Beautiful place for small elopement! Just park at the kayak launch and walk down the path. You come…read moreto a wooden dock overlooking the wetlands and the Cypress Creek. Photos are wonderful!

If you enjoy short day trips that involve the great outdoors then Windsor Castle Park should be…read moreright up your alley. From my home in Virginia Beach it was around an hour without much traffic. I planned this trip on a day that my kids had off school. Unfortunately we got a much later start then I hoped and was unable to cover all of the park. Our adventure started at the Smithfield Station entrance on a sunny mid 60's afternoon in November. Immediately your taken with the beauty of the area. Not to mention Fall in Virginia made this a special day with the foliage unfolding right before our eyes. We took the trail up to Windsor Castle and explored the exterior of the old barns and even the house thanks to a super nice City of Smithfield employee in the home. I snapped some pics of the house and was surprised to find out it is to be sold off by the city to a private party. The structure has really terrific bones, but is in need of a few million to renovate. What was more shocking is the antiques that were located in the non climate controlled home. A pre Civil War piano was the most noticeable YIKES! The area to be sold off includes all the barns and vineyard. Before we headed into Smithfield for a tour we enjoyed going down to the water at a overlook area. The scenery is very stunning and on a warm Fall day was even better. What was very disappointing was the amount of trash every where just below where we were standing. Lots of beer cans, bottles and debris in this beautiful marsh. Trash was also on the decking area with a trash can just feet away. We cleaned up the trash on the deck before leaving. The city, or a volunteer effort needs to get this cleaned up. Most certainly we need another trip back to this park to take in all of what is offered. I hope the next time we return a serious clean up effort has taken place. I mentioned. It is also quite shocking that Smithfield is selling off such a treasure in Windsor Castle. I am unaware of the budget constraints, or politics of Smithfield to really say more than what I have mentioned. On this visit we only scratched the surface of this stunning recreational area. Beautiful town, beautiful park and a must area to check out.

Visiting the 1750 Isle of Wight Courthouse was so much fun! It has really great displays and…read morecaptivating history. I learned alot from the tour guide, she was informative and helpful. I liked how they set it up so it feels like you stepped back in time and attending a court case . You can really picture what it was like. I plan to go back and learn more and spend more time there.

Pretty building, interesting court record saving history throughout wars, and Anna was super…read moreinformative!

Brenden(sp?) was a wonderful educator. Full of natural knowledge that you could tell he enjoyed…read moresharing. He was kind and soft spoken and his enthusiasm was contagious. He made the experience what it was and it was so refreshing to hear from someone with his passion for the subject. Your was partially self lead and paced which we enjoyed as we had several slower walkers. Walk way was clear and easy to navigate. We liked having the Audio options at our disposal as we went along. Peaceful and enjoyable experience. Once we entered the church Brenden helped our group inside and allowed us time to look around. He was eager to answer all of our questions and customized his talk to what we were interested in. The history here is incredible and we enjoyed learning about this piece of American history. Kudos to St. Luke's for finding Brenden our group agrees he's a gem. Gift shop was cute and offered affordable options in order to be able to take a little something with to remember your day. Affordable tour.

The tour of this small but elegant historical church was really interesting. Lots of details about…read morethe building, which dates back to 1637, and the people who conceived of it and had it built. Great details about its renovation and the original organ that is still in place. Toward the end of the tour, they play a recording of it in action, really amazing considering its age. St. Luke's is a national historic landmark, now surrounded by graves dating back centuries (but there's still room if you want in!) No longer an active church, it is a great setting for learning a bit more about the colonial era and how the local church centered the community (and how the building was designed to be bolder than every other colonial church of its time.) It's located in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, near Smithfield. Unless you are a history fanatic, it's not worth a long trip to get here just for this. But with everything that the surrounding area has to offer in the way of historical buildings, local hams, a few good restaurants, and the hint of salt in the air, this tour is a good way to top off a day trip to the area.

Smithfield, where do I even start? It feels like time slows down here. No one seems to be in a…read morerush. People are actually friendly and stop to talk to passers by. Parking up on Main Street during the week can sometimes feel like you're the only one in town - but weekends are popping! From the stunning houses to the local businesses, from the famous ham to the vibrant arts scene, there's actually quite a bit available to see and do. Here's some favorites to check out: 1. Smithfield Farmers Market; 2. Windsor Castle Park (includes a friendly dog park!) 3. Main St - just walk up and down both sides and admire the unique shops in the houses; 4. Taste of Smithfield; 5. Arts Center at 319; 6. Smithfield Station; 7. The Mansion on Main B&B; 8. Cure Coffeehouse; 9. Q Daddy's Pitmaster BBQ; 10. Ringo's donuts - try the 'squealer'. A Smithfield fave. 11. Yummaries Bakery - get a pig cookie!!! 12. Isle of Wight County Museum (check out the oldest cured ham, cured in 1902!) 13. Hayden's Lane. Rich in history, well kept and plenty of festivals throughout the year which attract locals from all around. If you haven't ventured this way before, give it a shot! It's stunning through every season and very picturesque. You might just find your new favorite hideout for some quality me time, away from the hustle and bustle that what we call life.

When I was driving around and saw this area had to stop. A bunch of neat shops plenty of things to…read morelook at and walking up and down the street to look at some of the old style houses. I couldn't determine if it was locals or visitors that had all the pets that were allowing them to strategically place landmines up and down the sidewalks. Other than that it's a really good place to kill some time.

Great family field trip. My daughter loved it. Clean public bathrooms. Took us a few turns on the…read morepath to find a water access but very beautiful. Lots of agates and little shells.

Great little beach and place to hang out at by the river. Typically pretty clean and not very…read morecrowded. Nice walking trails and some awesome historical information surrounding the location. Worthwhile, even if you're just needed a place to picnic or have lunch... there are picnic tables for this very reason.

uhm got to be the best darn museum iv ever been to, I LOVE THE HAM, this was originally a school…read moreproject on where I wanted to go for vacation and I accidentally looked up fun facts about virginia insted of fun facts about Barcelona (don't ask idk how I misspelled that) and the ham poped up, and what used to be a stupid joke turned into me actually getting to see the ham! and Iv got to say I did talk about it a lot and my parents wanted to go to the beach for vacation so we chose Virginia Beach! (We do live like 18 hours away) so due to my lack of spelling , and brain cells I proud to say iv seen the oldest ham in the world! (and peanut)

Fantastic experience! My 13 year old son said, "Wow" right after we left. He loves history…read more Very knowledgeable and friendly staff! They have a scavenger hunt for the kids to get them engaged. Really smart. This is our second visit. $2 for adults and kids under 18 are free. You get to see the worlds oldest ham and peanut! Definitely a must visit. Check them out!

After hours pamphlets available at door along with a clean bowl of water for dogs. Virginia…read moreloveworks art on the parking lot. Lots of parking next door at the bank.

The Smithfield Visitor Center is really nice - it's attached to the Arts Center and shares the same…read moreentry lobby area. There are tons of brochures about things to do in Smithfield and Isle of Wight County. Some of them have coupons for entry if there is an admission fee (like touring the St. Luke's Church. There's Windsor Castle Park, kayak rentals at the park where you can launch for $10 an hour (1 person) or $20 an hour (2 people). There are plenty go guided walking tours like Ivy Hill Cemetery, Fort Huger, The Isle of Wight Courthouse Complex, Fort Boykin Historic Park and Nike Park. I spoke to the nice lady working inside, Deb, for quite a while and she was so friendly! She told me about the upcoming markets and events (there are tons) and I can't wait to see some of them! There is a Halloween market, a Picker's market (antiques), Christmas markets, and other vintage or handmade craft fairs all the time. Smithfield is so cute and the town is really good at planning things like this. Most events have a cute ham theme as well or bacon. If you are interested in finding suggestions for things to do in Smithfield - this is a worthwhile stop.

The cutest little Theatre in town. I saw a play last year and it was great. The seats are…read morecomfortable and wherever you sit you can see it all. They host alot of plays/projects. They support the community arts and that's awesome! Parking is plentiful, inside the lot. The bathrooms were so clean. The mini snack bar is perfect for the intermission.

Fabulous place to see a show and to volunteer! They have such talented casts and amazing…read morevolunteers!