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[quote=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.  [/quote]

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