Omg this place is amazing you just don't get service like this anymore Shirley and Shawn are the…read morebest! They go out of there way to help you the place is so clean too you won't find a dust ball on those hard wood floors my second time there and I got another reservation in July before we ever came here we stayed at other hotels in the area and you just don't get that personal touch as they give! Coffee fresh every morning! They have breakfast items out with OJ if you want it' From our room beautiful view of the water! Every room is a theme so cute you gotta love the bathrooms small but too cute! I don't have a bad word to say! I never met the owners but they should be so proud of there employees cause they really care bout your Hotel ! And the maids too! It shows in how clean everything is! See ya in July!

Such a great small business! We were drawn to their business story and the fantastic job they have…read moredone upgrading a gem. The staff were all so friendly and attentive. The room are very nice and have cute themes. Our shower was small but that being said, it was really the correct size as to not take away from the room space. Our stay was so enjoyable because of their business ideas to renovate in this superb location instead of building some new boring building. We definitely want to come back soon.

Hidden gem. Our family had an impromptu wine tasting. The location was perfect. The wine was…read morewonderful. The service was great. It is a small establishment. Local. Friendly. Not commercialized or overdone. The owner JOHN served us and it was a great afternoon. This place should be five stars. The best part it is DOG FRIENDLY.

This winery offers beautiful, peaceful vineyards to explore. Each row of grapes has a brass plate…read morestating the type of wine the grapes are grown for. Super interesting. There are many places to lounge outside and listen to live music and enjoy the view. Inside is quite small, only fits enough for maybe one group at a time but is delightfully decorated and very clean. My friend and I chose to do the full tasting of wines from the vineyard. All of the whites and the rose were really refreshing and delicious. I was not a fan of the reds, however, I have yet to find an MD red wine that I enjoy, so maybe it's me. The ONLY reason this does not get 5 starts is the limited food selection. They do sell pre-packaged hummus, cheese and crackers as well as packaged cured meats from a little fridge inside the winery, however I would love to see this expand into a bigger selection and/or food trucks on site. All in all my favorite part of this experience (aside from the beautiful grounds) was the Wine Slushy. I got strawberry one and it was fantastic!!

We just checked in from Brooklyn ! This is a simple and…read morepretty hotel, It's very clean and cute We got so much help from Pastor Frank! Shout out to Pastor Frank who is awesome by the way and will make your weekend amazing. It feels like someone has infused a lot of love into this place. I highly recommend it.

Yuk! Bait and switch. Very dark and dingy. Not what appeared on the website! Floors are sticky…read more Pubes on bathroom floor. Towels with holes in them. A baby roach running across the bathroom counter.Bed dips in the middle. Thin walls, can hear kids yelling. I Where is the restaurant and outdoor bar?? Couldn't wait to leave!

A wonderful place to stay!! Needed to get away for the weekend. The owner Susan is super sweet and…read moremakes a delicious breakfast. Always had good conversation and was a great host. Room was clean and the house was beautiful. Definitely suggest this b&b. Will be sure to be back!

Wonderful overnight stay in a unique Bed and Breakfast…read more Susan was delightful host and very interesting to chat with. The brunch was great too!

Stratford Hall is the ancestral home of the Lee family of Virginia. The beautiful Great House and…read moreits surrounding plantation buildings is located on the Potomac River in Westmoreland County on Virginia's Northern Neck. The historic structures are now a museum operated by the National Park Service & is listed on the National Historic Register. Built by Thomas Lee, who served as an Acting Governor of the Colony of Virginia, construction was completed in the early 1740's. The buildings breathe history. One can feel it walking the grounds. Two of Lee's sons Richard Henry Lee & Francis Lighthouse Lee were signers of the Declaration of Independence & Delegates to the First Continental Congress. Thomas Liddell Lee was a Virginia Legislator. Walking the grounds where those men, who were instrumental in the Founding of the country, walked, lived & even played was a feeling that's hard to describe. I'd love to hear what the house and grounds could tell me with the whispers & stories it still must hold. The benefit of taking the backroads to Alexandria or nearby Charles County, MD, rather than the long parking lot that I-95 has become, is passing the wonderful historic places on the route. My route starts at the highway 17 exit off I-64 west and can continue north a number of different ways depending on my final destination. The easiest way to reach Stratford Hall and other beautiful historic properties from Highway 17 is to cross the Rappahannock River at Tappahanock on Highway 360 then north on Highway 3 which winds toward the Potomac. You'll see the signs for Stratford Hall from that road. If you're feeling adventurous, like I did in earlier years, you'll let your GPS take you through roads in an exploration of the countryside. In historic, beautiful Virginia you never know what you'll find. A visit to Stratford Hall is a must for those fascinated by American history.

I visited the grounds on an early Sunday morning and came away quite enchanted. It was huge! It was…read morewell staffed! It was beautiful. All around well done and one of my favorite of the old surviving Virginia plantations. You park and go thru a very small museum to pay your dues. Then across a neat bridge over a ginormous gully to the gift shop and a beautiful walk to the house. The house tour (self audio) was quite cool. The grounds were just awesome. Lots of outbuildings well maintained. It was like a mini Colonial Williamsburg in all the depth and information. I could have spent a day there. Later, I decided to drive the other side and stumbled upon a whole new unexpected world. Lots of cabins that could be rented, a restaurant that seemed closed for the winter and then a windy drive to the river where people were searching and finding fossil shark teeth. One showed me his treasures. They weren't gigantic, but you could definitely tell they were shark teeth. Finally before leaving the river front was a old gristmill which alone would have been worth the trip. Anyone near the area should add it to their list and if you have guests around, make it an activity on your "visitor's list".

We wanted to make a day trip to search for fossils at Calvert Cliffs and this seemed to be one of…read morethe only options so off we went. The road to get to the campsites / office is relatively bumpy and the road is full of ruts and rocks that could actually be challenging for a small car or a car that is low to the ground. We drove slowly and it was fine. The lady in the office was very friendly and we paid in cash which is preferred. This is clearly a family-run operation. The walk down to the beach was via a kind-of steep set of stairs. At the bottom there were a few other groups of people there, many of them apparently semi-professional fossil hunters with specialized digging hand tools. Unfortunately the tide was coming in when we got there (poor planning on our part), but this limited our fossil searching to a sliver of exposed beach itself as the water was covering a significant portion of the ground. I would highly recommend Wellington-style rubber boots or something similar to keep your feet dry while you search (everyone else on the beach was wearing them). Your sneakers will probably get wet. As far as fossils go, we didn't find much. One of us found what appeared to be a very small shark tooth. You are not allowed to dig into the cliffs themselves due to erosion concerns but you could see layers of shells and small fossils in the cliffside which was interesting. All in all it was not the fossil-rich experience I was expecting. I've heard about digging for fossils at Calvert Cliffs for many years and so it was a bit disappointing to come away empty-handed. If we had been better prepared to wade out into the water and brought some sort of implements with us we may have had more success. Not a terrible afternoon at all but not a place I will be chomping at the bit to return to.

This review is for the beach. Perhaps a new owner has taken over, as we had nothing but a pleasant…read moreexperience with the woman who took our money and her husband, who showed us where to park. It was $10 per person (cash only!), but considering that the beach has tons of shells and fossils, and lots of parking, we found it a very fair price. They even give you a permit so you can leave and come back on the same day. I would suggest bringing an umbrella or sun tent, as there isn't much shade (at least before 2 pm est, when we left). The water is a bit murky, but refreshing and sandy once you get out past the shoreline. You may want to bring water shoes.

We had crab balls catered by Quality Street for a nautical-themed bridal shower. These were the…read moreabsolute HIT of the shower!! I would go so far as to say they're the best crab balls I've ever had. (Have you ever had a crab cake where it was mostly cake filler and they skimp on the crab?) These were crammed with crab meat. When the crab balls were picked up, they were carefully packaged in a nice catering box with styrofoam and the instructions written on the top of the pan "Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes" was so helpful! She also included tongs for the crab and 2 generous containers of cocktail sauce with spoons. These attention to details meant a lot! I wouldn't have even thought to serve the crab with anything else. We're so incredibly pleased we chose Quality Street! A side note, Jen was very communicative via email and the price quoted was exactly what we were charged the day of pick up. Thank you, Jen and Quality Street!! We will definitely use them again for our next catered event.

Everything went well food was fantastic. All our guests loved it. Why do I need more letters? I…read moretold you the truth

Colonial Beach, Virginia, is known for having a number of cottage vacation rentals. I can't imagine…read moreone more perfect than Beachcomber Cottages' Beachcomber III. From the time we initiated the booking, owner Cathy Bokman could not have been more helpful, gracious or accommodating. She and husband George own 5 cottages in town and have for years, so they know the area well. When we contacted Beachcomber Cottages, we didn't request a specific house (all are listed on their website), just asked availability at any of them. We got waaaaaayyyy more than we bargained for--the place is huge! Beachcomber III is on "The Point", that is, it is located at the tip of the peninsula (opposite end of the "Downtown" entrance) upon which the Town of Colonial Beach is situated. This section is mostly residential, as opposed to downtown where most of the businesses and the busy public beach are found. At this end, there are marinas, a couple of restaurants and a popular tiki bar, but the house is far enough away that you don't hear anything. It is a very peaceful and quiet setting, with mature trees and a clear view to the Potomac River and a small beach. About that view...the morning after we arrived, I woke up early, walked into the living room (one of them, but more on that later) and pulled back the curtains. GASP! I was greeted with a breathtaking pre-dawn view of the sun just about to rise over the horizon of the Potomac River. I stood frozen, completely awestruck as I watched one of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever seen (and I've seen a lot!) The beauty of this town is overwhelming. The house itself looks brand new. I understand the owners had done a complete renovation and the result is spectacular. Everything was white glove clean. The layout, though, is what impressed me most. It is almost like being in two separate houses, connected by a shared kitchen and dining area. There are two big living rooms on opposite ends of the house, 4 bedrooms (2 masters, again separated by the kitchen) and more bathrooms than I could count (at least 3.) There is also a laundry room with full size washer and dryer, a nice sized front porch and a side porch with grill. There were only two of us, but I could see this as the ideal vacation for extended families, those with kids/teenagers or groups of friends. There is just so much space. Probably 3x the size of my former apartment in DC. The place is well equipped with a fully stocked kitchen (utensils, small appliances, spices, etc.), bathrooms with hair dryer, towels, etc. and a family room (one of the living rooms) with games, books, TV (in the bedrooms, too), DVD, etc. We didn't want for anything. Beds were comfortable, linens provided and pillows fluffy. Free wifi, too. Loved it!