When I saw on Taste Tidewater's Facebook post that there were only 3 spots left for their Oyster &…read moreWine tour, I reserved the same day! It is also my birthday month and have had my eye on this tour for awhile. It was fate! Not knowing what to expect, I jumped the gun and paid immediately. When Rex, the owner, sent the itinerary, I saw 3 local restaurants, Catch 31, Rockefeller's, & Tautogs. My first thoughts were, "I hope this isn't lame...", "I could go to these places myself..." The group met at Virginia Aquarium for an optional tour inside for the first 30mins. I arrived late. Now, I wish I made it on time to hear more about oysters. Rex tried finding the group for me & we walked all around the museum. It was way too crowded, I was late, & didn't mind waiting. Perhaps walkie talkies as a communication tool for the husband & wife team. Not just for late arrivals. :) Could be distracting too but, just a suggestion. The aquarium attendants had no idea who or where the group was. I did appreciate the effort. Not many would help me catch up with group especially, since I was late. Our first stop was Catch 31. Table was set and ready to go. We had three chefs(one including one of our guides, Chef Patrick Evans-Hylton) and the sommelier at our table. They educated us about the oysters & wine. They walked us through the various types of oysters & wine, regions, how to eat, & how to taste. We were served 4 oysters each from one of the 7 regions & two wine tastings. There were condiments and crackers on the table. I thought this was definitely the most informative restaurant out of the three. Next stop was Rockefeller's. Again, tables were set & wine was poured! No menu w/ descriptions. We had 2 raw oysters and 2 oysters rockefeller. Then, we were served hush puppies w/ pimento cheese which were amazing. Last, was coconut cake! This restaurant had more food offerings which was good because after several glasses of wine, I was hungry & others were too!! Last stop was Tautog's. They sat us outside & setup was more buffet style. Glasses of wine were on a table for us to pick up as we walked in. The presentation was beautifully prepared. They had 3 of their house sauces which were delicious! I thought the sauces were needed with these oysters. Others agreed. Didn't taste as fresh as the previous restaurants. I believe they were Lynnhaven and I've had Lynnhaven oysters before. So, not a reflection on the tour. There was also fresh cut fruit on the oyster platters. Only because TT asked, my recommendations would be: * Posting sample itineraries on social media * Clearer description of what to expect with regards to food so people know whether or not they should eat prior to the tour or pack a snack/sandwich. * Website shows they would be "happy to provide water and light snacks." None were offered. * Market/advertise the 10% off Yelp Check-in offer * Advise up front the 10% off Yelp Check-in is NOT valid for the Oyster & Wine tour. A portion of proceeds go towards non-profit which I totally understand & appreciate, just set the expectation. Overall, this was a lovely experience that one can comfortably do solo! I did and I truly enjoyed! Hands down. I am so happy to see a company like this on the East Coast and executing with such class. Please don't think this is a drunken wild party bus. It is a tasteful informative experience with subject matter experts who also enjoy partaking in libations while sharing their knowledge! :) I hope to see more food tours added to their current list. Rex, Lisa, & Chef Patrick were cordial, knowledgable, fun, and professional. Thank you so much for a memorable experience!

I went on the vineyard tour for a bachelorette party!! It was a fabulous time! Lisa, our tour…read moreguide, was knowledgeable, informative, and very hospitable!! Looking forward to the opportunity the either do a brewery tour or a different vineyard tour in the near future!!

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.

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.

I found this tour on groupon and I called Deanna to get tickets for me and my friend. She was super…read morenice and I was super excited to go on this tour. The tour comes with complimentary breakfast and lunch. We got picked up at the little station behind Freedom Car Wash and Wawa. The bus was brand new and very comfortable. They had a selection of apple cinnamon muffins, sweet potato pastries, grapes, and strawberries with blueberries for breakfast. The muffins and sweet potato pastries made by a contestant on Master Chef Junior and the muffins were great. I didn't have the pastries because I don't like sweet potatoes. We were offered a bag with water and a granola bar with brochures for wineries and some for the ones we were going to. The was also a scent bag with soy candle samples from Pink Zebra. They smelled great. Next on the list was gathering the rest of the group for the trip from Norfolk. Once we got everyone, we were offered mimosas; candor l cranberry or orange. We chose orange. Deanna introduced herself, daughter, and granddaughter. She also introduced those who she knew who were on the trip. She provided some great historic facts like the origin of witchduck. She discussed the history of Virginia wine and information about Virginia Born presidents. Our first stop was New Kent Winery and our host was great and very polite. The tasting was very informative and fun. Their wines were fantastic and the Vineyard was amazing. It wasn't on the itinerary, but Deanna put it on there. Next was Michie Tavern. We had lunch there and the buffet was great. The wine tasting, not so much. Third stop was Baubersville and the wine was ok. We weren't really a fan of the environment because I felt out of place even though I was dressed pretty nicely. Last stop was Horton and our host was amazing! We had so much fun! We will definitely do this tour again in the fall because it was great and it was so much fun! Happy to have been part of the inaugural trip!

I've been on two wine tours, as well as a wine tasting at a friend's house. I had so much fun that…read moreI recently hosted a wine tasting of my own. My friends raved! The Virginia wines were excellent, and everyone loved the history lesson. Now I have another group of friends who are jealous and want me to host a wine tasting for them. I also love the fact that it's a local business. Deanna's (the owner's) friends and family love to help with her tours, and they are the nicest people. I plan on continuing to support Fruits and Roots Wine Tours, and I'd recommend them to EVERYONE!

We searched online for a boat rental company for the Hot Springs Area and Great White Rentals was…read morethe first site to come up. We read the reviews and assumed since they were all so good and their website looked good they were a legit company. We called and talked to a nice lady on the phone a week prior to us coming to visit for a week long vacation with 6 of our grandkids. Let her know we had a pontoon and would like to rent a nice boat to spend 2-3 days on the lake tubing, skiing, and riding around while we were here. I asked about the two nicer boats on the website and she said they had some really clean boats and she could get us 8 in one no problem. So reserved the premium one over the phone. When we arrived the next week they called the day before and requested to be paid the of the amount in cash. I thought this was strange for a company, but agreed and went to back to get cash for the next morning. (First red flag) When they arrived with the boat it was a 22 year old tri-toon, very weathered, and let's just say, well used. (Second red flag) Seats ripped, awning held together with bungee cords and straps, rear ladder was bungee strapped up, horn was broken, so we have a whistle, interior lights broken lenses, radio didn't work, the anchor was an 8 pound mushroom anchor you would use for a johnboat, would certainly not hold a 24' pontoon. The life vest they provided were just as old as the boat. We only had 4 we could use old of the 10 they sent. There's no tow bar to pull from, so the drivers says yeah you will have to tie onto one of the toons, really??? I expressed my frustration with the delivery driver, which went no where, I called the office and talked to a lady who said she had only been answering phones for a few months and had never actually seen the boats. (Third red flag). I asked at this point was this a company or was this just individuals renting out their boats and cabins? She answered just individuals, they don't have an actual office. She advised she would get with the owner of the boat to see if they can do anything but they didn't have any other boats available. By now I'm frustrated but I have 6 grandkids ages 13-8 looking at me excited to go boating and waiting to get on the boat. They could care less what it looks like or if it's going to leave us stranded, they just want to go. lol I go ahead and take the boat and make the best of what we have throughout the day. When they pick up the boat I was expecting a little humility and at least an half ass excuse, but all I get was "sorry this wasn't what you expected, thank for re ring with us though". We check on other rentals in the area the next morning and found that they actually have newer boats and are quite a bit less expensive. I also went back and reviewed their website to see if I missed anything and over reacted. What I found was a couple of the reviews were from the delivery guys family, the delivery driver is actually in the pictures. So I wonder if the 23 reviews are actually real at this point. Moral of the story, don't stop doing research when you find a good website or good reviews. Keep checking around, we paid 730 dollars for a 22 year old worn out boat and motor for 8 hours and could have gotten a 2 year old boat with a bigger motor, for 520 dollars at 2 other rental places right down the road. If you're renting your own equipment that's great, just be upfront about it !

Ok, I wish I had checked HELP before my visit. I was prepared to give them a 2nd chance, it the…read morecomments here ring true to my experience. It appears that this is normal for them and not a fluke. Unfortunate. The biggest problem with this organization is communication. When we arrived? 2 men asked us if we had reservations. We said Yes, a d they drove away with us sitting on the parking lot. After 15 minutes they returned, but turned around to drive off again without giving us any information. I had to flag them down. When I did, we were told to go down to the booth to check in. But there was no one to check us in. There was another family waiting who had been there nearly an hour. Fast forward 30 minutes more and we are finally on the jet skis. They get me on 1st, but they didn't have a life jacket for my wife, so she took lo her as they located one. The young man working there began to yell at me that I had to go on out without my wife. "You have to go!" He just kept yelling! It was no use, because no way was I turning my back and motoring out into the Bay while people i don't know are struggling to get my wife prepared. I don't do that. Eventually she was ready. I gave her plenty of space, which from their yelling appeared to be the concern, and we went out. We had 3 more incidents of conflict with this same guy over the course of the ride. Had the day not been perfect and the tons of dolphins not escorted us, he would have ruined our trip with is mouth. So the ride was a 5 but the customer service was a 1. I'll likely go so where else next time.

Highly recommend! We had an amazing private sunset cruise with Native Island Sailing. Our family…read moregroup of 7 loved every minute--beautiful views, a smooth, quiet solar powered electric boat, and a great price (less than individually pay for a public boat tour!). Captain Brian was the perfect guide: relaxed, friendly, and full of local knowledge when asked. The coastline is stunning and full of stories--just ask. An unforgettable experience!

From the owner: **For booking and questions contact us directly via website nativeislandsailing.com, email…read moreinfo@nativeislandsailing.com, or by calling us at 757-751-0730. Now booking for Summer 2023! For more information about our charters and for frequently asked questions, please visit nativeislandsailing.com Native Island Sailing offers sailing charters on the Chesapeake Bay for special occasions and small groups. Our charters are on Ellen Ripley, a 38-ft sailing catamaran, the first zero-emissions, all-electric, powered by 100% renewable energy charter in Hampton Roads. Powered by nature. Departs daily out of Hampton, Virginia.

This is a very nice and friendly environment to take your family on a dream ride in the air for…read moretours around the beach or to see the horses or the beautiful sunset I would definitely recommend this business for you guided tour the owner is a very nice gentlemen and real easy to get to talking to and he makes you feel comfortable and wants you to enjoy your tour me and my girlfriend enjoyed our tour and will definitely be back again for another. Thanks Black Creek for making this a great night.

From the owner: Premium helicopter toursread more