Saturday, August 2, 2025 — we had a quiet morning onboard. For lunch, we went to a Japanese restaurant called Fuji Hana Sushi, which was attached to the Magnuson Hotel. It was good value for the money and was run by a nice Japanese family.

Even though we were a short walk from Ocean View beach, we hadn’t gone yet. We’d heard that the beach was popular with families with young children as the waves were usually small. First of all, it was in the bay, so the waves coming in from the ocean weren’t usually as big as the waves on the Virginia Beach oceanfront. And there were breakers, which kept the waves from hitting the shore.

Since we were carrying gear, we drove over to one of the marinas on the north side of Little Creek, where we met up with the family on a boat named Blue Heeler that we’d met at the Latino Music Festival. From their marina, we made the short walk north to the beach.

The day that we’d arrived in Little Creek, we’d mentioned that the area on the north side of Little Creek looked like it was high density condos and/or hotels, and they looked new. Our neighbors in the marina had told us that it was one big development and it had recently been completed — as in months ago, not years ago. When we asked what was there before, they’d said “Not much, and the little that was there was derelict.” The neighbors had told us that this new development has led to gentrification in the general Little Creek area, and the community was quickly becoming nicer and safer.

The development was lovely. The housing was all high density, and it was a mix of various types. There were some apartment buildings (or maybe condos), some attached townhouses, some duplexes, and some detached single family residences with tiny yards.

There were a few small green areas, too, which helped it from feeling too cramped.

There was a grass area separating the beach from the housing.

There was a wind advisory warning people to stay off the beaches since it was big waves, so we hadn’t expected to see many families there. However, it was packed! The temperature was in the high 70s and pleasant (though still humid), so it was a nice day to be out. The waves were coming over the breakers and hitting the beach. And while the waves were much bigger than normal here, since normal was flat, they really weren’t that big.

Our plan had been to go for a walk on the beach, but it was high tide and the water basically was up to the grass line along the majority of the shore. The kids played in the water for a while, then we headed back. As we were leaving, we noticed a small sign. It said that in the 1920s, a group of Norfolk’s black citizens wanted to find a strip of land that could be turned into a public bleach for blacks. In January 1930, the Norfolk City Counsel passed an ordinance to buy this 11-acre strip of land from the Pennsylvania Railroad to make it a public black beach. Over the next 5-years, whites tried to stop the beach from opening, and the case made it all the way to the State Supreme Court and the State Corporation Commission. City Beach finally opened on June 16, 1935, with amenities that included a bathhouse, boardwalk, and recreation hall.

For dinner, we went to a restaurant called Longboard’s, which was directly opposite the marina that Kosmos was docked in. Most of the sunrise photos we’ve posted here in Little Creek have Longboard’s in them. Here was the view of Kosmos from Longboard’s.

Inside, it was decorated to look like a tropical palapa bar. The food was good and the portions generous.

This time, we’d walked. As we were walking to the restaurant and again as we were walking back, we noticed there were many families walking around together. Up until now, we’d seen very few people walking around, so we were surprised by the big numbers. We probably shouldn’t have been so surprised. Now that it was later in the day, the temperature had gone from “not too hot” to ideal. Who wouldn’t want to walk around when it was so pleasant out? Especially after being stuck inside from the extreme heat for so long?