Buckroe Beach - Hampton, VA

The “Buck Roe” Plantation, designated as public land for English settlers in 1619, was used for tobacco fields and as a fishing camp until the late 19th century. After the C&O Railroad reached Buckroe in 1882, entrepreneurs began popularizing the area for visitors, building a boardinghouse, public bathhouse, electric trolley car line, hotel, a pavilion for dancing and an amusement park.

The amusement park and adjacent public beach thrived until 1985, eventually succumbing to competition from Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. Although the popular Buckroe Beach fishing pier was destroyed during Hurricane Isabel in 2003, it was rebuilt and reopened in 2009. Other recent city-funded improvements have helped revive the area.

The family-oriented beach features a children’s playground, vendors and a large pavilion, which hosts seasonal performances. The Buckroe Beach community is now comprised of modest neighborhoods and a few businesses and shopping areas.

For information on the civil war, visit the local Fort Monroe's Casemate Museum. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday and admission is free.

The modest Buckroe Beach area hosts casual restaurants and a laidback nightlife. Restaurants scatter along Mallory Avenue, Nickerson Boulevard, Pembroke Avenue and Buckroe Avenue.

At Heaven's Pizza and TapHouse, find cheesy, gooey, thin-crust pizza with a hint of the wood-fired oven. The pies come covered with creative toppings such as the wing pie made buffalo-chicken style or the Buckroe pizza with chicken, jalapeños, pineapple and onion. Not all that glitters here is pizza, though — locals know to go for the bison dog, a bison hot dog wrapped in homemade dough stuffed with any pizza toppings your palate desires. The beer selections include domestics and rotating taps of quality craft beer from well-respected brands such as Stone, Founders and Virginia breweries. Heaven's doesn't sell wine, but it promotes BYOB wine — you bring in your own wine for just a $5 corkage fee or a $1 corkage fee special on Wednesday.

The Ethereal Cupcakes And Coffee Shoppe sells a selection of homemade gourmet cupcakes and serves them up a hot cup of espresso. Made with organic ingredients, these cupcakes can even be made to order.

The plain brick façade at Josh's Bar and Grill doesn't seem enticing, but the food makes you happy you came. Try a tender steak served on a sizzling platter or a juicy burger topped with crispy bacon. Find year-round nightlife at Josh's Bar and Grill, and enjoy the big game on its 10 TVs. Come here when you want live entertainment, including dancing, live music on Friday nights, DJ and karaoke on Saturday nights and special party events.

Although residents use automobiles as a primary means of transportation, sidewalks near the beachfront and lining the main roads make biking and walking safe, while the residential neighborhoods back from the beach are wide enough to accommodate cars, pedestrians and bikes.

Hampton Roads Transit provides economic public transportation for the region. You can find convenient bus stops along Pembroke Avenue, North Mallory Street and Buckroe Avenue. A phone call can summon a cab. Uber also services Buckroe Beach and the surrounding Hampton Roads region.

Parking is plentiful near Buckroe Beach and Park, in the neighborhoods and at the small strip shopping areas. A major Hampton Roads highway, Interstate 64, is approximately a mile west of the neighborhood.

Residents and visitors find outdoor recreation and entertainment at family-friendly Buckroe Beach & Park. Facing the Chesapeake Bay, the eight-acre park provides ¾ miles of sandy beach on the sedate bay waters. Shelters, grills, a children’s playground, restroom facilities (open May 15 through Sept. 15, 10 am - 6 pm), a large fishing pier and ample free parking make it easy to spend many hours there on a warm, sunny day. You also find plenty of open space for lounging, playing touch football or tossing Frisbees. Footpaths and sidewalks allow for easy strolling, jogging or biking.

Park rangers service the site year-round and lifeguards patrol the beach seasonally, from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

If you need equipment to further enhance your beach experience, you can rent kayaks and paddleboats here. Though use of the park is free, rental rates apply.

A stage pavilion provides the platform for warm weather festivities, including the Annual Reggae Fest in May, Groovin’ by the Bay on Sundays and POMOCO Family Movie Series on Tuesdays.

Dogs are not allowed in the park from May 15 to Sept. 15.

The cost of living in Buckroe Beach, a neighborhood of Hampton, Virginia, lies below the national average and nearby downtown Hampton. The average rental rate for a one-bedroom residence is $688.

A single trip on the Hampton Roads Transit (HRT), which provides economic public transportation for the entire region, costs $1.75, while the 1-day HRT GoPass costs $4.00. This fare takes you to downtown Hampton as well as other regional stops.

At a local pub, beer runs from $2.25 happy-hour prices for domestics to $4, on draft and in bottles, with higher prices for craft beers when available.

The neighborhood gas average generally rests at 7 percent less than the national average.

Several small strip malls and scattered businesses cluster mostly along two main thoroughfares, Pembroke Avenue and Nickerson Boulevard. The area has budget retail stores and services to meet necessities rather than high-end stores or boutiques.

Buckroe Shopping Center on Pembroke Avenue houses a range of retail shops, servicing residents at Beach Hardware, Rite-Aid, Citi Trends budget department store, Family Dollar and other small businesses.

For local grocery shopping, residents can go to Save-A-Lot Food Store on Pembroke Avenue, which features off-brand groceries at lower prices. Two smaller markets on Buckroe Avenue near the beach provide grocery basics as well, Little E's Grocery and Buckroe Beach Market.