Virginia Beach: Did you know??

• Virginia Beach is the 39th largest city in the U.S. and Virginia's most populous city? With nearly  438,000 residents and 310 sq. miles, the city attracts more than 5.5 million overnight visitors annually. 
• The first permanent English settlers landed at Cape Henry in Virginia Beach in 1607 before continuing north to settle Jamestown?
• The Virginia Beach boardwalk is nearly three miles long and the beach is wider than a football field? Originally built in 1888, Virginia Beach's boardwalk is a paved thoroughfare stretching from Rudee Inlet to 40th Street, a perfect place for biking, jogging, rollerblading, strolling or people-watching. 
• The Virginia Beach Convention Center was the first convention center in the country to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification for Existing Buildings? The facility boasts more than 500,000 gross sq. ft. of space, with 150,000 sq. ft. of column-free exhibit space and a 31,000 sq. ft. ballroom featuring programmable LED lighting.
• Virginia Beach was Virginia's first city to be designated as a Virginia Green destination with more than 100 green hospitality businesses including hotels, restaurants, events and the Virginia Aquarium? Virginia Green promotes environmentally-friendly practices in all aspects of the Virginia tourism and hospitality industry. In 2011, Virginia Beach was one of only 24 cities to participate in the National League of Cities Congress of Cities and Exposition to showcase the city's environmentally-friendly initiatives.
• You can go behind-the-scenes with some of the most fascinating marine life that calls Virginia Beach home? The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, one of the most-visited aquariums in the United States, offers a variety of behind the scenes experiences that put you face-to-face with harbor seals, sea turtles and even komodo dragons. It's a life experience you'll never forget!
• The mid-Atlantic's largest population of bottlenose dolphins spends summers in Virginia Beach? More than 1,000 bottlenose dolphins have been cataloged by the Virginia Aquarium through photo ID programs.
• Virginia Beach is home to both the most visited state park in Virginia - First Landing State Park - as well as the least visited state park - False Cape State Park. In total, more than 18,600 acres of state parks and wildlife refuges, over 121 navigable miles of waterways and 35 miles of ocean and bay beaches give visitors a variety of landscapes for exploring the great outdoors and testing their skills.
• The East Coast Surfing Championships, held each year in Virginia Beach, is North America's oldest surfing competition and second oldest continuously-run surfing contest in the world? 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of this exciting event. 
• The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is one of the seven engineering wonders of the modern world? This 17.6-mile man-made phenomenon connects Virginia's Eastern Shore/U.S. Route 13 to Virginia Beach and saves motorists 95 miles on their trip from points north. Travelers can also enjoy a stop at the Virginia Originals gift shop, and Chesapeake Grill, a casual, full-service restaurant offering breakfast, lunch and dinner.
• The late psychic Edgar Cayce selected Virginia Beach as the headquarters for his research because he believed it to be a safe haven from storms? The Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.) in Virginia Beach draws thousands of visitors from around the world who peruse its metaphysical library, one of the world's largest such libraries, second only to the Vatican.
• The Old Coast Guard Station museum is housed in a former U.S. Life Saving Station that dates to 1903 and features the history of the life-saving service and shipwrecks that occurred off the Virginia coast?

Virginia Beach entices visitors to "Live the Life" year-round! Located in the southeastern corner of the state in the Coastal Virginia region, Virginia Beach is four hours southeast of D.C. by car and within a day's drive or less from two-thirds of the U.S. population. For visitor information, call 1-800-VA-BEACH (800/822-3224) or visit www.VisitVirginiaBeach.com for online trip planning. For media information and digital images, click on www.VisitVirginiaBeach.com/pressroom. Please follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/vabeachcvb and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/VirginiaBeachVA.                       

Ron Kuhlman  Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau  |  757.385.4700| rkuhlman@visitvirginiabeach.com
Danya Bushéy  BCF  |  757.497.4811  |  dbushey@boomyourbrand.com