Things to Do in Virginia Beach

Experience one of the fastest games played on two feet in the U.S.'s premier professional lacrosse league. The six-team league pits the best post-college lacrosse players against one another in regular-season games each year, before culminating with playoffs and a championship weekend to crown the victor in late August. During the weekend match, the Chicago Machine, a traveling team, will take on the Long Island Lizards at the open-air Columbus Crew Stadium, in a high-energy contact battle for lacrossical domination. Bring the family for a wholesome weekend activity, and acquaint the kids with the burgeoning professional sport.

Apart from the number of respective members and guests, the benefits of the Otter and Crab memberships are exactly the same. Both grant you a year of unlimited admission—including express entry through the mythical members' entrance—and, if you travel in an especially large school, both grant up to four additional guests half-off entry when accompanied by a cardholding member (per day). Although prices vary, today's deal offers you a year's access to the aquarium at a cost comparable to a single day's admission for the same number of people.

It’s fitting that Grand Slam 2’s name suggests a sequel, as the baseball complex’s team of instructors consists of former collegiate coaches and athletes who continue their involvement in the sport even after hanging up their game-day cleats. In classes, camps, and clinics, these instructors impart their appreciation for baseball as they build their students’ hitting and fielding skills from the ground up. Though the facility’s batting cages play an important role in correcting swings, sessions may also include off-field weight training—this is especially true for pitching classes, which aim to bulk up throwing arms in preparation for more serious competition. At winter and summer hitting academies, bats crack against approaching baseballs like the whip of an exceptionally demanding coach.

Players can put their newfound skills to the test in the Tidewater Bombers baseball program, a competitive, age-appropriate league that imparts the principles of teamwork through live-action games. To prepare for league games, check out Grand Slam 2's pro shop, which stocks bats, gloves, and terrifying masks for psyching out opposing pitchers.

Anchored by a trio of experienced aces—including PGA-certified director of instruction Ed Collins and owner Dave Williams—Hampton Roads Golf Academy travels to courses throughout the greater Hampton Roads area to spread the pastime of golf. The pros wake each morning to the sound of humming lawnmowers and giggling 9-irons to keep alive their golf enthusiasm, which they impart in private, group, and on-course lessons. The academy’s V1 video analysis software helps instructors shed light on the murky abyss of pupils’ swings, playing back each shot in slow motion to pinpoint the root cause of each unsightly slice and snap hook. Hampton Roads Golf Academy holds lessons at four area courses, two of which boast covered and heated ranges to allow for lessons during chilly winters or divot hailstorms.

The brainchild of veteran wedding DJ Shawn Cox and wedding coordinator Carolyn Stark, The Boardwalk Photo Booth Company sets itself apart from run-of-the-mill portable studios by offering vintage-style booths with classy wood-grain exteriors. A winner of The Knot's 2012 Best of Weddings award, Boardwalk fortifies each booth with a high-resolution Canon digital camera and professional flash system, capturing subjects as they mug on comfy benches built for two or three.

Behind the booth's velvet curtain, partygoers model licensed props from movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter, along with feather boas, glittering crowns, and spectacles. A high-speed digital printer churns out smudge-resistant memories as a booth specialist lurks nearby to fix technical problems, encourage participation, and serenade the booth for a job well done.

Kangaroo Jac's avenue of inflatable structures bustles with giggling swarms of children 10 and younger. During walk-in play, youngsters milk the all-access admission by repeatedly plummeting down the safe but steep fortress slide, hurdling over obstacles in the Millennium combo, and exploring the 1,000 square feet Adrenaline maze, elaborate enough to house a balloon animal Citizen Kane. Staff members help organize and clean up after parties, hosted in a private room where each child can gorge themselves on pizza, drinks, and birthday wishes. The parent area's WiFi keeps adults up-to-date on national news, whereas the toddler-only Dino Lake inflatable area keeps tots up to date on local gibberish.