The One with the Day Trippers

As the summer of 2021 gets underway, our clan has no vacation plans again this year. Last year, we took mostly day trips to explore different small towns and areas of Virginia due, of course, to the pandemic. This year’s summer is shaping up to be pretty much the same, but now mostly due to work schedules (we have a teen with a real-world job now as well) and other activities. My intent was to blog about our summer 2020 day-trip experiences last year, although that obviously never happened as, per the norm, life got in the way. New business ventures, a new driver in the house, winter house projects, a return to school for the kids, one child actively involved in theatre and another child discovering a new sport (field hockey) left little time for blogging and pretty much anything else. I kid myself into thinking many people read my blog, although it was through this website that I ended up becoming an editor of a new online business publication, so I must be doing something right. So, here I am back at it again to share some of our family travel experiences, both current and within the past year. To begin, we recently took a day trip to Smithfield. We’ve been to Smithfield, about an hour from Williamsburg, a few times, but always manage to find something new. During this particular trek, we finally visited Windsor Castle Park, where we spent the morning kayaking along Cypress Creek. It was a hot one, but worth it being out in nature and spotting waterlife including herons, fish, and snakes as well as deer. After a brief walk along the nature trail, we headed over to Q Daddy’s BBQ for lunch. We like food, we like craft beverages, we like small towns, and we typically follow up on other people’s suggestions, one of which was a stop for ice cream at Cone Slingers in nearby Carrollton. On our way home, we popped over to the Summer Wind Winery (another recommendation) for a flight and a glass of sangria (peach and blueberry, which was excellent). The winery is spacious with a large patio, sunporch, and picnic tables overlooking the water. This was actually our second trip to Smithfield this year; We had our son drive us over one day before he officially received his license so he could practice driving on the ferry. That day, we strolled along Main Street, where he had lunch at Smithfield Gourmet Café and Bakery, dessert at Smithfield Ice Cream Parlor (what can I say? My kids love their ice cream), and did a little shopping. We also took a detour to Blue Sky Distillery and hit up Hampton Roads Winery on the way back. Hampton Roads Winery is located on a farm that has the largest goat tower in the world. My kids, at almost 17 and almost 15, still like feeding the goats. Wharf Hill Brewing Company is also a great place to visit for a meal and a drink. We may play a trip again in the fall for bike riding at Windsor Castle Park. We also hear the Smithfield Farmers Market is nice. So many new reasons to go back.