Rappahonnock River Cruise

On Friday we went on a river cruise up the Rappahonnock river. It was a little further away from where we were staying than we realized but the roads were really quiet and the drive was nice. After a little stress (the SatNav/GPS wasn't exactly accurate) and stopping to ask a nice man where we were and should be, we got to the dock in Tappahannock. 

Mom and Dad as we leave the dock

The cruise went along the river past lots of eagle nests, but for the first half all we saw were seagulls. And at one point, a lot of them! 

Seagulls following the boat.

We saw a few eagles and everyone on the boat got very excited. I couldn't get pictures of most as they were just too far away or moving. But they were beautiful. And very well hidden!

The cruise ends at Ingleside vineyard, which is one of the best vineyards in Virginia. When we got of the boat, we saw the pilot/driver, running away across the road, which was a little unnerving! But he came back with an awesome blue (ex-school) bus. It was a squeaky bumpy ride and brilliant! :-) He pointed out the house of the vineyard owners, which has 41 rooms (for the 2 of them). It was huge! They also own a plant nursery covering a few hundred acres.

Blue school bus.

When we got to the vineyard, we had a very nice lunch with a pork sandwich, real coleslaw, pasta salad, and a chocolate brownie. (Of course I could only eat a little of this as it's a lot of wheat but what I did have was lovely. And mom delighted in telling me the brownie was very nice. She is evil!) We sat eating in a pretty little courtyard.

Fountain in the middle of the courtyard

Courtyard.

After lunch we had a tour of the vineyard and winery. It was really interesting as it is harvest season so we got to see them harvesting and processing the grapes. And we also got to try some of the Viognier grapes that have just been picked. They were really nice and sweet and I would have liked more! But I guess they are better off as wine. :-)

Just picked and ready for crushing

Passing around grapes to try

We got to try 7 different wines. I liked all of them but I brought my favorite, which was a white blend from their Blue Crab series and a bottle of sweet wine. Mom and dad got the Blue Crab blush and Blue Crab red. The boat driver was also helping out in the winery, packing the bottles and they even put them on the boat for us! 

Bar at the tasting room

wine sample sheet.

Back to the Captain Thomas, our boat.

On the evening, we went to a restaurant called Willaby's on the river front, with live jazz music. Well eventually. The little map wasn't as accurate as we initially thought so it took a little trial and error but it was worth the trip.

I had an amazing He Crab soup and salad. Mom ordered a shrimp starter as her main thinking it would be small. That didn't work out. There were tones of shrimp! But she really wanted to finish them so started palming them off on me and dad!

Mom and Dad at dinner

When we got back to the hotel, I went to mom and dads room next door and we opened and emptied my bottle of Blue Crab Blanc from yesterday. It was very nice. :-)