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Diane M. Gray, RPR, CRR, CVR
Vice President, North Bay Shore Campground, Ltd.
Welcome to my personal home page on the World Wide Web! I'm glad you stopped by.
For 30 years I have worked as a court reporter, 21 years free-lancing and 9 years in the U.S. District Court
for the Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division. Today I have the great privilege of holding the position
of Court Record Manager at the McGlothlin Courtroom, Courtroom 21 Project, located at the College of William and Mary
Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia.
In my spare time, I assist my family by handling all their business correspondence and e-mails for North Bay Shore
Family Campground, our family-owned and operated business; and when I can squeeze a few more minutes out of a day, I
like to do genealogical research, rubber stamp art, scrapbooking, and reading, particularly historical novels.
Feel free to browse around, and do not hesitate to write.
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| North Bay Shore Family Campground |
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Developed in the early '60s by my dad, Douglas F. Mason, North Bay Shore Family Campground has the distinction
of being the oldest privately-owned overnight campground located in the city of Virginia Beach. The campground's official
website is: www.geocities.com/northbayshorecamping.
Today, my husband manages the property, which consists of 70 campsites, five 20-by-20 cabins, a recreation
center, boat ramp, and hot private showers. Rent a boat or canoe and explore the canals and creeks which empty into North
Bay, or launch your own pleasure craft at our boat ramp. Be sure, though, to purchase some minnows or worms before departing
so you may fish for large-mouth bass, catfish, crappie, bream, and carp. Life preservers are available.
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Our swimming pool, with its five-foot maximum depth and three-foot minimum, is perfect for cooling off after
a long day at the oceanfront. Spend long, hot, sunny days at Sandbridge Beach, only three miles away, and return to a clean,
cool, grassy, shaded campsite in the afternoon.
Firewood for your evening campfire is available at the registration office. Don't forget to bring quarters
for the video games in the rec hall, or challenge yourself and others to an old-fashioned game of horseshoes. Kids love the
playground with swings and monkey bars.
The campground accommodates tents, pop-up campers, trailers, motorhomes, and vans; or if you prefer, you may
rent one of our five cabins.
For further information, please call (757) 426-7911 or e-mail me at the address below. Be certain to put "camping"
or "campground" in the subject line of the e-mail. If you would like a brochure, send your snail-mail address via
e-mail, and I will see to it you receive a brochure with current rates enclosed.
Photographs of the campground, including the interior and exterior of the cabins, are uploaded to Webshots.com
and may be viewed by clicking on the link below or visiting the following URL: http://community.webshots.com/user/higgerson.
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Located in historic Virginia and in the resort city of Virginia Beach, there's lots to do while here. In addition
to sunbathing, swimming, and surfing in the Atlantic, there's deep-sea fishing on charter boats out of Rudee Inlet, waterparks
with slides, go-cart rides; and the Virginia Beach Marine Science Museum is an easy 9-mile drive. There's shopping
malls, specialty shops, grocery stores, Super Wal*Mart, and seafood restaurants all within 8-15 minutes from quiet, peaceful
North Bay Shore. And if history is your bag, visit the First Landing Site at Cape Henry where it all started, and see
the historic lighthouse; from there, visit Wealthy Planter Adam Thoroughgood's house as well as Lynnhaven House, the Francis
Land House, and Old Donation Church near Pembroke. Plan a day trip to Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, and Revolutionary
War important Yorktown, and watch history come alive! There's the local Naval bases with their jets, ships, and carriers;
and at Nauticus, downtown Norfolk's maritime museum, don't forget to see the free U.S. Navy Museum housed within and climb
aboard the world's largest battleship, the USS WISCONSIN docked at Nauticus.
There's dining and dancing at Virginia Beach as well as Waterside in Norfolk, tourboating on the CARRIE B.
or SPIRIT OF NORFOLK. You'll never run out of things to do, places to go, and people to meet in Tidewater Virginia; and
we look forward helping you enjoy your visit while camping at North Bay Shore. Y'all come!
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| Click for North Bay Shore Campground's website. |
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| www.geocities.com/northbayshorecamping |
| Click for photos of the campground and cabins. |
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| www.webshots.com |
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| Click for www.courtroom21.com |
dkmgray@earthlink.net
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Directions to the Campground
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MapQuest.com may show you directions to the campground, but they are outdated. DO NOT use their directions
or you are certain to get lost. Use my directions below:
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From I-64, take I-264. Follow I-264 to Birdneck Rd South, Exit 22. Veer right at the bottom of the exit. Cross Virginia
Beach Blvd(Rt. 58). Continue down two-lane Birdneck Rd until its intersection with four-lane General Booth Blvd. Turn right
onto General Booth Blvd. Follow General Booth Blvd south. When you see the intersection of London Bridge Road on your right,
start working you way into the left lane of General Booth. You'll pass Strawbridge Shopping Center on your right. If you
can't make it into the left lane before the next left at the stoplight onto Nimmo Parkway, don't panic. There's a second
chance below.
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Assuming you made it into the left lane before Nimmo Pkwy (Atlantic Garden Ctr at the intersection of General Booth & Nimmo
Pkwy), make the left onto Nimmo Pkwy. About 1/4 mi down Nimmo Pkwy, you'll see Red Mill Commons Shopping Center on your right
(Wal*Mart, etc.) Nimmo Pkwy dead-ends, so make a right onto Upon Dr. Follow Upton Dr. to the light at Sandbridge Rd and
make a left. (Food Lion on Sandbridge Rd.) Follow Sandbridge Rd past Red Mill Elementary School on your left, past Lago
Mar housing subdivision on your left, and you'll come to a fork in the road. This is a fork where they can truly say, "When
you see the fork, take it." Either way, you end up in the same place. I recommend veering to the right so you don't have
to stop and are still on Sandbridge Rd, but go slowly at the blinking caution light because there's a sharp curve there.
If you choose to veer to the left at the fork, which puts you on Lotus Drive, when you come to the stop sign, make a left,
and you're back on Sandbridge Rd. There should be a sign immediately in front of you on the telephone pole with a pointing
arrow towards the left that says "Sandbridge." Whichever fork you took, you'll go over the tiny Lotus Garden Bridge. Pass
Tabernacle Methodist Church and Marge & Ray's seafood restaurant on your left. At the cemetery on the right, start giving
your right turn signal, and make a right onto Colechester Rd. (Note sign at entrance to Colechester Rd.) Follow Colechester
Rd almost to the end, and you'll see the campground sign on your right. Turn right into the campground driveway. Stop to
register at the building on your left.
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Second chance: Go past Nimmo Pkwy intersection with General Booth and make your next left onto Rt.629, which is Princess
Anne Rd. (See 7-11 on corner). When you come to the stoplight, go straight through it, and you're now on Sandbridge Rd.
(See directions above at Sandbridge Rd and follow them into campground.)
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dkmgray@earthlink.net or dkmgray@cox.net
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Court reporting and camping!
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In addition to my career as a court reporter and serving as the Court Record Manager at the Courtroom
1 Project, I enjoy genealogy in my spare time. If you have any information on the following surnames of interest,
please let me know.
Feel free to browse, and if you have any questions about camping, court reporting, or genealogy,
please write.
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| Reporting at the McGlothlin Courtroom, Courtroom 21 Project |
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Here are the surnames of interest to me--any spelling anywhere any time period!
Higgerson, Higgason, Hickerson, Hyggerson, Higerson, Higason (all spellings); Mertens in Germany,
Indiana, Illinois, Arkansas; Merzenich in Germany and U.S.; Weckenmann, Wekenmann in Germany & U.S.; Werz
in Germany and U.S.; Kate "Kitty" or Katherine Harrison or Harris in Mississippi & New Madrid counties,
Missouri; Jones in Mississippi & New Madrid counties, Missouri; Hubbard in and around New Madrid County, Missouri; Chewning,
Chowning, Chouning, Tuning, mostly Virginia, but elsewhere; Mason in New Hampshire, Illinois, Arkansas; Robey, Robie,
Roby in New Hampshire, Ohio, New York, Illinois; Brainard, Brainerd in New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Illinois, England; MacKenzie,
McKenzie in Mississippi, Arkansas; Garrison in Georgia and Arkansas; Norwood in and around Arkansas and Georgia; Birdwell
in and around White County, Arkansas; Mince, Mints, Mintz anywhere; Keene, McRoy, and Cleveland in Missouri,
Illinois, Indiana.
Because my ancestors, Benjamin and Permelia (Chewning) Higgason (later spelled Higgerson) and
William V. and Permelia (Henderson) Chewning resided in the middle of a Civil War Battlefield--the Battle of the Wilderness--in
Orange and Spotsylvania counties, Virginia, I've become interested in all things Civil War, particularly with regard to this
specific locale.
Genealogical research has given me a lifetime of entertainment, excitement, and education as well as
meeting many new long lost cousins. If you enjoy scavenger hunts or unsolved mysteries and/or puzzles, you'll love family
history. Roll up your sleeves, get out the magnifying glass, and go to the library in person or online. The sites below
are a few of my favorites.
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