Lee Belote

4 days ago | pilotonline.com | Lee Belote

Craving cookies? How about the thick, fat and gooey variety? Cookie Plug, a franchise that started in California, opened its first Virginia location in May in Holland Plaza Shopping Center near FunVille Playground and Cafe. With 35 locations, the growing cookie bakery chain blends hip-hop and street culture vibes with their “thicc” (thick) signature cookies, wild flavors and graffiti-tagged branding. The cookies are part cake, part cookie and part brownie — rolled into one thick stack.

5 days ago | pilotonline.com | Lee Belote

Surf’s up at the Oceanfront in a new exhibit at the Virginia Beach Surf & Rescue Museum, featuring influential surfer Tom Blake. Formerly known as the Old Coast Guard Station, the museum also recently completed a renovation of the tower and catwalk, which offers sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean and the 24th Street Park. “We are proud to celebrate this sentinel and its renovation,” said Dana Sizemore, executive director of the museum.

1 week ago | pilotonline.com | Lee Belote

Tidewater Compost is giving life to local waste. Since launching in June 2022, the company, which recycles and composts residential and commercial food waste, said it has diverted nearly 300,000 pounds of food and other organic waste from local landfills. It serves 400 members across Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake and Portsmouth. The Virginia Beach company transforms food waste and other organic materials into nutrient-rich soil products that support gardens, green spaces and food systems.

2 weeks ago | pilotonline.com | Lee Belote

It almost feels like a holiday. Store aisles are lined with black and gold decor, glittery graduation caps, golden tassels and gigantic “Congradulations” balloons. You’ll notice yards are proudly decorated with college flags and high school yard signs. Graduation season is officially here, and it’s an accomplishment worth celebrating. As a parent of three high school graduates, I still feel the well-deserved excitement.

3 weeks ago | pilotonline.com | Lee Belote

The Holocaust took place between 1933 and 1945, and 6 million Jewish people were murdered by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. What did the Americans really know about this state-sponsored persecution? A traveling exhibit, “Americans and the Holocaust,” will answer that question and examine the motives and fears that shaped Americans’ responses to war, Nazism and genocide. The exhibit for libraries will be on display at the TCC/City of Virginia Beach Joint-Use Library, through July 2.