Great scenery, great food and great maritime history
Drive time from Williamsburg: About 1 hour
Crossing the Coleman Bridge toward Gloucester, you know you are in for a special day.
Below you, sailboats cut through wakes of power boats and jet skis, and before you is a mirage of jeweled green. Today’s destination: Deltaville and Gwynn’s Island, two nearby unincorporated towns in Middlesex County, each with their own personality and charm.
Deltaville, at the confluence of the Rappahannock and Piankatank Rivers and the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, transports you to a quieter place and time. Though just over an hour from Williamsburg, the focus changes from Colonial to maritime and all that comes with it – marinas, boat yards and nautical-themed shops and restaurants. In fact, in 2012, Deltaville was officially named “The Boating Capital of the Chesapeake Bay.”
Our first stop on the Middle Peninsula is the Deltaville Maritime Museum, host to a fantastic collection of model ships and the annual week long family skiff building workshop. The museum tells the story of area boat building and the watermen at the helm. At the museum’s docks, just past the working restoration shop, sits F.D. Crockett, which is literally the last log hulled buyboat in Virginia and is soon turning 100. Next to F.D. Crockett is one of the largest oyster reef restoration sites in the country. Plan on spending about 1.5 hours at the museum, or longer if you are a lover of all things historic water craft.
Once you’ve worked up an appetite, its time for lunch. And fortunately, lunch is next door at the Deltaville Tap & Raw Bar. With easy parking and ample dockside seating, the location can’t be beat, nor can the crab puppy appetizer and many other fresh seafood dishes that make the stop so worthwhile. Surrounded by boats of all sizes and types, some docked, some coming and going, this a really fun setting.
After lunch, cruise Deltaville’s main drag, General Puller Highway, and stop by Nauti Nell’s for nautical merch. From dishes and jewelry to fishing gear and boating hardware, Nauti Nells is a fun place to browse and buy. In fact, there are a number of shops along this route, each with their own unique personality.
When you can’t fit any other tchotchkes and souvenirs into the back seat of your car, it is time to head to Gwynn’s Island on the banks of the Piankatank and on the western mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. As a Gwynn’s Island resident once said, “You don’t call it Martha Vineyard, and you don’t call this Gwynn Island.”
Gwynn’s Island is about 20 minutes from Deltaville, and a short but worthy destination. At four miles long and with 800 year-round residents, Gwynn’s Island is adorable, including a lighthouse and the Gwynn’s Island Museum which is stuffed with great treasures and manned by docents who enjoy telling the history of island residents. If the name Gwynns’s Island seems familiar in colonial history, it is. Lord Dunmore entrenched himself here in 1776 after fleeing Norfolk. He left Gwynn’s Island not long after, wounded in the one sided Battle of Cricket Hill.
Now, if you threw your bikes on the car before you left home, you can circumnavigate the island easily. Or, just enjoy a scenic drive. But, before you leave Gwynn’s Island, eating at Hole in the Wall restaurant is a must. Diners arrive here by boat and car, so parking can sometimes be a little tricky due to all the boat trailers. But, its worth the hassle to keep trying if you don’t see a spot right away. The seafood specials change daily based on the day’s catch, and whatever you order, it will be fresh and delicious.
That’s a full and a great day on the Middle Peninsula! Enjoy the adventure and all the sights, history and culinary delights.