June 29-July 5th- Timeshare Exchange through Interval International – 2 Adults, no kids – Did you ever wonder if going on vacation was worth it? Took us 5 hours to get to Va. Beach (normally 2 ½ hour trip); traffic was terrible.- Room – Checked in at aprox 3:30 pm; room was ready. Originally assigned to rm 202; King Neptune Suite; all of the “_02 rooms are this configuration (202, 302, 402, etc.) and only this one row all the way to the 12th floor; these rooms have a double balcony (which is very nice and sunny); full kitchen area, queen size bed; the room is laid out horizontally, rather than vertically as most rooms are. The rooms had been refurbished with new carpet (although not put in very well), and updated furniture. There were several problems. Bugs….we had the balcony door open for about 15 minutes…the room filled with flies and what appeared to be some sort of knat or sand fleas. I would have preferred to be on a higher floor, as I thought this might be a problem closer to ground floor, and indeed it was. There was debris on the bathroom wall (suffice it to say, of very unpleasant origin) and my husband killed one of the sand flea bugs, only to find it filled with blood. I am not exaggerating here. We tried to make the best of it for one day, but when my husband returned from the beach only to find the counter covered in sand fleas, he had had enough. We went to the front desk and requested a room change. They finally accommodated us with a new room on about 4:30 on that second day. Rm 1211….it was on the top floor; it had two double beds and was laid out vertically, with the entrance into the bedroom. The bathroom was bigger; the kitchen smaller. The refrigerator was dented and did not have an interior door on the freezer compartment. As soon as we went out to check out the balcony, in came the flies and sand fleas. We did not leave the door open at all this time, except long enough to open and shut it. I was amazed there were still that many bugs that high up. It might have been the humidity; it might have been the smoke in the air from the Carolina fires, or it just might have been the time of year for them. Back in the day, you could leave your balcony doors open all the time and not have one bug in the room. The room did not have a stove; the microwave was in poor condition, but it did barely work. They charge you $1 a day for the safe in the room, whether you use it or not. If you turn in your Interval review before Wednesday, they will comp you a free movie – we didn’t ever watch our free movie, so instead they didn’t charge us for the safe rental. The walls are paper thin, and we had to put up with rowdy neighbors until 2am for at least two nights. The rooftop pool is small, but they are trying hard to increase their activities offerings (karoke, crafts, luau, dive-in movies, etc.). The declining manners and consideration of the clientele is part of the resort’s problem; the resort tries hard to keep up with repairs and fixing things that inconsiderate visitors have broken or ruined. It’s a shame people have to behave that badly. As far as the beach was concerned , the water was cold but very clear. Beach was crowded on weekends, but not so bad during the week. On July 4th, the worst of the worst came out. It was like ants on a sugar cube at the beach. All types and groups of people were vying for their little piece of sand right at the ocean’s edge. They bogarted their way in front of people who had gone through the effort of getting their early in order to get a nice spot with a good view of the ocean’s edge. They came in groups of 20-25, with naked children of an age too old to be in a state of undress, and plopped down their umbrellas, towels, bedsheets (yes, I said bedsheets – and fitted ones at that), coolers and chairs, right in front of you, on a small parcel of beachfront sand big enough for maybe three beach towels. It was disheartening.- We ate at Planet Pizza – loved it (fresh big salads, good hot pizza, outdoor seating, and clean); Ammos Greek Restaurant – luke warm (good greek salad; great hummus appitizer, my Pastitsio dinner was cold and not so fresh, inside dining area smelled musty); Olive Garden – Good soup and salad lunch special; Ricks Café (Va. Beach Blvd – terrible – stays packed because of huge smoking section); Mahi Mahs – (lunch BOGO special – average); Black Angus ( BOGO special ½ lb sirloin dinner – very good). My recommendation is to save yourself some disappointment and stick to the chain restaurants that are out by Lynhaven Mall.- Beach Stores – Most stank – smelled musty and dank; merchandise is definitely sub-par; you can’t even get a nice sweatshirt with your own decal on it anymore (which used to be quite fun at the beach). Atlantic Ave. atmosphere is suffering and has gone downhill from a year ago. They’ve added musicians on street from 17th to about 24th street, which is a nice touch, but they’ve also gone back to seedy bars with sexually orientated entertainment, head shops, and tattoo joints. I saw a big rat run across Atlantic Ave. one evening. In one year, the place is starting to decline rapidly. We went to First Landing State Park ; there was a good exhibit of First Landing historical event; nice beach on the bay; camp grounds. To see the lighthouses and historical monuments you have to go through Fort Story Military Base; you will be subject to a security search to enter; do it, it’s worth it. Lynhaven Mall is just a basic mall; nothing special; they do have plenty of chain restaurants around there though, and a DSW shoe store! As far as the Fourth of July Festivities went, it was pretty poor for a beach resort area in the founding state of Virginia; there should have been a much greater display of flags, military band concerts, and perhaps a military or veterans parade. They could have even had a boardwalk parade with bikes, kids, dogs, and the like, to give it a hometown feel. To sum it up, the beach is only as nice as the people who come to it. Is it better than Florida or Carolina beaches – no. Is it better than Maryland or NJ beaches – yes. Is there room for improvement - definitely.