How difficult can it be to describe your hometown to someone who has never been and hasn’t heard much about it? Beyond a basic description of “there’s a big navy base and mermaid statues everywhere,” turns out it can be pretty tricky.

You can reminisce about all the good times you had growing up there, but there still remains a level of bias attached to the nostalgia surrounding these memories when someone wasn’t there to share them with you.

This was the dillema the homie Ben and I found ourselves in when we asked Sean to come with us to go home to Norfolk, VA. As Covid related restrictions eased, Ben and I were itching to get back to Virginia to see friends and family, and told Sean to come see where we’re from. As questions about the city started rolling in, I found that I could answer some, but that a lot of the time the responses included “you’ll see” as if I was just asking Sean to trust me that Norfolk is great, rather than giving him solid reasons why it actually is.

And while (I think) Sean enjoyed it there, I decided to make an imprecise list of what we did on our week long trip in case anyone else wants to check it out. – Zach

Here’s a short run down of what happened during our week long trip to Norfolk:

Cookout trays consumed: 8

Bridges and tunnels crossed: 6

Skateshops visited: 2

Skateshops we didn’t get a chance to visit but wanted to: 1 (Sorry Hardtimes, next time!)

DIYs skated: 3

Rainy Days: 3

Days that were supposed to be rainy but weren’t: 2

Homies visited: 32

Toppled confederate statues we saw: 1

Dinners with Mom and Dad: 1

Beers drank: 384

Ears pierced: 1

Ears re-pierced because the hole closed back up: 1

Music video shoots we were asked to be in: 1

Dogs chilled with: 3 (shoutout to Rally, Yoshi, and Charlie)

Private sessions at indoor parks: 1

Most cameras out during one sesh: 6

Biscuits eaten: 9

Sunburns: 2

TVs skated: 1

Golf swings taken: 69

From taking swings on the rainy golf course to being the background skaters in a local rapper’s music video, I’d say we did the best we could with the tempermental weather we found ourselves in. It may not have been according to plan, but there were many good times to be had and much to explore from the menu at Cook Out to the many DIYs Norfolk has to offer.

Regardless of what Zach says, I had the sickest time. Virginia is for lovers, and incredibly cheap fast food and tobacco. While it was a bit rainy the first few days, we managed to skate quite a bit. Whether it be under the pavilion at Chesapeake City Park, at Mekos indoor park in Newport News, or even our homie Nick’s TV at the pad we were crashing at, it was nice to skate somewhere new and try something different.

If you ever find yourself in the Norfolk area I would definitely recommend stopping by for a sesh at Cardinal’s mini ramp, popping in at Skate Supply for the newest Deathwish earring collection, or perhaps just hitting the Cutty Sark for a much needed Cutty Bucket. You never know what you may like until you hop in the car and see for yourself. Plus, I got to run up the Rocky stairs in Philly on our drive back. Sometimes dreams do come true.

Major shoutout to Zach for driving, Ben for the wheels, Nick Johnson and Andrew Quirk for the spot to crash/skate, and the rest of the homies that came out and showed us a good time. – Sean