Outlook Beach

 

With the end of summer staring us down I thought I would share some pictures from a resent trip we took this summer to the beach. 

 

Located in the Hampton Roads area, Outlook Beach, is one of two beaches associated with Fort Monroe and is located on the Chesapeake Bay.  This beach does have lifeguards, bathrooms (port-a-johns) and a picnic area.  There are no showers, no fees to enter and no convenience stores next to the beach.  There is a board walk that looked great for biking or roller blading but bring your own as there were no rentals...at least at this end of the beach.

 

 

 

 

You are directly across from Fort Monroe so if you need a break from sunbathing you can cross the street and tour the area.  We did exactly that and snapped a few pictures...I promise to share those soon. 

This beach wasn't crowded and offered plenty to do.  If you are the kind that needs to rinse off after a day at the beach before driving home I suggest bringing a solar shower filled with water and rinse off after visiting the beach.  And since the bathrooms are in the form of port-a-johns I would also suggest handi wipes and hand sanitizer. 

 

 

Pros for us: small waves (I didn't worry as much about the 5 year old) and no parking fee

 

Cons: small waves (teenagers were looking to body surf) and no place to wash our hands

 

All in all everyone had a really good time and we checked another new-to us place off of our list of places in Virginia to visit. 

 

 

 

 

 

More wine please

About mid September Mark and I got a wild hair and decided to try some of the wineries in the Northern Neck area of Virginia.  This area is located in the Chesapeake Bay region and is East of Richmond.  We knew there were a lot of wineries and planned on just heading out and stopping at one or two.  We ended up on quite a journey in deed!!!!!

Heading east on Rt. 360 we passed through Tappahannock and over the Rappahonnock River.  Our first stop was at Belle Mount Vineyards in Warsaw.  It was a small winery with the tasting room in the basement of a large banquet facility.  



First stop of the tour

Even tho they were a small winery they had some good wine.  I got a couple bottles or their Workboat wine to make sangria at our next big family function.  This winery told us about a "passport program" that various regions in Virginia offered.  If we visited 6 wineries in the Chesapeake Bay Wine Country we would get 10% all the wineries in this area for the rest of the year.  All we had to do was have the wineries stamp out "passport".  Mark and I had only planned on visiting one or two but decided why not at least get the couple we visited to stamp our new Passport.  And with that idea we got our first stamp and headed down the road.

We probably only travel 15 minutes along route 3 to our second stop Vault Field Vineyards in Kinsale.  A good size winery with a tasting room about the size of an average house room.  We lucked out here and got a discount for their "After Labor Day Sale" :)  We got a few bottles of wine but bought 2 bottles of the Conundrum wine.  After getting our passport stamped we realized it was still pretty early in the day and there was a third winery very close by.

General's Ridge Vineyard, our third stop, was literally 5 mins away from stop # 2 so it was super easy to find.  This winery has a Manor House that you see when you first drive up.  Tasting is NOT done here but the Manor can be rented out for special events or just a weekend away.  Wine tasting is done just a little further down the lane in an old out building.  The wine for this winery is actually made off site and then transported back here to be tasted and sold.  We enjoyed the tasting and got a couple bottles, Viogner and the General Ridge White.  With our third stamp we again loaded up and headed for a different type of location. 




Love my state parks

I love to visit the state parks in Virginia.  Call me crazy but I like to go to the different parks to see what each one has compared to the other.  I like to be outside and do all the things that go along with the parks like hiking, biking, swimming, rafting, tubing, fishing.  We had planned on stopping at this park for the first time and checking out the views of the Chesapeake Bay.  Sadly because of damage from a recent Hurricane the park was CLOSED!  Dang it!  Now what?  Um oh that's right we were in wine country.  So off to winery #4....

The Hague Winery is located in Hague and is the home to the historic Buena Vista Plantation, circa 1835.  The tasting room is in an old barn (you really can't tell that) and offered a good selection of wines.  We got a few bottles here as well.  I don't love dessert wines but did enjoy the Cynthia Dessert wine.  Yummy.  Again we got our stamp and figured with four down and only two wineries to go what the heck?  Let's do it!

Wine stop #5 was at a very popular Virginia Winery, Ingleside Vineyards in Oak Grove.  This winery has to be the prettiest.  They have a courtyard right outside the tasting area and on this particular day they were setting up to host a wedding reception.  With the candles lite and small white lights twinkling it was so romantic  :)  Now we had our 5th stamp on our passport and could see the end in site!




Wine stop #5

All the while we were touring we were going through some of the cutest little town and passing some truely beautiful country.  I have never visited this area but it's now on my radar to make a visit back very soon.

Our last stop was at Oak Crest Vineyard and Winery in King George.  We made it here by 4:30 or so....just in time to try all of their wines before they closed for the day.  Now I have to be honest....by this point we had already been at 5 wineries and tried numerous wines.  I was tired and by now a little hungry.  So I really had a hard time figuring out if the wine was really as good as I thought it was....or if I was just a wee bit tipsy :)  Mark said they were really that good so I just went on blind faith and bought about one of each.  We also go our 6th and final stamp!  Yay we made it! 




Stop #6.....we made it!

All of these wineries were just off of route 3 and if you continue on this route it takes you right back out of the Northern Neck area to Fredericksburg.  It wasn't really that late but after our long day we were exhausted and hungry.  Mark found us a place to stay for the night in Fredericksburg and we got a nice steak dinner to finish off the evening.  It was a great trip and an exciting day.  My dreams were filled with visions of Colonial Beach and the Chespapeake Bay and my car was full of sweet Virginia wine :)

Camping at Kiptopeke

If you take 64 east and then route 13 north you will pass over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel.  Once over the bridge you are on the eastern shore of Virginia.  Just a half a mile further up 13 is one of my favorite parks, Kiptopeke.  Kiptopeke State Park has been around as a birding observatory since 1963 and today provides a great place for camping, birding, swimming, biking, hiking and fishing. 

In the late summer of 2010 the family loaded up and headed east.  We actually ended up at Kiptopeke by accident.  We had planned on going to First Landing State Park but because they were booked full we just went a short distance further on 13 and stayed at Kiptopeke.  It was the best accidental discovery of the summer!  They had plenty of available sites, even with very short notice (that day actually).  And the sites were big enough to accommodate two large tents and all the crap stuff my family comes with.

Each site has a picnic table and a fire pit.  They have spaces for RV camping as well as tent camping and they also have lodges available for rent.  And when I say lodge I mean LODGE.  Sleeps like 16 people I think and when we were there they looked absolutely wonderful.  They are a little more secluded and have room for parking up to two vehicles.  The state website has more info on how to book a camp site as well as the lodge.  They also have a Yurt.  From looking at the web site I couldn't fully understand what a Yurt was but it turned out to be a tent on studs.  The camping is not directly on the beach but with a short walk you are able to stand in the sand and play in the waters of the  Chesapeake Bay.  And because you are in the Bay you don't have the high waves of the Atlantic crashing down. 

Yep we took a high chair!

One thing I do wish was that we got the name of a super restaurant we ate at.  One of the park rangers suggested a place for us that at first glance had us wondering what the heck we were in for....but when the food came out we were happily surprised.  This place was further up 13 and off to the left down a country road.  It was a fish supply company that cooked some of the food they caught and man was it awesome!  If seafood isn't your thing don't worry.  There was a chinese take out near by too :)

My mom and sister making some chow.

They have pavilions available to use for picnicking and a few hiking trails.  Because it's a fairly flat park biking would have been easy too (only I didn't take mine).  There was a camp store with ice cream and a few other food items.  They also sold a few camp souvenirs.  The park has a peir that you can fish from for a small fee, $3 I believe.  

The worst part of the trip was trying to keep Tommy out of the fire, Emma asleep at night and fighting the urge to eat all the marsh mellows single handed.  I figure Tommy is grown enough to know better and I played in it at his age too.  Emma, my baby girl, is NEVER going to sleep all night.  And next time I will hide the marsh mellows under my pillow.