An Extra-Long Weekend in Virginia

If you’ve always felt there aren’t enough inns offering oyster education, you might want to visit Chesapeake Bay. Virginia’s idyllic east coast is both bivalve obsessed and a true joy to explore over an extra-long weekend.

Day One

5:45 PM

Check into The Tides Inn, a family-friendly resort (and local institution) just outside of historic Irvington, Virginia.

The Tides Inn

480 King Carter Drive, Irvington, VA, United States

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7:15 PM

Enjoy dinner at Chesapeake Restaurant & Terrace, where you'll dine on seasonal coastal cuisine like crab cakes with fingerling potatoes and chardonnay-lemon butter.

Day Two

9:15 AM

After a delicious breakfast of eggs, country-style grits and sausage, you're off to see Irvington's unique Steamboat Era Museum.

11:30 AM

Grab an early lunch at the farmers market, where a nearly endless array of local produce, artisanal cheeses, homemade bread and food trucks await.

2:00 PM

Led by The Tides Inn's very own ecologist, it's finally time for that oysters class! During this guided tour you'll hop aboard a traditional waterman's boat, pull up an oyster cage and learn all about this region's keystone species. Of course, you'll also get to taste some Chesapeake Gold.

6:30 PM

Inspired by your afternoon on the water, dinner tonight is at the Fish Hawk Oyster Bar. Chow down on oysters (of course), cobb salad with blue crab and steamed clams tossed in Old Bay.

8:45 PM

Over a beach campfire and under a starry sky, it's time for s'mores.

Day Three

7:45 AM

Your day begins with a half-hour guided morning stretch session, followed by breakfast.

10:00 AM

Get your hands dirty with a 2-hour beginner pottery wheel class, taught by a Tides Inn artist-in-residence.

12:15 PM

After a light lunch at the Fish Hawk, you're off to the nearby Dog and Oyster Vineyard for a flight of wines and some soft shell crabs prepared by Chef Stuart Tyson.

3:30 PM

You've been busy, so the rest of the afternoon calls for a Rappahannock Renewal at the resort spa. Revel in this detoxifying body scrub and wrap, warm oil scalp treatment and more, with $5 from every treatment going directly to the support and maintenance of the Chesapeake's Bay region's natural ecosystem.

7:00 PM

After another seafood feast for dinner, take in the musical stylings of Mercy Creek on the resort lawn.

Day Four

8:30 AM

Begin your final morning with a yoga class in the shade, followed by a delicious breakfast of buttermilk griddle cakes and fruit smoothies.

10:45 AM

It's checkout time, a.k.a. time to start plotting your return to Chesapeake Bay.