A to Z Summer Fun in Coastal Virginia
Summer, summer, summertime. Time to sit back and unwind. And, wow, do we ever need it after the last year. So, take a cue from a classic by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, relax and enjoy yourself this…
Issue Page Features
Mushroom Magic with Capstone Mushroom Owner Ryan Stabb
“They’ve been under our feet and beside us all through history,” says Ryan Stabb. What? Children? Dogs? Stones? No, Ryan Stabb, owner of Capstone Mushroom, was referring to the humble, hardworking fungus. Edible, medicinal and “recreational” mushrooms have a long…
Cream of the CROP
When 21-year-old Beatriz Balderas, mentor for the new Norfolk-based nonprofit CROP Foundation culinary education and agricultural program, dreamed up a recent dessert special of brown butter carrot ice cream with parsley cake and rose custard, she was drawing on her…
Farm Market Fresh
If you’re a young man in spring, your fancy’s lightly turning to thoughts of love (per Tennyson) or baseball (per sports pundits). But if you’re a foodie (young, old, any gender), your fancy’s veering towards farmers markets. Or so says…
Mushrooms in Tarragon Cream Recipe
As a teen and young adult, I enjoyed mushrooms as a tasty, low-calorie topping on salads and baked potatoes. But I was unaware of their nutritional value. In fact, the physician father of one of my grad school roommates was…
Coastal Virginia Farm Market Guide
April showers not only bring May flowers, but handpicked fruits, locally grown lettuce and Chesapeake Bay bites to farmers markets throughout Coastal Virginia. From the first sign of spring to the Hunter’s Moon in October, our region is flush with…
Bad to the Bone: Animal Behavior Questions
To a pet papa or mama, Crazy Stupid Love is more than a movie title: The words describe our cats and dogs, the silly, occasionally infuriating, heart stealers we worship. To help us cope with our furry friends’ less-than-perfect ways,…
A New Life for Gus and Stella
By Kimberly Sherlaw Huddled in wire crates, siblings Gus and Stella arrived at the Norfolk SPCA unable even to look in the direction of a…
Pet Issue Profiles
As anyone who has loved a dog, cat or other animal companion knows, our four-legged friends are so much more than that. During the pandemic, the special bond we share with our pets seemed all the more meaningful when the…
New Dimensions in Dentistry
Remember when you used to go to the dentist or orthodontist, and they would mix up that putty-like impression material in order to make a mold of your teeth? Well, thanks to a modern innovation in radiography, the same thing…
2020 Giving Back Awards Winners
While this year may be one most of us are anxious to put in the rearview mirror, 2020 was also a time when those willing to be of service to their communities reflected the best of human nature while faced…
2020 Community Impact Awards Winners
The businesses listed on the following pages—from food trucks to law firms, dental practices to security agencies—do so much more than serve customers. Please join us in celebrating our Community Impact honorees for all the ways they go above and…
2020 Nonprofit of the Year: Survivor Ventures
“In the movies, [human trafficking] is this big kidnapping situation. You’re taken away and never heard from again, but it’s not like that. It’s actually the complete opposite. Most of the time, it’s the people that you trust, love and…
Cancer in the Time of COVID
Battling cancer is difficult enough without extraneous circumstances or complications. Trying to do it while there is an international pandemic going on makes the fight that much more difficult. But that’s exactly where Deanna McRae King found herself after doing…
Do Viruses Discriminate?
Our country ended the first quarter of 2020 entering lockdown over COVID-19—a disease to which no one was seemingly immune, but which claims Black and Latino lives at nearly twice the rate of white lives in the U.S. As the…
Coastal Virginia Fall Arts Preview
By some estimates, 90% of the world’s museums—art, science and everything in…
A Historic Makeover for the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg
Living history, taverns and binderies, oh my! The Colonial Williamsburg that Virginians know and love has always been all that and much more. In fact, it is the world’s largest living history museum. But as of June 14, 2020, it…
Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Manali Patel is Up for the COVID-19 Challenge
Dr. Manali Patel’s kind nature is apparent when she speaks, with her soft voice earning a listener’s trust. Also obvious: Her penchant for hard work and proneness for heartache. “At first…
Virginia is for Park Lovers
A narrow path ascends the banks of the nearby Broad Bay—the deep blue waters reflecting colored ripples from the rustling leaves of towering trees. The trail is heavily trodden, riddled with foliage and sand, and it is quiet, save the occasional crescendo of songbirds or quick staccato of a woodpecker's beak. When traversing the grounds of…
History Happens at Coastal Virginia Outdoor Attractions
Virginia is, quite literally, at the forefront of American history. The Commonwealth is the birthplace of our nation’s most significant settlements and most influential leaders. For centuries, our local soil produced bountiful harvests and bore the brunt of shipwrecks and…
Norfolk Botanical Garden Plants the Seed for Lifelong Grown, Learning and Innovation
We all have specific cities, venues and events we use to chronicle our lives. For some, their adolescence is archived by summer vacations along the Sandbridge shores or recorded by screams on the corkscrew turns of Busch Garden’s Alpengeist. For most Southside residents, however, their personal histories are tightly intertwined with Norfolk Botanical Garden.…
Uncomfortable Conversations
Our country is at a turning point. I never thought I’d see, in my lifetime, a civil rights movement for racial equality. Images of people marching down city streets and protesting outside city halls and police stations harken back to…
Back to the Beaches We Love
When you settle down in your hometown, you often take for granted its allure—its infinite sites, attractions and natural beauty that illicit jealousy in out-of-towners and spark marvel in new residents. We Coastal Virginians know this better than anyone. What we…
2020 Coastal Virginia Magazine Healthcare Heroes
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed life for everyone, but—aside from coronavirus patients and their families—no one more so than healthcare professionals. These brave men and women are not only putting their own lives at risk, but they are also providing…
