If the calendar hadn’t made it official, the soaring temperatures this week certainly would have; summer has arrived in a literal blaze of glory.

Now, if 95-degree temperatures and suffocating humidity aren’t your thing, then maybe summer isn’t anything to get all worked up about.

But for those who are willing to trade a little perspiration for three months of outdoor fun in the sun, it’s got to be the best time of the year. And call us biased, but short of spending the entire summer on the Outer Banks or some other seaside destination, we think it’s pretty tough to beat all that Western Tidewater has to offer in the way of summer fun.

If you’re looking for something fun in between weekends at the lake or trips down to Nags Head, the next three months are packed with great things to do right here at home. There’s fishing in the Nottoway and waterskiing on the Blackwater.

You can spend July 4th in Sedley and every Thursday night jammin’ at Barrett’s Landing. There are car shows and shrimp feats, cornhole tournaments and golf tournaments.

You can catch headliner acts and beauty pageants at the county fairs, and much, much more.

So slip on your flip-flops and go stock up (somewhere local) on sunscreen and charcoal, because it’s summertime in Western Tidewater, and we hope you safely enjoy all that this community has to offer.