Rediscovering America_ Exploring the Small Towns of Virginia & Maryland - Bill Burnham [85]
During the steamboat era of the 1870s, Urbanna was a popular resort and had several hotels. The Hotel Nelson on the waterfront had a dance pavilion, tennis courts, croquet and a screened bathing area to protect bathers from stinging nettles (or jellyfish). Only one of the hotels of that steamboat era remains, the Burton House at West Urbanna Wharf (Watling Street), now a private residence.
Dining
Virginia Street Café is located in an old five and dime store, across from the R.S. Bristow Store. Basic family fare, seafood, and breakfast served all day (tel. 804-758-3798). River’s Edge Ice Cream Parlor is open year-round (217 Virginia Street, tel. 804-758-1447), and Colonial Pizza serves Italian and Greek specialties (tel. 804-758-4079). Down on the pier, The Boathouse Café is a rustic former boathouse (tel. 804-758-4046).
Lodging
The old resort hotels may be gone, but there are several historic lodging options if you’d like to stay right in town. Atherston Hall B&B has four rooms, two with private bath, serving full breakfast and afternoon tea (250 Prince George Street, tel. 804-758-2809, $$). Hewick Plantation B&B, was built in 1678 by Christopher Robinson, member of the House of Burgesses and an original Trustee of the College of William & Mary. Robinson’s 10th and 11th generation descendants still live here. (Lord Mott Road off Route 227, tel. 804-758-4214, www.hewick.com, $$)
Out on Route 17, near Church View, the Dragon Run Inn is a 1913 farmhouse with a porch swing and rooms named for farm animals. (tel. 804-758-5719, www.dragon-run-inn.com, $)
The Bethpage Camp-Resort is an RV resort on the Rappahannock River with a marina, sand beach, pool, charter boat fishing and sightseeing tours aboard a restored Chesapeake Bay workboat. (tel. 804-758-4349, www.bethpagecamp.com, $)
Outdoors
Lazy Days Adventures is based in nearby Saluda, but most of their trips leave from Upton’s Point Marina in Urbanna. They’ll rent you a kayak, camping and fishing equipment if needed, and take you to great places to explore. They lead guided camping trips on the river, and eco-tours of the Dragon Run Swamp. (tel. 804-758-9302, tel. 804-366-6915)
Marinas
Urbanna Yachting Center (tel. 804-758-2342); Dozier Port Urbanna (tel. 804-758-0000); and the town-owned Upton’s Point Marina (tel. 804-758-9773 or 758-2613).
Information
Town of Urbanna, tel. 804-758-2613, www.urbanna.com.
Gloucester
Drive virtually any Gloucester County road between late February and May, and vestiges of a once thriving industry are visible. County farmers were, in the early 20th century, among world leaders in cut daffodils, the “poor man’s rose” whose popularity took off during our Great Depression. It’s not the old farms you see, but rather the hardy multiplying bulbs that live on, reproducing year after year in the wild. It’s called naturalizing, and come spring, enterprising local school children take to the woods and pick big bunches to hawk along the roadside.
Around Town
Gloucester capitalized on its flower fame with daffodil tours starting in 1938. After a long hiatus, civic leaders revived the Daffodil Festival in the late 1980s. Today, it draws some 15,000 visitors annually to tiny Gloucester Courthouse the first Saturday in April (tel. 804-693-2355, www.gloucesterva.info). The day starts with a 5K run, followed by a parade, and continues with more than 100 crafters and artisans in a juried show, live entertainment, and bus tours to a third-generation farm, Brent & Becky’s Bulbs (www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com).
If you can’t make the festival, a self-guided Daffodil Driving Tour highlights places in the county where they bloom in profusion. Featured sites are recent beautification efforts, like the 20,000 bulbs in front of Page Middle School where the annual Daffodil Show takes place. Farther out, the tour