Thoughts on a vacation home in VA Northern Neck?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looks like the internet provider is Atlantic Broadband. Anyone have any experience with them? Would need to have our two kids on virtual school while we work when there for a long weekend or whatever, so high-speed Internet is a must-have.

Our vacation home is closer to Reedville, but we found that the internet is strong enough for 3 kids to distance learn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of this is super helpful! Welcome the good the bad and the ugly!! Anyone know if InstaCart from the Food Lion is an option down there for real (looked like it from the InstaCart website, but not sure I trust that)?

We are more kayakers, crabbers, and fishers than tubers at the moment, so hoping the jellyfish won’t be a huge problem. If anyone has any feedback on kayaking would love to hear! House we are considering is next to a shallow cove in the river so looks like it should be good for kayaking there at least.

Also, anyone have experience getting medical services down there? Stitches for little things, broken bones, or bigger (with the pandemic, should figure this out on the front end).

Oysters too! Kayaking is great in that area. Also paddle boarding. Jellyfish situation is different every year. There are bad years. Summer 2020 was bad starting in mid July. It was the worst I had seen in 20 years. Some summers are just like that.

[Anonymous]

All super helpful! For post pandemic, any favorite restaurants, bakeries or ice cream shops nearby?

[Anonymous]

We have Atlantic Broadband. It has been very reliable, we only had issues once a twice this year after storms. Other than that we have had 4 people working/in school without issue after we installed a google mesh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all really helpful! Thank you! For water depth re boating, how deep is generally deep enough?

Depends how big your boat is!! Seriously... depends on sailboat (need deeper water) versus power boat. For power boats, it also depends on size of boat (draft) and type of propulsion (outboard, i/o, jet boat, etc).

i'd think 4 feet depth at low tide should be good for all but the big sailboats.

Don’t rely on real estate descriptions that say “deep water.” That can mean anything. And having water at your dock doesn’t guarantee that there is deep water access to the river itself. The silt in the creeks and rivers down there moves constantly, so charts aren’t reliable. They also give “mean low water” which isn’t the “lowest low.” If you’re serious, get in a kayak with a depth meter (or even just a stick) and test it at low tide yourself. Make sure there is deep channel out. I wouldn’t go any shallower than 3’ water depth at low tide for consistent access in a power boat. Sailboat depth water usually adds big $$ to the value of a lot.

The Northern Neck is VERY quiet in the winter — most of the restaurants, etc shut down. Also, I don’t know if the menhaden plant is still operating in Kilmarnock, but you don’t want to be downwind of there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all really helpful! Thank you! For water depth re boating, how deep is generally deep enough?

Depends how big your boat is!! Seriously... depends on sailboat (need deeper water) versus power boat. For power boats, it also depends on size of boat (draft) and type of propulsion (outboard, i/o, jet boat, etc).

i'd think 4 feet depth at low tide should be good for all but the big sailboats.

Don’t rely on real estate descriptions that say “deep water.” That can mean anything. And having water at your dock doesn’t guarantee that there is deep water access to the river itself. The silt in the creeks and rivers down there moves constantly, so charts aren’t reliable. They also give “mean low water” which isn’t the “lowest low.” If you’re serious, get in a kayak with a depth meter (or even just a stick) and test it at low tide yourself. Make sure there is deep channel out. I wouldn’t go any shallower than 3’ water depth at low tide for consistent access in a power boat. Sailboat depth water usually adds big $$ to the value of a lot.

The Northern Neck is VERY quiet in the winter — most of the restaurants, etc shut down. Also, I don’t know if the menhaden plant is still operating in Kilmarnock, but you don’t want to be downwind of there.

Yes, avoid anything downwind of or near the menhaden plant!

My family owned a vacation home down there and they were very careful to avoid the menhaden plant. Also agree water depth is very variable,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all really helpful! Thank you! For water depth re boating, how deep is generally deep enough?

Depends how big your boat is!! Seriously... depends on sailboat (need deeper water) versus power boat. For power boats, it also depends on size of boat (draft) and type of propulsion (outboard, i/o, jet boat, etc).

i'd think 4 feet depth at low tide should be good for all but the big sailboats.

Don’t rely on real estate descriptions that say “deep water.” That can mean anything. And having water at your dock doesn’t guarantee that there is deep water access to the river itself. The silt in the creeks and rivers down there moves constantly, so charts aren’t reliable. They also give “mean low water” which isn’t the “lowest low.” If you’re serious, get in a kayak with a depth meter (or even just a stick) and test it at low tide yourself. Make sure there is deep channel out. I wouldn’t go any shallower than 3’ water depth at low tide for consistent access in a power boat. Sailboat depth water usually adds big $$ to the value of a lot.

The Northern Neck is VERY quiet in the winter — most of the restaurants, etc shut down. Also, I don’t know if the menhaden plant is still operating in Kilmarnock, but you don’t want to be downwind of there.

Sorry — I misremembered — the menhaden plant is in Reedville, not Kilmarnock, but the warning still holds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all really helpful! Thank you! For water depth re boating, how deep is generally deep enough?

Depends how big your boat is!! Seriously... depends on sailboat (need deeper water) versus power boat. For power boats, it also depends on size of boat (draft) and type of propulsion (outboard, i/o, jet boat, etc).

i'd think 4 feet depth at low tide should be good for all but the big sailboats.

Don’t rely on real estate descriptions that say “deep water.” That can mean anything. And having water at your dock doesn’t guarantee that there is deep water access to the river itself. The silt in the creeks and rivers down there moves constantly, so charts aren’t reliable. They also give “mean low water” which isn’t the “lowest low.” If you’re serious, get in a kayak with a depth meter (or even just a stick) and test it at low tide yourself. Make sure there is deep channel out. I wouldn’t go any shallower than 3’ water depth at low tide for consistent access in a power boat. Sailboat depth water usually adds big $$ to the value of a lot.

The Northern Neck is VERY quiet in the winter — most of the restaurants, etc shut down. Also, I don’t know if the menhaden plant is still operating in Kilmarnock, but you don’t want to be downwind of there.

Sorry — I misremembered — the menhaden plant is in Reedville, not Kilmarnock, but the warning still holds.

This is why we crossed the very cute Reedville and surrounding areas off our list. The smell is terrible and depending on the day, weather, etc. you can get hit by it. Even if you take the Tangiers ferry it can be unbearable.

[Anonymous]

What are some of the more populated areas? I’ve been to Reedville, Westmoreland Park. Stratford Hall.

[Anonymous]

I’m a native, and by that I mean my family on all sides has been there since the 1600’s. Like many people of my generation, I had to look elsewhere for work after college and now live in the DC area, though my parents and other close family still live in the Northern Neck. The population of all four large counties combined is only about 50,000. Kilmarnock is probably the largest town, though there are other smaller towns/villages such as Warsaw, Montross, and Reedville. It’s very slow paced, but lots of outdoor and water based fun if that is your thing.

[Anonymous]

We've got a place in Reedville and live in Alexandria. It's 2.5 hours door to door. Internet SUCKS but between hot spotting our phones and the satellite, we managed to keep 4 kids and 4 adults schooling/teleworking this spring.

We love it. Reedville is cute (but tiny) and we do our supply shopping either in Heathsville or Kilmarnock.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've got a place in Reedville and live in Alexandria. It's 2.5 hours door to door. Internet SUCKS but between hot spotting our phones and the satellite, we managed to keep 4 kids and 4 adults schooling/teleworking this spring.

We love it. Reedville is cute (but tiny) and we do our supply shopping either in Heathsville or Kilmarnock.

Any reason you chose that area? We've been looking at property down that way.....

[Anonymous]

We're boaters, and our family has places directly on the Bay. I would not buy a house on the water without first seeing it, and accessing it from the water. If you're interested in becoming a boater, buy the boat first.

https://www.boattrader.com/boat/2013-tidewater-198cc-7702833/

[Anonymous]

We are down by Kilmarnock and live in Alexandria. I can think of 4-5 other Alexandria families who also have River Houses down in our general area on the Northern Neck.

It is about a 2.5 hour drive, even if we leave at 5 pm on a Friday (during non-Covid times). Sometimes it is up to 3 hours but that usually is because of a backup on the WW Bridge or on the Nice Bridge. We have had our property for 20+ years and love it. We would do it all over again! Our kids and family has gotten so much out of our River House.

Check out the shoreline and think about how you will use the property. Is there a seawall or riprap? Is there a sand beach? Is there a dock? We wanted a sand beach and a dock because we wanted the kids to be able to swim and we wanted boats. We had to bring in some sand to expand our beach and we had to take down the existing dock and replace it. The sand part was easy but the dock required going through the permitting process and took longer. We also wanted to expand our dock to add electricity (lighting, lifts) and water (sink).

It is very helpful if the property already has a dock. It usually is possible to put one in but the process can be arduous going depending on the municipality you're in. Water depth of 3-4 feet at low tide should be sufficient for most motor boats. We had lifts put in on our dock so that all the boats and skis are out of the water and that always makes us feel better when storms come in. We also had a running water sink put onto our dock so that we can clean fish et al off while still on the dock.

We do curbside pickup of food and groceries at either the Walmart in Kilmarnock or the Food Lion in Warsaw. Both have online ordering systems and it is very easy to do.

We have built up a good list of vendors to help us, electricians, plumbers, and the like. We have a cleaning service that comes in once a week.

We depend primarily on the satellite system for our internet (Verizon) and it has worked pretty well. We have had some problems on days with very bad weather and storms but other than that, with phone hot spots, we have been very successful with having up to 8 or 9 people on line at the same time using different devices. We also have DSL through Verizon but that is dicey.

There are some wonderful restaurants on the Northern Neck. You will find them mostly in Irvington, Reedville, Kilmarnock and Tappahannock. The next time you are in Kilmarnock be sure to stop at The Car Wash. You'll be very happy you did!

Life on the Neck is wonderful. It is very relaxing. Once we get to our property we usually don't leave it except for every 4-5 days. Even now with some of our kids being in their older teens and very athletic and active, we've found that they are happy to hang out, use the toys (boats etc) and just enjoy life.

Also, some of the posters are clearly "off" in their knowledge and advice. Wade through the posts pretty carefully.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've got a place in Reedville and live in Alexandria. It's 2.5 hours door to door. Internet SUCKS but between hot spotting our phones and the satellite, we managed to keep 4 kids and 4 adults schooling/teleworking this spring.

We love it. Reedville is cute (but tiny) and we do our supply shopping either in Heathsville or Kilmarnock.

Any reason you chose that area? We've been looking at property down that way.....

DP but we bought in Reedville b/c it is the closet town directly on the Bay when driving from Alexandria. 2.5 hours. Kilmarnock and White Stone are other nice options directly on the Bay but those towns would add about 40 minutes to each round trip from Alexandria.

Reedville is also slightly less expensive than the towns further south b/c it is a much smaller town with less shopping/restaurants, etc. and also because of the reputation of the Reedville menhaden plant. Our Reedville house is relatively close to the menhaden plant, but we only smell it a few times in the summer (typically just for a couple of hours until the wind shifts) when we are directly downwind.