A Water Lover's Dream

Take a driving tour of the Chesapeake Bay region, which boasts more than 6,500 acres of natural areas and 1,100 miles of shoreline - full of open space to bike, hike, fish and bird-watch to your heart's content.

Potomac River

Don't miss Caledon State Park in the northern King George County on the Potomac River, home to one of the largest summering concentrations of bald eagles on the East Coast.

Travel south to Colonial Beach Yacht Center, a resort mecca during the Steamboat era. Today, enjoy a seafood lunch and beautiful views of the Potomac River.

Down the River is Westmoreland State Park in Montross, known for the fossil shells, shark's teeth and whale bones found along its beaches. See eagles flying over the towering cliffs, too!

Southeast of the Park are the birthplaces of George Washington - George Washington's Birthplace National Monument - and Robert E. Lee - Stratford Hall Plantation.

Virginia's Northern Neck

If your passion turns to old boats and Chesapeake Bay heritage, visit the Kinsale Museum and tour one of the oldest remaining Virginia-built skip jacks, the 1904 Virginia W.

At the mouth of the Potomac River in Reedville in Northumberland County, the Reedville Fishermen's Museum will fill your head with fishing lore. Here, you can charter a boat to fish for the mighty striped bass of the Chesapeake Bay, jump aboard a Smith Point Marina Cruise or take a cruise to Tangier Island! (Allow another day on your tour for Tangier.)

Glimpse into the life of George Washington's mother at the Mary Ball Washington Museum in Lancaster.

Stop in historic Irvington or Kilmarnock in Lancaster County and browse through the quaint shops and enjoy a meal.

If you enjoy the slow pace of river travel, take the ferry across Corrotoman River to Ottoman; follow the Rappahannock River northwest; then cross it to arrive at Tappahannock on the Middle Peninsula. Rappahannock River Cruises provides narrated eagle-views out of Hoskins Creek, with a stopover at the famous Ingleside Vineyards in Oak Grove.

Marine Life and Wildlife

Don't miss the New Point Comfort Lighthouse on Mobjack Bay in Mathews County.

Travel up the York River to its confluence with the Mattaponi River, one of the East Coast's last remaining pristine rivers and rent a canoe or kayak at the Mattaponi Canoe & Kayak Co. and take a leisurely half-day float down the Mattaponi River from Zoar State Forest to Aylett.