The River Cottage

My friend Ellen and I spent two nights at a river cottage in North, Virginia. Here’s the recap of our peaceful stay!

Cottage By The River

My friend Ellen booked this super charming Airbnb in Eastern Virginia for four nights. She invited me to join for as many as I could get away, so I spent last Thursday and Friday with her enjoying the peaceful quiet by the water. 

The house is located in North, Virginia roughly 15 minutes from the town of Mathews and 20 minutes from Gloucester. It was second back from the water with access to a nice dock. 

The house was SO CUTE!

I took so many mental notes about the cute decor. 

And well appointed with kayaks, bikes, an outdoor shower, a hammock, adirondack chairs, an outdoor table, and more. 

It had 2 bedrooms, side by side, and one bath. Perfect for two friends or a small family! 

The duvet cover was sooooo soft AND it had a zip closure, which is my new requirement for duvets because of the cleaner line it makes. I checked the tag and the duvet was by Kotten Cuture and 100% Egyptian cotton. A great price too! I think I’m getting one…

The view:

Chef Salads

For lunch we had chef salads. Delicious! 

Paddleboarding and Kayaks

Ellen loves all outdoorsy stuff and she brought her stand-up paddleboard. I gave it a test run with wobbly legs. I have the worst balance. 

We also went kayaking. The kayaks had quite a few spider webs on them, and I was unsure if we should go. My fear was that a spider would crawl out while I was on the water and I would be trapped! 

IT HAPPENED! AHHHH. Here we are full of adrenaline. I almost jumped in the river!  

Dinner At The White Dog Bistro

We took showers and dressed up for a nice dinner in downtown Mathews at The White Dog Bistro.

The restaurant has won many awards, and I can vouch that all of them were well deserved. We had an incredible meal! 

Amuse-buche: watermelon and feta

Amazing crab and crawfish hushpuppies

a warm bacon and maple salad with herby goat cheese and candied pecans

Pineapple scallops in a vanilla bean beurre blanc for me

Surf + Turf for Ellen

Pecan Pie with vanilla bean ice cream and caramel sauce

Tidal Flooding

When we returned, we realized the water level had come up quite a bit! Apparently they have tidal flooding. It was creepy to see where we had stood earlier was covered in water. 

We watched the movie “This Is 40” to unwind. Very appropriate! 

Friday

On Friday morning we had leisurely coffee and breakfast – bagels from home and the best cantaloupe ever. 

Bike Paths

The neighborhood had lots of sandy bike baths to explore. We went on a 45 minute ride all around. 

Power Walk 

Then I went on a power walk and Ellen when kayaking! (I was still recovering from the spider incident so I stayed on dry land). 

Chef Salads Round 2

This time we added a half glass of wine……and then more!!

Afternoon Chill Time

Reading + great views by the water. The weather was absolutely perfect!

Dinner at Hole In The Wall

For dinner we drove to Gwynn Island to eat at Hole In The Wall.

It was on the casual side, and we got the first spot at a picnic table on the deck. 

Oysters on the Half Shell!

Hushpuppies

Blackened Flounder, Brussels, Cottage Potatoes

The potatoes were out of this world – pimento cheese style! We loved the food. Ellen had blackened flounder tacos.  

Sunset

Our cottage faces due east, so we made a point to get home early enough to enjoy it on the dock. 

The end!