Precarious Beer Hall is fun, fun, fun) Words & Photos by Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones What are the sounds you associate with Colonial Williamsburg? Pumpa-rum pumpa-rum twee twee tweeee…that’s a fife and drum corp as they march through the pedestrian...
New Realm Wins VA Craft Beer Cup, 757 Breweries Score Numerous Medals
Hampton Roads breweries scored multiple awards and Virginia Beach's New Realm Brewing won the overall Virginia Craft Beer Cup, when the Virginia Craft Brewers Guild held its 8th annual Virginia Craft Beer Awards Monday evening at Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond. In...
Dining à la (shopping) Cart at Wegmans & IKEA
(Take a break from shopping at Wegman’s Burger Bar. Photo courtesy of Wegmans) By Marisa Marsey Have you heard about the Swedish meatballs at IKEA? They’re delicious. If only you didn’t have to put them together yourself. Ba-dum-CHING! I’m joking, of course. You don’t...
Reverend Spirits
By Jim Roberts One thing Karl Dornemann’s restaurants have always had in common: whiskey. Lots and lots of whiskey. “The first time I had it, I fell in love with it,” he said. “At least Scotch-wise.” By way of explanation—and only half-joking—he added: “I don’t know...
Tamarind: Taking it to the (Vegan) Streets
By Betsy DiJulio I cannot think of another food establishment that I have patronized three times in a month, not counting my daily stop at Starbucks for a venti Green Tea Soy Frappuccino, no Classic Syrup, no Whip. That is, except Tamarind. And it may have...
Beer Conversation with Phil Smith
By Jeff Maisey Some of the best, free-flowing conversations can be had over a beer — or any cocktail, glass of wine and dinner. I have always found this to be true, and especially when traveling. Recently, I gave Brick Anchor Brew House owner Phil Smith a...
Vegans Can Clean-Up at Sloppy Seconds
By Betsy DiJulio I don’t know that, given the meaning of the slang phrase “sloppy seconds”—which conjures up nothing appetizing—I would have necessarily chosen it as the name of my restaurant. But, alas, that’s the name and I will go back for Thoughtless Thirds. ...
Penang Town: One Restaurant, Many Flavors
By Marisa Marsey If you can travel to only one European country, pick Switzerland. With French overtones in the West, Italian in the South, and German and Austrian in the North and East, it’s a veritable continental quilt. Likewise, if you can visit only one Asian...
German Wunderbar Hefe to Debut at Norfolk NATO Festival
By Jeff Maisey A traditional German hefeweizen beer will make its debut on Saturday, April 27 in Town Point Park as part of the Norfolk NATO Festival’s International Village. Wunderbar represents the third consecutive year Norfolk NATO Festival’s Board of Directors...
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