Take Me to the Rivah
On the penultimate leg of our east-coast swing, we journeyed from my sis’ place in Frederick MD to the “Northern Neck” of Virginia where the Beloved and her brother had arranged a 50th wedding anniversary dinner and party for their folks. On our drive over, we stopped and had our great visit with the “P’s” and then made sure we would be ready for happy hour when we got there by patronizing on of southern Maryland’s drive-thru liquor stores!
The Northern Neck of Virginia is a peninsula between the Potomac River on the north and the Rappahannock River to the south as they empty into the Chesapeake Bay. It’s really quite isolated and sparsely populated for being pretty close to Washington and the I-95 corridor. As we drove along, farms became more prevalent than suburbs ultimately giving way to little fishing/retirement homes tucked along the many tributaries of the two rivers that crenellate the whole area. I’d never been here before and it was really a lovely place – a nice cross between being in the south and being down the shore.
The hotel where we stayed was right on its own little inlet and had lots of activities, including a boat ride out onto the Rappahannock, kayaking and crabbing for the kids.
One of our excursions of note was to Christ’s Church, a small but gorgeous Georgian church built in 1735 (originally Anglican, but now Episcopalian as being Anglican wasn't so popular during the Revolution...). The architecture was beautiful and we had a great tour and visits with one of the docents on site.
The weekend was a big success – the Beloved-In-Laws knew the family would be there, but didn’t know that we’d secretly invited other family and close friends making the weekend quite the she-bang. It was really a great, fun weekend.
*bonus points for anyone that noticed that google-maps indicated Villas, NJ – where my grandmother’s house had been.
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Comments
For some reason (probably the odd associations my brain makes), your post reminded me of a 5 word challenge I did last year. Given your Jersey connections, you might enjoy it.
Here it is.
You should be a travel writer because I swear you can sell the most obscure places as "must-sees."
And "Beloved-In-Laws"? Hee.
Hey, that sounds to me like a vacation idea. Doesn't the Bay have all sorts of birding?
I think they ought to merge McDonald's and the drive thru liquor, that way we can indulge the booze, red meat and grease all at once. ;)
Maya -- absolutely there is fantastic birding. We saw many great blue herons and egrets. On our boatride (the one with the bridge pic) we passed pylons out in the river than had big scraggly opsprey nests -- with ospreys in them! I was inside at the time and too slow with my camera to catch them.
Hey -- you might want to trademark that idea first before you start talking about it in public... :)
Steve and I will have to be sure to check out Christs Church, now that we'll be heading down 17 more often to see Nicole.
Awesome picture. Moonset is definetely my favorite!
I'm intrigued by the photos of Christ's Church. I love old churches. Sometimes they're a bit spooky, but usually they're quite wonderful.
you keep taking pictures!
I'm really late to thisy here post, Steve. But you were in Fredneck? holy crap, that's but forty minutes from my house.
Of course, I was in California. But whatever. Next time you're out here we should try to meet up for a drink or summat!
lovely pics btw. you have a good eye.