Called “The Plunge” when it first opened, The Cavalier Hotel pool once had saltwater piped in from the ocean.
Its brush with fame came when author F. Scott Fitzgerald visited with his family in July 1927. A portrait of him at the pool with his wife and daughter was captured by Tidewater photo service in Virginia Beach – first published in the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda and Scottie pool side at The Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach - July 1927
But over time, the concrete pool covered in ceramic tile deteriorated. Two large cracks leaked so badly that the former hotel owners couldn’t keep enough water inside. So they ran a garden hose to it 24 hours a day.
