Ft Monroe, Virginia: Our favorite local beach

Ft Monroe beach is spectacular! It has beautiful views of waves, dolphins and sail boats. We love how shallow the water is by the shore. Some parts of the beach have little shallow pools that form in the sand.

My favorite is to float while the kids play digging in the sand or catching small fish with nets. They like to dig deep holes and try to fill them with water, though the water seeps back into the sand almost instantly. This never discourages their endless attempts to fill them with fresh drawn buckets of water.

There are sometimes cruise ships that make you wonder where they are headed, if anywhere. Cargo ships with stacks of containers make you wonder what they are shipping. This time we saw a person riding in a chair with a motor and fan of his back with paraglider parachute. He flew out over the water, down the shore and then back to the field where he came from. Always something interesting to see at Ft. Monroe!

This trip my husband and I left the kids with my in-laws. We had a fall planning retreat, just the two of us, with the camper and our dog Domino. The sites at Colony RV Park are spacious, quiet and cozy. There are fields of grass and beautiful old crooked trees. Most of all, you are close to the water on both sides.

For sunset and dinner, we went to the Deadrise restaurant. It was so beautiful to watch the pink sunset from the pier and the balconies. We had so much fun that we went there for dinner our second night, too.

We recommend the Narragansett beer that comes with a free shot of cheap, but tasty whiskey for only $6. It is the same beer that Captain Quint crushed in Jaws. It was fun to share a nostalgic drink from a movie set in the ocean while we sat by the water.

We also loved the shrimp and grits and the fish tacos. They were both PHENOMENAL! The fish in the tacos was just the right flavor of grilled and blackened. The shrimp grits came with a succatash sauce on top that was so full of flavor. We were impressed!

We cannot wait to go back to Ft Monroe Beach and we will be sure to eat dinner again at sunset at the Deadrise!