
DATE: Sunday, September 14, 1997            TAG: 9709120240

SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON   PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: COVER STORY 

SOURCE: BY MIKE ABRAMS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  106 lines

SUPPER BY THE SEA TUCKED INTO WATERY COVES, THE BEACH HAS ITS SHARE OF RESTAURANTS WHERE BOATERS CAN PULL UP TO THE DOCK, DROP ANCHOR AND EAT.

THE CAW OF THE sea gulls, the breeze over the water and the golden sun certainly matter to Scott and Helena Inglis.

It's just that the tuna sandwiches and crabcakes matter more. Those are the morsels that urge the Beach couple back to Chick's Oyster Bar at Lynnhaven Inlet.

And instead of driving to Chick's, one of their favorite dining spots, they hop into their little red boat and float to the restaurant. They dock their 17-foot craft right next to it, climb out - sometimes still barefoot - and perch on the eatery's waterside deck.

No car to worry about, no traffic to fight, no parking spaces to find. And, when dinner's over, it's back to the water for a leisurely ride home.

It's popular with the Inglises and with a lot of other local sailors who have found a way to combine two favorite activities - boating and eating.

``There's a shortage of places in Virginia Beach to do this,'' Scott Inglis said one recent afternoon, as he boated in for a meal. ``We need more restaurants and more dock space.''

To be sure, Virginia Beach has its share of boat-in restaurants, though they are tucked into watery coves, often sharing docks with commercial fishing operations and private marinas.

Chick's and its neighbors at Lynnhaven Inlet - the Dockside Inn, Bubba's and Henry's - offer boat parking. So do Rudee's, Rockafeller's and Calcutta's at Rudee Inlet.

Some of the restaurants even serve boaters on their boats.

``We'll send a server out,'' said Dee Kitchens, one of the managers at Chick's. ``It's quick service and a ready table, especially when it's crowded inside.''

Patrons haven't exactly boated to public restaurants for generations. In fact, public restaurants even on roadways in Virginia Beach aren't all that old.

Stephen Mansfield, a Beach historian and a dean at Virginia Wesleyan College, said restaurants traditionally opened locally as part of larger inns. They first located near courthouses, and then along what became the resort strip and Virginia Beach Boulevard.

Although people used their boats to travel before roads became reliable, Mansfield said, residents didn't float to restaurants because such eateries didn't exist.

``The whole concept of going out to eat to a thing called a restaurant is 20th century,'' he said. ``At least, it is in Virginia Beach.''

Modern-day restaurant operators say boat business is hit or miss, possibly because many people don't recognize float parking or dining as options.

They say weekend afternoons and nights are the busiest times, and some boaters crowd in for weekday lunches, too. Dock spaces generally work on a first-come, first-served basis.

Angelique and Costas Kambouropoulos own the Dockside Inn, a casual seafood house and marketplace at the Lynnhaven Inlet. The dock adjacent to their restaurant, which is home to an active commercial fish packing trade, has space for about 15 boats.

Angelique would like to see the inlet develop into a San Francisco-style wharf area with an ice cream shop, small souvenir stores, boutiques and the existing restaurants.

Felix, one of her two sons and an active member of the restaurant family, said people eating on boats already make the area a festive atmosphere.

``People just come to relax,'' he said. ``You have the sunset right over the Lesner Bridge.''

Boaters agree the surroundings draw them to boat-up restaurants.

They say it's more fun to float to a meal than drive. And they say docking for food makes a nice ending to a day of recreation.

Larry and Kathy Hill of Virginia Beach take their 19-foot Wahoo to restaurants at the Lynnhaven Inlet as often as possible. They like the weathered wood look and laid-back feel.

They travel about 30 minutes by water from their home off Linkhorn Bay.

``It's hard to beat this rustic look,'' Larry Hill said. ``It's a great atmosphere.''

Chuck Campbell and his friend, Barbara Battenfield, are regulars, too.

One recent afternoon, Campbell's boat was among a half-dozen parked next to Chick's.

Fishermen meandered by. Birds sat on wooden posts. The sun warmed the dock but didn't overheat it.

``I'm lucky to live in this area and have these nice things available,'' Campbell said. ``There are a lot of parts of the country that don't have this kind of setting. I never take it for granted.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos including color cover by PHILIP HOLMAN

Rick Wagner, left, helps Ed Brandt tie his boat to the dock at

Chick's Oyster Bar near the Lynnhaven Inlet while Suzette Brandt

waits in the boat.

Boaters say it's hard to beat the atmosphere when fishermen meander

by, birds sit os wooden posts and the sun warms the dock.

John, left, and Judy Keeling make the 20-minute boat ride from their

home to Chick's Oyster Bar near the Lynnhaven Inlet. The Keelings go

out to eat by boat about once a week.

Angelique, left, and Costas Kambouropoulos own the Dockside Inn, a

casual seafood house and marketplace.

Members of the Career Women's Golf Association of Virginia Beach and

their husbands enjoy a meal and the spectalular view from a