- [Announcer 1] Support comes from Virginia's River Realm.

Enjoy the wonder of a perfect oyster, the promise of a secret Cove and the pleasure of sharing a table with friends, a place where you can catch your breath, calm your mind, and live your dreams.

- [Announcer 2] Jim and Pat Carter Real Estate is proud to sponsor Virginia Found, Matching People with Chesapeake Bay Homes since 1957.

Visit CarterRealEstate.com and find your match.

- [Announcer 3] Virginia is the nation's third largest seafood producer in the largest on American's Atlantic coast.

Watermen in the state work hard to provide you with the freshest and most delicious products Virginia Waters have to offer.

Visit VirginiaSeafood.org to learn more about delicious Virginia seafood.

- [Announcer 4] The Virginia Institute of Marine Science at William & Mary providing science that impacts the Chesapeake Bay in the world.

Dedicated to sustaining and restoring our waters, marine life and coastal communities.

More at vims.edu.

(upbeat music) - Hi everyone, I'm Dave Parker with Virginia Found.

This is the Rappahannock River.

It is thought by many to offer up some of the best oysters in the world.

In fact, this entire region of Virginia is where you will find some of the best seafood ever.

But while the area is populated by a hardworking Watermen, it is thought by many others as a place where you can relax and unwind.

Today, Virginia Found is in Virginia's River.

- [Dave] The countryside of Virginia.

This is probably what comes to mind when you think of that quaint small towns with welcoming white picket fences, the frequent side of livestock, locally sourced restaurants, antique stores festooned with civil war cannons out front.

But that's not only what should come to mind in this part of Virginia.

For generations, it's been known as the Northern neck, but as now being rebranded as Virginia's River Realm, whatever you'd like to call it, geographically, it's that part of the Virginia coast between Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

And it is here where you will find something very special.

This is Seafood Country.

If you live here or just visit for lunch, you're expecting any seafood that hits your plate to be right off the boat.

(metals clanging) Because this is seafood country, - And while we do this, we do it much faster.

- [Dave] It's also Watermen country.

This is William.

He makes a living doing something that most people either wouldn't or couldn't, even though they travel for miles to eat what he catches.

He's a third generation waterman and has been working these waters since he was eight.

While he goes to a beautiful office, it can be a hard, long and even dangerous workday.

And he does it 12 months a year.

He has to.

Between regulations, competition, and the lasting effects of pollution, not many people here are getting rich.

(engine revving) That's one of the reasons William agrees to take people like me who are mad for mollusks, out on the Rappahannock River for a few special hours to do something I had heard of other people doing, but never thought I'd actually get the chance.

- All right, so we're here with William.

William's about to take us out and we're gonna do some oyster harvesting.

We get to taste the oysters out on the boat, right?

- Yes.

- Maybe, can't wait!

- If you weren't doing this, if you weren't a waterman, what do you think you'd be doing in life?

- If I weren't a waterman, I'd be a carpenter.

- A carpenter, all right.

You're still working with your hands.

What's the worst weather you've ever been out, in this boat.

- Last winter, it was the worst.

We had several locations, where the boat was so rough.

One time, I had the sea come over the stern and put about 200 gallons of water and at one time pull the way down.

And the worst time, the only time I've been scared yet, it was so rough and I kept pushing the limit and the boat got rolled to the point which is up pinnacle.

And she hit this point and I didn't think she'd come back, but she did.

- You ever get tired in oysters?

- No, because when I get tired, I just stop.

(both laughing) - [Dave] For those of us who love oysters.

This is almost a bucket list item.

After a 30 to 45 minute boat ride, William dredges for the oyster, (oysters falling) Shucks them, and then, you get to do this.

Ooh, look at that.

My dad would go crazy for this.

No butter, no cocktail sauce, no shame.

- Hmm, it don't look pretty, but it taste awesome.

- [Dave] This delicious Culinary Adventure, is part of the Oyster Academy in Irvington.

Before getting out on the water, there's an hour of class learning about how important oysters were to the local Native Americans.

And then learning about the current tools of the trade.

The classroom is in this place.

The Tides Inn Resort, a four star restaurant in a town of about 450 people.

Unsurprisingly, it's the largest hotel in the area.

You'll find manicured landscaping, a beautiful beach with a marina, top tier service and lots of oysters on the menu.

While there's a more formal dining room inside, it was outside at the Fish Hawk restaurant, where we met a claimed chef Pete Woods, who let us know there's a lot more to oysters than just eating them.

- Now, what we're gonna do today, is we're gonna shuck some of these oysters.

These are beautiful oysters.

They are the featured oyster here at Fish Hawk at the Tides Inn.

And this is a baby oyster.

It's actually produced by one of our employees.

And they're from right around the corner, six miles away from here on Annie Poison Creek.

Now the thing about the beauty about oysters, they're not really that hard to open, any oyster in the world, I don't care where it comes from, any oyster in the world, if you hold it with the point up, the muscle is at seven o'clock.

So they're actually kind of easy to open.

Here's the deal.

The reason the muscle is at seven o'clock is because the oysters eat primarily from this side of the shell.

So what I want to do is, I want to contract that muscle and open the shell on the lightest side, because the widest side, is where they eat the most.

So, when you open them, just make sure you have a nice towel.

You're good and steady.

We're gonna go right in through the lip here.

Not too much pressure, not too hard.

We're not gonna strong arm it.

You give it a twist and pop the shell open.

Then you go in and just pivot that muscle right there, and then pull the shell.

Bingo!

And there you go, Jesus, isn't that beautiful.

There you go.

Now, we also do this beautiful thing.

We call the Rappahannock roll here.

And what we do is you roll the oyster over, A, it's completely cut off the muscle and B, it gives you a really nice puffy fat oyster on top.

I have plenty here.

We've also roasted some.

We do that here at the Tides Inn, these are a barbecue oyster.

They are butter and bacon and barbecue sauce and hot sauce, and they are absolutely delicious.

- [Dave] Hey, the best part of hanging out with Chef Pete is getting to eat his food.

You know, in this part of Virginia, there is a type of oyster for everyone.

I love the raw oysters, but this roasted oyster, three minutes, 350 degrees.

(man chewing) I mean, I don't know how you can beat that.

That is absolutely delicious.

Hmm, thank you, Chef Pete.

- [Dave] Irvington is fairly typical of many of the small towns you'll find along this part of the Virginia Coast.

A variety of locally owned shops and restaurants, and the occasional farmer's market.

Many of which, rely heavily on tourism, because those tourists also like to get out and explore and relax.

You'll also find Wind Swept in Irvington.

Owner, Craig Dodson says, he can physically see the transformation in visitors, once they start enjoying the beauty of the area.

- There's just something that happens, that's almost transformational in terms of your disposition, like everything, just sort of, all the wrinkles get ironed out, out here and it's slower but in all the right ways, It's amazing seeing people come in and they will have just gotten to town like 30 minutes ago, checked in at the Hope and Glory.

The tides are one the Airbnb's and by the time they're coming through my doors, life is good.

(TV swooshing) - [Dave] I don't think this is exactly what Craig was talking about.

Here's something you'll be surprised to find in a town, the size of Irvington.

The Compass Entertainment Complex.

Inside they have six movie theaters, wall-to-wall video and arcade games, ropes course, a restaurant and more.

(tires screeching) Outside, there's go-karts and bumper cars, miniature golf, and a batting cage.

I've told you, it was a lot of fun.

And now for something geared, a little more toward the adults, some of the wine that was flowing back at the Tides Inn, will come from the nearby and appropriately named Dog and Oyster Vineyard.

I know, Coastal Virginia doesn't come to mind for most wine enthusiasts, but maybe they've never been to The Dog and Oyster, with plate after plate of, you guessed it local oysters.

It may be a visit to a winery, unlike any you've had.

The Dog and Oyster, prides itself on presenting wine that marries the soil, with the nearby waters.

It's something Dudley Patteson has been working on for a long time.

- When people think of coming to this area and wanted to eat here, it's gonna be seafood.

And part of that seafood of course, is going to be the oyster.

So, would think, how can we tie in the number one food resource in this area, with wine and how have you done that?

- On weekends and season, we pair our wines with oysters.

We have a tasting room we call SIP.

We have a oyster stand called SLURP.

And when you come to The Dog and Oyster, you sip and slurp, and there's nothing better than to have local oysters paired with local wines.

- [Dave] Dudley, by the way, has been quite the entrepreneur in this small town, because he also owns this gym in Irvington, the Hope and Glory Inn, a small boutique hotel that has been voted one of the 10 best, in the entire country, and it's in this small town.

But hold on, it gets better, because the Hope and Glory Inn, also has this person, Chef Meseret Crockett, born in Ethiopia.

She found herself in Irvington, Virginia, serving her own special flavor of food, which usually means, a touch of heat because that's how they do it in Ethiopia.

- So, what are we doing today?

- So, I'm going to prepare the oysters.

- Okay.

(upbeat music) - We start, this is Wild, Rappahannock Oysters.

- [Dave] Okay.

- And I'm going to lay them like this.

- [Dave] Yeah.

- Here, I have homemade Pesto.

(lively music) And I am going to put the Pesto just like this.

So, I like keeps the food.

- [Dave] Yes, this is the Ethiopian in you.

- Yes.

- [Dave] Right?

- So, I'm going to, just a drop, one drop.

- [Dave] Okay.

- And then, I'll finish with the Asiago cheese.

- [Dave] Asiago, okay.

- And my pesto was made also with Asiago cheese.

- [Dave] Okay.

- [Dave] And what better way to follow a decadent oyster, than with a decadent dessert, chocolate cake over homemade Creme Fraiche, shaved white chocolate, fresh strawberries, all drizzled with chocolate liquor, and finished with fresh mint and Cognac.

For something a little more casual, a 20 to 25 minute drive from Irvington, will take you across the Rappahannock River to Urbana.

You'll find yourself at the water's edge at the Urbanna Seafood Market & Raw Bar, as the name implies, you can buy your seafood in the market or enjoy it in the restaurant.

Unless you're one of the few people here, who doesn't like seafood.

- Johnny, we met inside the Seafood Market there.

And Johnny told me that, even though he's from here, he really doesn't even care for seafood.

Is that true?

- True state.

- So, when you come to the Urbanna Seafood Market you're not getting the seafood?

- I come for the cold beer and just sit around and relax, good view.

- And that is a good view by the way, there it is.

- [Dave] If you're looking for an even better view, you can go from getting out on the water to getting out over it.

In nearby topping Virginia, check out Coastal Sky Taxi.

(lively music) - [Dave] Great flight, man.

- Yeah, enjoyed it, it was great.

- [Dave] All right, check out Davie at Coastal Sky Taxi.

He was awesome.

And now for a little history.

Once upon a time, the Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding waters were plied by boats like these.

They're called buyboats.

Buy, as in, they bought a watermen's catch out on the water to save the captain's time from having to motor back to the dock, unload and then head back out.

But, times have not been kind to the buyboat captains, once, there were dozens and now only one or two, that means, these boats are mainly floating museums.

They're refurbished and vivid by a dedicated unique group of individuals get together once a year for tours, spend a lot of time eating and drinking and answering questions.

- Now, what is, if you're gonna give somebody the elevator speech, on what a buyboat is, what is a buyboat?

- All right, the buyboat, gets that name because these were the larger boats at the time, and this was why I actually started probably round the turn of the last century, 1900.

- Okay.

- And these boats would be set out maybe by the shocking houses or the crab house or whatever, to go out to the fishing grounds, where the smaller boats at that time couldn't easily get to the market.

So basically, they would take the market to the fisherman.

- [Dave] Now, I find this kind of stuff fascinating.

Actually, I find the people who are into this, more fascinating but I realize it's not for everyone.

That's why, any trip to Virginia's River Realm may mean the need to get out of the car and walk around, one of the bigger towns here, Kilmarnock.

(piano music) (upbeat music) One of the biggest destination in town, is the Kilmarnock Antique Gallery.

Just like most antique stores, it has all the usual knick-knacks from furniture to glassware, dolls, books, cards, collectibles, dogs, you know the drill.

But, since this is an antique store in Virginia's River Realm, you'll also find these oyster plates, lots and lots of oyster plates and oyster cans, lots and lots of oyster cans and books to tell you about all those oyster plates and cans.

- This is more of a man's collection or the oyster can, say there's some people have 100s of them, - [Dave] Man cans.

- Man cans, yeah.

To go into man-cave.

- [Dave] One of the lodging highlights in town is the Kilmarnock Inn.

This place is simply beautiful.

Since Virginia is known as the presidential state, their 19 rooms are housed within several cottages that are named after US presidents, who were from Virginia.

The restaurant serves breakfast and lunch and is open to the public.

And don't miss the chance to spend some time in the spectacular courtyard.

It is quite the Oasis, in this small town.

Now you may have the impression from earlier in this episode that everything in this part of Virginia is about oysters.

Well, I need to show you something, 15 minutes from Kilmarnock is Lively, Virginia.

There's a stoplight, an insurance agency, a bank, a dollar general, a few other businesses and restaurants.

But I was here for one reason, the world famous Corner Bar and Grill with a pinball machine and pole table in the back.

And absolutely, no hint of finery.

I knew I was in the right place, but, what is it actually famous for?

- That was told me to come to the world famous corner grill, mainly for two reasons, One, coldest beer in jam, and you got that right.

And, your Crab Cake Sandwiches, which by the looks of it, is about the size of a small Frisbee.

(indistinct) - Talk about delicious, almost no filler in that Crab Cake.

My parents would love it.

Connor, that was the best Crab Cake Sandwich I've ever had, that's seen in the look.

- Thank you very much.

- Why is it the best?

What makes it so good?

- Well, it's the love, that in a third of a pound of crab meat, - Hahaha - with no filler.

- All right.

- And that's just, well, Billy McCardy had this place years ago.

- Yup.

- And I ask him for his recipe.

When I got the place, and thankfully, he gave it to me and it's always been here.

- There's not a whole lot in lively except for somebody whose last name actually is Lively and he's from Georgia.

And so you came here just to compare your last name with the town itself, right?

- It is, just around, I came out of Richmond and drive over here to see what Lively, Virginia looked like.

- What would you say?

- Absolutely, I like it, it is a nice little community.

And we had a fantastic delicious hamburger at the corner, a daily beer jam, whatever you called it.

- (laughs) that's right.

- Nice.

- That's about as good as advertisement you can get.

- Stop and eat here, if you come through.

- [Dave] It was then time to check off, one of the top Trip Advisor recommendations for this area, historic Christ Church in Irvington.

- One of the must sees here in Irvington is what you see behind me.

And that is historic Christ Church, takes back to the early 1700s.

Everything inside that I'm about to show you in a second.

Everything inside with the exception of the glass is original to the early 1700s.

It is just an absolutely beautiful piece of architecture.

(lively music) - [Dave] If you're like me, it's hard to fully enjoy the sight-seeing, when there's another seafood restaurant, just down the road.

But we're heading to no ordinary seafood spot.

This is Merroir, one of the most celebrated restaurants in Virginia, with scenic views of the water and oyster shells in the parking lot.

You know, what's about to happen.

(upbeat music) - [Woman] The ham is very softie.

- Outstanding, oh my God, speechless.

(woman laughing) - [Woman] This plate of deliciousness.

This is called angels on horseback and it is a grilled oyster with an herb butter and then a little piece of Edwards ham on top.

- So whenever you have some travel destination, everybody wants to know what are the must sees and what are the must eats.

Merrior has both of those, because you have the great view here and just incredible food.

Aah, what a great meal.

- [Dave] If you eat at enough restaurants in an area, you're going to find disappointment, but not today.

Our last meal stop for our weekend in Virginia's River Realm, took us to the award-winning Dredge in Irvington.

Chef Bryan Byrd has called this area home, since he was eight.

- So you are from this area, which means you are serving seafood to a clientele and actually harvested seafood.

- Definitely.

- That would seem like a pretty discerning, tough clientele.

- It was, you know, but I was raised by a local waterman.

So I was taught at an early age, how to cook great seafood, especially our local seafood here.

And, it's definitely a compliment to have our locals and our huge local clientele come in and eat our local seafood that they actually harvested.

So I have plenty of local watermen that are coming in and they're eating the actual oysters that they harvested for themselves.

- That's cool.

- Yeah.

- Speaking of which, what are we cooking today?

- Today, we're cooking some Seared Sea Scallops with Red Grouper, one of my favorite from the Keys.

I live in the Keys for five years.

So that's one of the things that also brought back with me to Irvington, was a Caribbean influence.

And so that's what, you know, we do Rockfish and things like that, - Yup.

- But I also love to give, you know, a piece of the Keys, to the people back here at home.

- Man, I can't wait to see how you do it, let's go.

- Awesome.

- Bryan starts this dish by dredging the scallops and grouper in a wash of blackening seasoning, a little salt and pepper and olive oil.

Now, he likes to cook the fish on cast iron to give it a good sear.

- You tend to use scallops from Watches, North Carolina.

- [Dave] Look at the size of the scallops.

These are you 10.

So, some of the biggest you'll find.

- [Dave] What's the key to cook on a good scallop?

- [Bryan] Don't flip too early.

- 'Cause you won't have that nice sear on the sides.

This has been on, for maybe a minute and a half close to two minutes.

You don't wanna sear it too much.

So I'll give it a nice flip, look at that perfect blacken.

So, it's not over cooked, it's not over blacken.

Blackening is not just a seasoning, it's the way of cooking it, on the cast iron.

- [Dave] In keeping with his traditional Caribbean style, Bryan likes to pair these fruits of the sea with black beans and rice and- - [Bryan] one my favorites from the islands, is a little fresh mango salsa.

- When you first cut into a piece of fish, to know it's properly prepared, what are you looking for?

- I'm looking for the juice to run out, you know, especially when you're searing it that way, the way...

Especially blackening, you're searing and you're locking in that flavor.

Kind of like fried, but it's a lot healthier for you.

Fried, you're locking in that great moisture and flavor of the fish, and this is the same way with the blacken.

- Bryan, thank you so much for- - Cheers.

- A delicious quality food.

- Thanks for coming by.

- Thank you.

(boat engine revving) - That's pretty, isn't it?

You know, it's hard to get a true complete feel for an area from watching a cooking show or a travel show, but I can tell you what to generally expect when you come to this part of Virginia.

Virginia's River Realm or the Northern neck, and that is accommodations and restaurants that will surprise you, scenery that is beautiful, and the freshest of seafood.

For Virginia found, I'm Dave Parker.

(lively music) - [Announcer 1] Support comes from Virginia's River Realm.

Enjoy the wonder of a perfect oyster, the promise of a secret Cove and the pleasure of sharing a table with friends, a place where you can catch your breath, calm your mind, and live your dreams.

- [Announcer 2] Jim and Pat Carter Real Estate is proud to sponsor Virginia found, Matching People with Chesapeake Bay Homes since 1957.

Visit CarterRealEstate.com and find your match.

- [Announcer 3] Virginia is the nation's third largest seafood producer and the largest on American's Atlantic coast.

Watermen in the state, work hard to provide you with the freshest and most delicious products Virginia Waters have to offer.

Visit VirginiaSeafood.org to learn more about delicious Virginia seafood.

- [Announcer 4] The Virginia Institute of Marine Science at William & Mary providing science that impacts the Chesapeake Bay and the world.

Dedicated to sustaining and restoring our waters, marine life and coastal communities.

More at vims.edu.