Things to Do in Chesapeake

The soaring, off-Broadway musical sensation, based on the Gospel of Matthew, strings together a series of musical parables about the life and times of Jesus Christ. Set to Stephen Schwartz’s modern music with traditional hymnal lyrics, the rousing musical is directed by Regent University’s Department of Theatre chair Eric Harrell and features the dazzling dancing and singing of the university’s student performers.

The package includes:

The Quilting Bee delights needle workers of all abilities with an assortment of stitch-ameliorating merchandise and a variety of classes. Expert instructors schedule the individualized 2.5-hour table-runner class around students’ busy timetables, allowing seam assemblers to craft a 16”x40” table runner for bare-midriffed buffets in between meetings, family outings, or sustainable needle harvesting. No previous sewing or thimble-modeling experience is necessary to attend the table-runner class thanks to adroit thread tutors who answer any questions and guide pupils through the perils of needle-based fabric taming. Since The Quilting Bee provides a pre-cut fabric kit to all class takers and lends sewing machines to those who don’t have their own, students can leave their spinning jennies and gold-plated bobbins at home.

Exclusively Middle Eastern Belly Dance!

Chilled Ponds Ice & Turf Complex features a 200'x100' climate-controlled, indoor turf field, which is the first in Hampton Roads to be created from professional-level rubber infill turf. Watch your child score the game-tying goal in Chilled Ponds' professional soccer nets while he or she participates in a 12-week soccer league, which includes a free T-shirt. The schedule for the leagues is still being set, but games will most likely take place on weekend mornings. Players who need to brush up on dribbling, shooting, and passing skills can register for the fall soccer academy, which lasts for three hours each week. Chilled Ponds' approachable, professional instructors teach students the game from a team's perspective, meaning teamwork and a group mindset are emphasized, rather than solitude and solitary contemplations about aloneness. Call ahead to register.

Walking across the dock to Nauticus, visitors' eyes are inevitably drawn to the sleeping giant nestled up alongside it: the 850-foot battleship Wisconsin. One of the largest battleships ever built by the United States Navy, its massive, 16-inch guns lent their firepower to WWII, Korea, and Operation Desert Storm. The hulking warship is now retired, its gigantic mass a testament to both its immense power and the strength of the open ocean whose waves it once plied.

This dichotomy between peaceful repose and thundering wrath is fully embraced by Nauticus, immersing visitors in exhibits that explore the ocean and man’s use of it at their most peaceful and destructive. On the Wisconsin, visitors can tour crew messes and officer lounges, getting a taste of naval life. Inside the center, permanent exhibits include Our Mighty Seaport, which delves into Norfolk's busy maritime commerce, with real-time updates on ships sailing past and an observation deck overlooking the port. Turning to nature, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Science on a Sphere exhibit simulates extreme weather conditions on a 6-foot video sphere. In Horseshoe Crab Cove, visitors can pet starfish, crabs, and sea urchins without having to take turns with nearby seagulls.

Following Memorial Day weekend, the Nauticus will host new features to their exhibits such as access to new interior areas of the battleship [Wisconsin], including the chapel, post office, a section of enlisted berthing, and dental office, a WWII era song and dance revue, and an interactive top secret mission on board the ship.