A Chesapeake Bay family vacation is a water-lover's delight!

Myriad marinas and boat ramps provide opportunities for motorboating and sailing. Look for native wildlife, such as bald eagles, soaring majestically overhead during a canoe or kayak excursion.

King George County

Caledon Natural Area is the summer home to one of the largest concentrations of American bald eagles on the East Coast!

Colonial Beach

Just south of Caledon is the town of Colonial Beach, one of the few remaining small seaport towns on the Potomac River.

Westmoreland County

Just south down route 3 from Colonia Beach is Westmoreland State Park and stand on the park's Horsehead Cliffs, which overlook the Potomac River. Down the road a way is George Washington's Birthplace National Monument, a colonial farm where costumed interpreters recreate the sights, sounds and smells of 18th-century plantation life.

Practically nextdoor is Stratford Hall Plantation, birthplace of Robert E. Lee and boyhood home of Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee, the only brothers to sign the Declaration of Independence. Costumed interpreters lead guests through the Great House. The site also includes nature trails, a gristmill and the Log Cabin restaurant.

Check out the Westmoreland County Museum & Library. It's the oldest museum in the Northern Neck and a great place to find out more about the area.

Lancaster County

Continuing down route 3, stop by Belle Isle State Park. It has seven miles of shoreline on the Rappahannock River and an immense wetland area for great birding and wildlife watching.

Gloucester County

The sunsets are beautiful over Mobjack Bay in Gloucester County. Nearly every water activity you'd like to dive into, you can enjoy from this area. Make a note to attend the annual Daffodil Festival in the spring!

Mathews County

From Gloucester, pick up route 14 to head into Mathews County. There, you can visit the New Point Comfort Nature Preserve and the New Point Comfort Lighthouse, commissioned by Thomas Jefferson in 1801 and the third oldest lighthouse still standing on the Chesapeake Bay.

Across the Piankatank River is Gwynn's Island. Visit Gwynn's Island Museum, which served as the island's first public school. Children can see what some school supplies looked like 100 years ago, as well as Indian and colonial aritfacts, maritime and Merchant Marine displays.