West Ghent is a quiet area of town but can be the perfect place to spend a morning or afternoon. We found our way there with friends a week or two ago and visited some of our favorite Ghent spots and sights -- and found some new ones to explore as well. Our walk started off on Redgate Avenue, looped down to the Chelsea neighborhood, and back. All in all, we spend about three hours exploring, and saw some really amazing things.

The first was the Wishing Tree on the median on Redgate. You can't miss it, with the rectangles of bright paper fluttering from its branches. Feel free to write and leave your wish, and then spend a little time reading and reflecting on others. (NOTE: there were pencils and paper provided when we went but you might want to put some markers or crayons in your bag to bring along if you want something brighter and more colorful).

If you keep walking down Redgate to Langley, you'll reach the Elizabeth River Trail, which runs by the river for over nine miles. If you head one way you'll reach Norfolk State University; the other and you'll eventually get to Harbor Park. But in the meantime you can experience the river ecosystem and stretch your legs on this walking and bicycle trail.

If you head north on the trail, one of the sights you can see is the Weyanoke Bird and Wildflower Sanctuary, which we wrote about years ago for My Active Child. We love this sleepy, simply, but beautiful spot. The park is maintained by the Cape Henry Audubon Society and open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays (though you can call ahead to arrange a visit).

On your way back, stop for coffee and a scone at the Bakehouse at Chelsea. We LOVE their wood-fired pizza!

A week or so ago we made a brief visit to Bennett's Creek Park in Suffolk with our friends. The park features a playground, skate park, and fishing pier, but our favorite part was climbing rocks and exploring the tiny beach down by the Nansemond River. It was incredibly muddy but that's spring, isn't it? Tons and tons of mud. An added plus: on your way out you can stop by Bennett's Creek Farm Market for some of their amazing she-crab soup, yum!



We've had a lot going on lately, including a trip to Asheville (such a gorgeous town!), Easter (here's A. and G. in their finery), and oh, yeah, by the way, Anouk turned FIVE last week. Five! Can you believe it? We made our annual donation to March of Dimes in honor of our former preemie and if you haven't already made other plans for your charitable giving, we hope you will, too.

We started off the new year by looking back -- way back --  with a walk along Fossil Beach at York River State Park. The park itself is gorgeous and home to some of the only "real" hiking in the Hampton Roads area, and well worth a visit just for the scenery, but an added draw is the cliffs along the York River that are dotted with fossils that formed 5.3 million years ago during the Pliocene epoch of the Cenozoic era.

The visit starts off with a short hike (1.5 miles or so; less than half that when the Mattaponi trail isn't closed due to damage), though the steep steps down to the beach may require help for the littlest kids. We spent some time looking through the fossils that previous hunters had found and left near the stairs and saw some treasures -- ray dental plates, scalloped Chesapecten jeffersonius shells (state fossil of Virginia!), even a few shark teeth (it's rumored that you can find Megalodon teeth at Fossil Beach if you're lucky enough).

For the first few minutes of our visit it seemed like the beach was just any other beach, covered in the same old rocks and shells, with fish jumping and crabs scuttling. But with a closer look we started to see what we'd come for: fanlike imprints and tiny holes in the rock that were sponge borings and bryzoans, ancient barnacles and brachiopods and even a few hunks of bone and coral.



 I recommend doing a little research before you go so that you know what you're looking for -- this is a good site. We stopped and looked things up as we went, thank you iphone, but I have a feeling there might have been a lot we missed without even knowing that we missed it. The tide was out when we visited (good timing because at high tide most of the beach is under water) and there was literally something to see on every rock or under every driftwood log. You can't keep the fossils you find in the park, but we did take lots of photos and next time we might try to bring along materials to make fossil rubbings.

I've lived in the HRVA area my whole life and never heard about the fossils at York River State Park. So exciting to discover them! What a way to start the new year, with a new find and new adventures. We're looking forward to more of them in 2016.


York River State Park will be hosting a fossil frenzy hike in February and another one in April. Details here. Mark your calendars!

The Sunday before Gus was born, wayyyyy back a whole two weeks ago, we met up with friends in Mathews for the annual Mathews Market Days celebration. It was the perfect way to get ready for the fall season (and to walk a baby out, apparently). Even if it was still almost 90 degrees, the Middle Neck is looking gorgeous this time of year, there are definitely hints of autumn all around, from the beginning-to-brown corn fields to the early morning mists to the fishing and crabbing boats on the rivers and marshes. Plus there is just something fall-like about spending an afternoon in a picturesque small town, where everybody seems to know each other and are glad to welcome you and show off the best of what they have to offer.

Market day highlights: The kids' play area (new this year!), lunch at the Southwind Cafe, browsing the stellar book sale at the Mathews Memorial Library, and watching the dads play the hit-the-anvil strong man game (hubba hubba).

There are a few more local(ish) fall festivals coming up that we have penciled in on the calendar -- I don't know if our baby schedule will allow us to make most of them, but I'm posting them anyway because they really sound too good to be missed.

West Point Crab Carnival (October 2-3) | Fall Festival of Folklife (Newport News, October 3-4) | Phoebus Fall Festival (Hampton, October 10) | Chippokes Harvest and Halloween Festival (Surry, October 17) | Virginia Thanksgiving Festival at Berkeley Plantation (Charles City, November 1) | Urbanna Oyster Festival (November 6-7) |

Am I the only person who is completely taken in by the idea of a crab carnival? It sounds so deliciously festive. The name is a draw in itself, good job West Point tourism board!

Locals, have you been to any of these? What did you think?

We found ourselves in Smithfield over the weekend, and after lunch (at Wharf Hill Brewery) and some window shopping (on adorable Main Street), we went for a walk in Windsor Castle Park. Right smack dab in the middle of the historic district, it seemed like all the paths we encountered led to the park. So of course we had to explore. 

The park is a fairly new endeavor for Smithfield, with walking and biking trails, a dog run, boardwalks spanning the marshland and a playground in the works. Travel a little further down the road and you'll get to the boat launch on the banks of the Pagan River, with kayaks and paddle boards available to rent for hourly rates.

The castle of the park's name is an historic house dating from the late 1700s with a vineyard of a more recent date taking root out front. Anne had a great time running around on the grass in front of the manor and James had an equally stellar time chasing her (while I watched from a safe, stationary distance. Too hot!)

We didn't get to explore quite as much as we would have liked but we can't wait to go back in the fall and spring and see what's new at Windsor Castle. For those of you who don't feel like waiting that long, the Bacon, Bourbon, and Beach Music Fest is coming up at the park in early October!

It really cannot be overstated how truly adorable the town of Smithfield is. What's your favorite place to check out there? I know we'll be wanting to go back.

The Elizabeth River Park reopened this past weekend, after being closed for extensive renovations, and we were there to check it out! The park is a unique one in the area, with a special focus on boating and outdoor watersports -- the boat landing there on the Elizabeth River is famous because it leads right to the Hot Ditch, a famous fishing spot in the HRVA area. Besides the improved landing, there's now a snack shack, large picnic area, playground, and small fishing/crabbing pier.

Probably the coolest thing about the park though is that it sits right in the shadow of the new South Norfolk Jordan Bridge. The bridge, which is almost 170 feet tall, allows the huge ships from the shipyard across the river to pass right under, providing a really spectacular sight. The old vertical-life bridge still stands, which is also pretty neat to see. The new bridge features a pedestrian walkway and I have plans to walk it in the future sometime -- it's supposed to provide some of the best views in the area!

We spent the day playing and fishing from the pier -- James and A. caught crab or two apiece (but we tossed them back, too small). I can already tell this is going to be a good summertime destination for us!
 

Remember how I said I wanted to check out one of the river beaches this summer? Well, I'm only a few months late. The weekend before last, we met up with friends for our (semi)regular brunch date at the Riverwalk in Yorktown, and after our meal, ran down to the eensy-weensy beach to look around.

It was COLD and windy, but the water was still warm enough to wade and Anouk and her little girlfriends had a great time poking around on the sand and watching the tall ships cruising by (note to self: next year's resolution is to go on one of those).