You could say David Ratcliff lives by the R’s found in the hierarchy of waste: reduce, reuse, recycle and robots. Yes, robots. Ratcliff repurposes, restyles and reimagines miscellaneous materials and found objects for his line of Ratbots—skillfully sculptured artwork made…
Photos by Ashlee Glen Sometimes it feels like we live in a time of almost total food-confusion. Science keeps changing its mind about what is healthy—and what was good for you last year might very well kill you now. New…
Five p.m. found me dashing from my home-office to the car, fumbling with the ignition switch as I told Google to call my 12-year-old son and glanced at the rearview mirror in hopes that, please Lord, I hadn’t (yet again)…
Make a couple of turns off Mill Dam Road in Virginia Beach and you might just think you’ve arrived in Palm Springs. But, no, you will have stumbled onto Woodhurst, Coastal Virginia’s premier enclave of Mid-Century Modern homes built back…
Plastic water bottles, billboard vinyl and pineapple leaf fiber. Those are the three ingredients to the rapid success of local handbag designer Hamilton Perkins. After spending nearly a decade in the finance and retail arenas, Perkins decided to use his…
Dr. Jonathan Strand, M.D., an interventional physiatrist at Atlantic Orthopaedic Specialists, has been practicing medicine in Coastal Virginia for two years. During that time, he has talked to patients about spinal cord stimulators a couple of times a week—every week.…
Ask any marathon runner: the hardest part of most challenges is mental. And that includes substantial changes to lifestyle like the way we cook and eat. But if you or your doctor has determined that you need to clean things…
Saturday night in Norfolk’s downtown NEON Arts District often finds stand-up comic and founder of Norfolk’s Push Comedy Theater Brad McMurran leading his celebrated improv troupe through a rendition of his smash-hit The Unusual Suspects: An Improvised Murder Mystery. The show has sold…
Some food trucks in Coastal Virginia are shifting into permanent digs. One of the latest is Hangry’s, setting up shop in a sunny little spot in Thalia Bay Shoppes. Its toque-wearing calavera logo with knife and fork “crossbones” heralds a…
Photos courtesy of Destruction Room "The number one thing people like to smash is printers," says Aaron Pope, the co-owner of Destruction Room, a destination place for folks who want to get their catharsis on. Destruction Room opened last year,…
Bailey Ryan is on the forefront of the creative plant industry. Her trendy Oceanfront workshop fosters education and imagination and has sparked a resurgence in modern green spaces. PlantBar’s story, however, is also rooted in the passion and entrepreneurship of…
As the unbearable summer heat fades into refreshing evenings complemented by crickets chirping and frogs croaking, one of our favorite activities is embarking in a good old-fashioned family camping trip. No matter where you reside in Coastal Virginia, you don’t have…
On Friday, June 21 Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce Director Evelyn Shotwell was bustling around downtown’s Robert N. Reed Waterfront Park preparing to launch the town’s new 50 Years of Love summer concert series. It was late afternoon and Main Street…
The term mindfulness gets a lot of play these days. The concept has come far since flower children introduced it to American pop culture in the 1960s. Today, it alludes to a groundbreaking new science of wellbeing and stands at…
Technology today is being designed to help people do things better and faster, and local private schools are certainly taking notice. Through the use of technology, private school teachers are better able to customize the learning process for their students…
Photo by David Uhrin At the end of September, the Neptune Festival brings hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront for a seaside celebration. Neptune is a nexus for coastal culture and benevolent beach life where the…
Coastal Virginia has so much to offer visitors. It’s no wonder that people flock here to take advantage of our beaches, the area’s history, our entertainment venues, prime food choices and an amazing list of other unique things to see and…
Don’t head to the new Town Center Cold Pressed on Ghent’s 21st Street for your morning juice or java; it doesn’t open until 5 p.m. That might come as a head-scratcher for frequenters of its other three cafes. But if…
Cancer does not discriminate. Whether these malignancies are caused by genetics, environmental exposure or simply bad luck, the road to recovery is harrowing and unfortunately, not always guaranteed. Men are particularly susceptible to a handful of cancers that carry a…
“Like Superman.” That’s how Carl Parker describes the way he feels when he wakes up each morning. “I had a friend send me a text and say, ‘I am not going to be surprised on the day you tell me…
It’s been said that home is where the heart is. So, when an individual or couple feels the time is right to move to an independent or assisted living community, they should follow their heart and choose a place where…
Usually when entering a fried chicken joint, the first thing to hit you is the fragrant aromas of frying oil and poultry. When you walk through the double doors of BoBo’s Fine Chicken, however, you smell, well, nothing. The retro-style…
Ask almost anyone who lives on the Outer Banks what their favorite time of the year is, and there’s a good chance the answer will be fall. The heat of the summer has backed off a bit, the ocean water…
Kenny Sloane, chef-owner of Fin Seafood in Newport News, is as keen with wordplay as he is with cuisine. To wit: Fin and Tonic, a tapas bar and speakeasy he’s planning in North Suffolk that casually merges the “Tapas Tuesdays”…
