With FREE museums, public access to the beach, and Food Network eats, Norfolk is a great place to visit with kids.
Here are general tips before you start your journey:
- When booking your hotel stay, having FREE breakfast included helps with time and cost.
- Set a budget and stick with it.
- Staying over the weekend is usually more expensive. If you have the flexibility, book your stays for during the week. For this trip, Saturday was our travel day and Day 1 in Norfolk was on a Sunday.
Day 0: Dinner at The Dirty Buffalo
Travel day is often not productive but we decided to try a restaurant featured in Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. We ended up at The Dirty Buffalo where we tried out their chicken wings in different sauces. I liked the sweeter sauces while my husband enjoyed the tangy (a little bit spicy) buffalo soldier sauce–the same sauce Guy Fieri tried when he visited. We got the Dirty Mac and Cheese which was a good pairing for the wings, and was really cheesy, the onion rings were crunchy and the batter did not fall apart after a bite–just the way we like it.
Day 1: Hermitage Museum and Norfolk Tides at Harbor Park
Hermitage Museum and Gardens is a wonderful estate owned by the Sloane family who donated their home and collection of artwork to the Hermitage Foundation to “promote arts within the community”. Their wonderful collection includes ancient Tang dynasty art as well as Russian icons. The house is situated in the midst of 12 acres of gardens with the Lafayette River providing a relaxing scenic view. Admission is FREE and it is open from Tuesdays to Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
TIP: Start with the museum then explore the grounds. This allows the children to let off some steam.
Lunch Suggestion: Grilled Cheese Bistro, where the sandwich portions are big so your young ‘uns can easily split one, is a joint visited by Guy Fieri for his show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Kids will love the sweet flavor of “The Orchard” (pork belly, apple jam, brie, mozzarella on sourdough), and the “GCB BLT” was also a winner. (Closed Mondays and Tuesdays).
TIP: We ordered 3 sandwiches for everyone to taste and try (to avoid having too many leftovers and waste!)
After lunch, head on over to catch a game at Harbor Park where the Baltimore Oriole’s Triple A farm–the Norfolk Tides–play. This super kid-friendly event keeps the young ones entertained with games and gimmicks in between innings. Stroll up to the Kids Zone where they can get a picture with the mascots, Riptide and Triton. Make sure they bring their gloves to catch that foul ball.
TIP: Purchase tickets online to get a discount!
Day 2: Nauticus/USS Wisconsin and Pagoda Garden
This was the highlight of our trip! One ticket takes you to the Nauticus Maritime Discovery Center and the USS Wisconsin, which was the largest battleship ever. The website says it takes 1-2 hours to visit both, but from our experience, we actually spent 4-5 hours! Depending on everyone’s stamina, this may vary but we went through every single room in the USS Wisconsin (which is the size of 3 football fields) and almost every exhibit at the Discovery Center and we came out like we really got our money’s worth. My children got a little bit of maritime military history (which is awesome!) and they got to do a lot of hands-on activities at the discovery center where they played with a life-sized Battleship game and used a big crane to try to grab some balls. This was one museum that we all came out happy and satisfied.
TIP: You may want to do this in the afternoon instead of the morning if you foresee that you may spend 4-5 hours here. Otherwise, it is a full morning.
Lunch suggestion: From the exit, walk a couple of blocks towards Benny Damato’s Pizza (Home of the Virginia Slice), where they serve JUMBO slice pepperoni and cheese pizzas. Be prepared to wait as they are made to order, but it is worth it to have a fresh slice of thin crust pizza. Seating may be limited.
TIP: Avoid the lunch and dinner hours if you want to get seats.
Walk off that huge pizza slice with a short walk to the Pagoda & Oriental Garden. The Marine Observation Tower was a gift from the people of Taiwan to its sister city, Norfolk, in 1989. It is the centerpiece of this small garden and it is abutted by a koi pond. Enjoy some quiet time as you watch the carps come up for air as they swim back and forth under the bridge. Gaze upon the water view from the Freemason harbor.
NOTE: Not a lot of places are open for visiting on Mondays. One option is the Virginia Zoo if you have little kids. However, we skipped this on this trip, so I can’t say how it fares compared to other zoos. There is also a fee for the zoo.
For dinner, we went to Doumar’s because we cannot resist ice cream and waffle cones. Guy Fieri also tried his hand at making waffle cones from the original machine used in the early 1900s when he visited this Norfolk establishment. Burgers and sandwiches are really affordable but make sure to save room for dessert!
Day 3: Chrysler Museum of Art
For our last half-day in Norfolk (we wanted to start the drive back after lunch), it was a toss-up between the Chrysler Museum of Art and the MacArthur Memorial–both are FREE. The Chrysler Museum houses the largest collection of glass art, and we decided to go with the museum since they have a FREE glass-blowing demonstration at noon. We thought this would be something the kids can get into.
We enjoyed the many exhibits and were extremely surprised that they have these sculptures that are, for the most part, still intact and in very good condition. We loved the sarcophagus and the many European paintings depicting saints and religious scenes. Take a quick stroll to the Perry Glass Studio for an hour-long glass blowing demonstration.
TIP: Don’t be scared to take your children to art museums. It’s a matter of how you hype it up and how you get the kids engaged. We point out interesting and unique features to them, and they start paying attention. We let them use our phones to take pictures of artwork they find interesting and that keeps them engaged as they have to look for something picture-worthy.
For lunch, we stopped by another Triple D hit called Pendulum Fine Meats. The eating area is right there with the butcher shop that is off to one side. The store sells sausages, bacons, hams, and any thing and any way you want your meat cut. From what we ordered, we loved the roast beef sandwiches and I especially loved the lamb burger that I got. It was good lean meat, full of flavor, and I liked that they toasted the buns so it added a nice crunch every time I take a bite. We ended the trip with this winner meal.
TIP: They give generous sides portions so you may want to mix and match so you don’t fill up on one thing. We had soup, fries, chips, and salad for our sides. They also add a meal tax on top of sales tax. Something to consider when budgeting for meals.
Happy vacationing!
The Mama Travels 
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