Local travel: Colonial Beach, Va.
George Washington was born here. James Monroe grew up near here. Alexander Graham Bell and his family summered here on breaks from inventing the telephone. And casinos once thrived here.
That's a lot going on in a town of about 3,000 people that I'd never heard of until a few days ago.
The media came to Colonial Beach this week and then quickly left, but after I filed my story, I took a walk around to see what I could learn about this town. I must have looked like a local because a guy in a pick-up truck rolled down his window to ask me where the trailer court was. I had no idea, of course.
Colonial Beach offers beautiful views of the Potomac River, on whose banks it sits. Because it's at the low-watermark of the border with Maryland and Virginia, the law allowed for casinos on piers that extended into Maryland waterways. Slot machines went strong until about 1958.
When I called the Potomac River Fisheries Commission to ask about a place with wifi for my computer for the governor's event, she said Colonial Beach was a "real small town' that didn't even have a coffee shop.
Well, it does, and it's a cute little one on Washington Street. It also has a library, which is pretty nice and is a LOT bigger than the one on Chincoteague, or at least the old one. The town has a Days Inn, which you can find reviews for here. It also has several Bed and breakfasts, including Bell's summer home. (Insert lame telephone joke here.) I walked past the Tides Inn and it looked nice and is centrally located, though I didn't go inside.
Seems to me this would be a good start for exploration of the Northern Neck. A word to the wise, though: it's a haul. As mentioned in a previous post, 301 is a traffic-clogged, stop-and-go road. My guess is that Colonial Beach is about two hours from Crofton/Bowie under normal condtions, instead of the hour I was predicting from the map.
Also, the Potomac River Bridge is not unlike the Cyclone at Coney Island; you go up, and you pray to God it's not quite as steep as it feels when you come down.
The people who are scared of the Bay Bridge should try this one; it might make them less afraid of the ole' William Preston Lane.
Comments
Having summered several times on the Nothern Neck, I can tell you a thing or two about Colonial Beach. First, there's really not much beach left to speak of. The city has some sandy areas above the seawall but at high tide - no beach. Also, golf carts are street legal in the City of Colonial Beach. When on the Northern Neck seek out Carver's Ginger Ale - a classic Virginia soda or it's slightly cheaper counterpart Northern Neck Ginger Ale. Colonial Beach is a great base of operations for a trip out to Stratford Hall to see where Robert E Lee was born ( at least one day's worth of stuff to do there) and just explore the Northern Neck which thankfully is relatively pristine and wide open. In Montross, VA stop in at Angelo's for the best pizza on "the Neck".
Posted by: bryanintimonium | April 18, 2008 10:30 AM