Things To Do In Newport News

For many, owning a yacht is as unlikely as parallel parking a yacht on the eighth try. Since 2001, SailTime Virginia Beach has been dedicated to ousting these doubts with an innovative and affordable model for boat access. In addition to its membership and ownership programs, the business hires USCG-licensed master captains to take the helm for charters on their fleet of Hunter sailing vessels, which range from the 22' Hunter 216 to the 36' Hunter 36. When traversing the cresting waves, passengers may spot pods of porpoises, who often leap out of the water to high-five onlookers. Those wishing to sharpen their own nautical skills can enroll in SailTime's ASAC-certified sailing school.

At CinéBistro, a luxurious dining theater, patrons settle into wide cushioned seats as they watch the latest action flicks and comedies flicker on the silver screen. Viewing companions alternate drawing buttery, salty puffed maize out of a shared tub of popcorn, hoping to find Gene Hackman's golden business card buried somewhere inside. Although not included with this Groupon, CinéBistro serves seated cinema aficionados a wide menu of appetizers, entrees, and desserts to complement their popcorn, from a caesar salad for a light meal ($10.75) to a pan-seared Atlantic salmon cooked to order ($19.50). Dessert indulgences include a deconstructed peanut-butter pie ($8), and liquid indulgences proffer a wine list full of international vintages to guzzle during foreign movies, as well as domestic and imported beers, martinis, and cocktails.

A row of flags hangs in solidarity from the rafters above an indoor ice rink, uniting Canada, the USA, and Sweden in the one passion that they all have in common: hockey. Iceland of Hampton Roads fosters this love of icy sports in skaters of all ages and experience levels via youth hockey leagues, synchronized skating classes, and lessons, in which instructors introduce students as young as age 3 to their reflections in the ice. Both youths and adults compete in 20-game seasons in hockey leagues utilizing USA Hockey rules, and during synchronized skating classes, teams of 8 to 20 skaters choreograph complex skating formations, such as the parallel pinwheel—in which lines of skaters rotate in unison—or the flying V—which they use to head south for the winter.

Owner Jessica Jones-Healey founded Tidewater Studios for the Arts Inc. in 2009 as a noncompetitive forum for kids to practice performing and visual arts. Winner of a 2011 Virginian-Pilot Reader's Choice Award for Best Dance Studio and Best Performing Arts Academy in Portsmouth, Western Branch, Churchland, and North Suffolk, the facility inspires children with engaging explorations into the joys of hand-made art, hand-played music, and hands-free dance.

From its four locations around Hampton Roads, Cinema Cafe combines old-fashioned American cuisine with first- and second-run films. The multisensory experience has garnered the movie houses a total of 11 gold medals in the Virginia-Pilot's Best of Hampton Roads 2012 awards. Thanks to a roaming wait staff, diners can place their orders mid-film and enjoy them right in the theater, a practice that discourages pizza scalpers from stalking customers in the lobby.

The family-fun center boasts three 18-hole miniature golf courses, a full snack bar, and more than 40 video games, redemption games, and prize games congregating in a state-of-the-art arcade. Open year-round, Play A Round Golf & Games presents myriad opportunities to impress the rest of the family with skills you never thought you had.