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Pickle pizza, abandoned ships, dangerous heat, and a very muddy kayaking lesson.
In Episode 76 of Tidewater Talk, Brodie and Co explore Suffolk’s Pickle Palooza, including pickle pizza, pickle lemonade, fried pickles, pickled peanuts, and more. Brodie also shares how a misread tide left him stranded in the mud, before uncovering the story of Suffolk’s “Ghost Fleet,” a collection of at least 13 historic boats abandoned along the Nansemond River.
Plus, we cover the delayed demolition of Norfolk’s MacArthur Center, new free pet microchip scanning stations, Virginia’s expanded Styrofoam food-container ban, the week’s extreme heat, and a few local places and events worth checking out.
Tidewater Talk keeps you connected to the people, stories, weather, food, and unusual history of Coastal Virginia.
Visit TidewaterTalk.com to support the show or send us a local story, event, or Tidewater Tip.
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This week on Tidewater Talk, Brodie and Co. sit down with Anmarie Reed, LCSW, Clinical Director at Prosperity Eating Disorder and Wellness Center in Norfolk, for a compassionate conversation about eating disorders, recovery, and the resources available here in Hampton Roads.
Anmarie helps explain how common eating disorders are, why they are not about vanity, how they can overlap with anxiety, depression, trauma, neurodivergence, and OCD, and why early support matters. The conversation also covers ARFID, orthorexia, diet culture, treatment options, insurance challenges, and how families can recognize when someone may need help.
Our guest this week was Anmarie Reed, LCSW, Clinical Director at Prosperity Eating Disorder and Wellness Center in Norfolk, the only eating disorder facility in Hampton Roads. They offer free, no-obligation assessments. Reach them at (703) 466-5150 or email Anmarie directly at
Plus, we check the Tidewater weather, talk summer storms, and share local tips, including Pink Dinghy, the Norfolk Taco Festival, Spudfest, and more.
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Good evening, neighbors. This week Brodie and Co are sweating through a Hampton Roads heat dome that is chasing records Norfolk has not touched since 2020, so we are staying hydrated and mostly staying inside. On the news desk, a corpse flower is about to bloom at the Norfolk Botanical Garden sometime between July 4th and 8th, giving off its famous rotting-flesh smell, and that leads us straight into the cadaver bar over at the Zoom Room in Hilltop. There is also a swim advisory across nine Ocean View beaches in Norfolk, and MacArthur Center has finally closed its doors after 27 years.
For Strange and Odd of Tidewater, we head downtown to St. Paul's Episcopal Church, where a British cannonball has been lodged in the brick wall since Lord Dunmore shelled Norfolk on New Year's Day in 1776. We also dig up the cheeky story behind the name Pleasure House Road. Then we run down where to catch Fourth of July fireworks, from Town Point Park to the Oceanfront, plus a James Beard dinner coming to Virginia Beach this fall.
Question of the week: What is your favorite memory of MacArthur Center before it is gone for good? If you are in Coastal Virginia, this is your weekly mix of local news, odd history, and neighborly conversation. Catch you next Tuesday.
Question of the Week
- What's your favorite memory of MacArthur Center, the store, the food court, the movies, before it's gone for good?
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This week on Tidewater Talk, we covered a mix of local news, odd stories, and summer happenings around Coastal Virginia. We talked through several new Virginia laws taking effect July 1, including job salary transparency requirements, changes that allow certain criminal records to be sealed from public view, and a new rule requiring speed limiter devices for drivers convicted of going 100 mph or more. We also touched on the ongoing conversation around Virginia’s new restrictions on certain semiautomatic firearms and large-capacity magazines. On the lighter side, we shared the wild story of a Virginia Beach fishing charter spotting a roughly 15-foot great white shark offshore near the wind project, and we dug into the surprising fact that Virginia Beach now has its very first official city song, "Driving East."
We also looked ahead at the week’s weather, with storms giving way to sunshine and rising temperatures, and swapped a few Tidewater tips for upcoming events and experiences. Highlights included Hampton’s "Invisible to Others" exhibit exploring blindness and perception, Virginia’s "VA250" passport program for visiting historic sites across the Commonwealth, beachside movie night featuring "Lilo & Stitch," the Independence Day 5K Totten Trot, La Fiesta at the Virginia Beach oceanfront, a junk journal craft night in Norfolk, and the long-running Hampton Jazz & Music Festival. We also asked listeners to share what song makes them think of Hampton Roads, continuing the conversation about what gives this region its sense of home.
Question of the Week
- What song comes to mind when you think of Virginia Beach? Doesn't have to be official — just whatever plays in your head when you picture the place.