The Evening critic., 1884-02-25
VIRGINIA REACH.
A Seaside Summer Resort That IL
Bound 20 BECOME Popular.

small party OF newspaper men and
others left Washington on Friday evening
by the steamer George Leary, as the guests
of the Norfolk & Virginia Beach Railroad
Company and the Potomac Steamboat Com
pany, tho purpose of the trip being to view
the future seaside summer resort Of the
South--Virginia Beach.
Friday night was passed comfortably on
the water, and on Saturday morning the
excursionists reached Norfolk and crossed
the Elizabeth River and Broad Creek 10 the
present terminus of tho Norfolk & Virginia
Beach Railroad, which is being rapidly COM
pleted and will in few weeks enter Nor
folk and mako convenient connection
with the railroad depots and steamboat
wharves.
The railroad has been recently built
under the management of tho Virginia
Beach Improvement Company and about
twenty miles in length and almost an air
line and extending from the Broad Creek to
the seashoro without curve, an excavation
aud scarcely an embankment.
The little railroad itself. as well as every
thing that was seen later in tho day. testi-
fed in the highest terms to the. enterprise
and energy OF Mr.. Marshall Parks, the
presidents Mr.. J. NJ. Dickey, tho general
manager, and tho other officers OF the COM
pany.
At Norfolk the party Of cxcursionists
was moro than doubled by tho addition of
representatives of the Norfolk and Ports
mouth newspapers, railroad and real estate
men interested in the enterprise and repre-
sentatives Of the company.
The Trip so virginia Beach
was mado in good time, and at noon the
excursionists alighted at the entrance of a
mammoth pavilion capable Of seating 10,-
600 persons, arranged on the most approved
plan for a summer resort, and which, when
the lodging department is completed, will
accommodate several hundred guests, with
spacious dancing and dining halls, billiard
and reading rooms, etc.
To the right and left of this are spacious
frame pavilions for the free use Of picnic
parties in the summer, and down within a
hundred yards of tho railroad is the ocean,
rolling in onto beach that rivals that of
Cape May, and is unequaled by those at
the other New Jersey seaside resorts.
The beach extends for seventy miles
almost without curve, and Is un-
broken by rock or ridge, and
decline to the ocean
sparltles with Silvery Sand and
Beautiful Shells.
Standing under the portico of the pavil-
ion one can sec along the beach from Cape
Henry, six miles to tho north, to life.
saving station No. 3, eight miles to the
south, and out over the ocean as far as the
eye can reach and where the white sails
of vessels look like sea-gulls on the hori-
Zon.
In Natural Attractions
it is difficult to see how seaside resort
could excel Virginia Beach perfect as it
is In itself, with surf and beach unsur-
passed on the Atlantic coast, and possess
ing none of the dangers to bathers that
mar some Of the other beaches, 1t is en-
HANGED by the fact that Lynn Haven Bay,
in the immediate neighborhood, affords
the finest oysters on the coast, while fish
are plentiful and delicious, and paradise
for the hunter is offered within walking
distance by the immense numbers of wild
duck and other game.
The beach is flanked by
A beautiful Fresh Water Lake,
tbree-quarters of a mile in length, and one
of chain of lakes extending through this
portion of eastern Virginia and which af-
ford opportunities for boating and the
kinds of fishing and hunting which are not
generally found at the ocean.
Virginia Beach has been stakcd out into
lois on which gentlemen oil N0rfolk, Ports
mouth, Richmond and n few from Washing.
ton are preparing to erect cottages for the
coming season, and from Norfolk series of
excursions and picnics to the Beach have
been arranged 1t Is universally conceded
that Virginia Beach Is very healthy re-
sort, free from chills and malaria aud mos
quitoes and affording the only direct and
convenient means by which the people Of
the South can enjoy at small expense and
little loss of time the delights of sea bath
ing and sea breezes.
At the pavilion tho excursionists were
entertained by the proprietors of the restau-
rant, Messrs Barry King and Worthington
Smith, and partook of sumptuous dinner
composed of the products of the immediate
vicinity of the beach, and which in variety
and excellence could not have been sur
passed.
Late In tho afternoon the party resumed
their seats in the cars and started on the
return trip, reaching the Leary's wharf at
Norfolk ut 8 D. M, and reaching Washing
ton on Sunday morning after stormy
night on the bay and river, and feeling un-
der many obligations to the companies
whose guests they had been, aud to Mr.. 1.
B. Linton, to whose personal efforts and
supervision the comfort of the trip was
largely due.