Hanover Tavern is an experience in Southern elegance

Hanover Tavern is a beautifully restored structure from yesteryear that offers multi-faceted entertainment today. Owned by the Hanover Tavern Foundation, this historic building is the site of history, theatre, and fine Southern dining.

Guests can take a self-guided tour of the 1733 structure using brochures available on the ground floor. Or guided tours can be scheduled if visitors want to hear stories about the tavern’s famous guests along with the building’s remarkable architecture.

Making its home at Hanover Tavern is Barksdale Theatre, a separate entity and partner with the foundation. On stage now through February 6 is Nunsense by Dan Goggin, an award-winning comedy about nuns who conduct a fundraiser for fellow sisters’ funerals when their cook accidentally poisons some of them.

Christmas Eve Dinner

A full service restaurant is open at Hanover Tavern six days a week. Due to its popularity, reservations are recommended. The tavern specializes in classic Southern foods with modern adaptations. Many theatre goers enjoy an evening of dinner and theatre in this gracious setting.

The restaurant will serve a special Christmas Eve dinner from 4:30 until 8:30 p.m. To make reservations, call 804-537-5050. 

The Colonial tavern is located in Hanover’s quaint courthouse town about 20 miles north of Richmond at 13181 Hanover Courthouse Road directly across the street from the courthouse. The restaurant serves lunch (weekdays), brunch (weekends) and dinner Tuesday through Sunday when the historic tavern is open to visitors.

Irvington Virginia is a town for the ages

Irvington was a steamboat town on Virginia’s Northern Neck that fell on hard times after the fire of 1917 as the steamboat era came to a close. You would never know it now - Irvington made a grand comeback, reinventing itself as a waterfront community and the place to go in the Chesapeake Bay area.

The Tides Inn is a resort in Irvington that epitomizes southern graciousness on it Carter’s Creek location overlooking the Rappahannock River. With its own spa, marina, restaurants, cruises on a historic yacht and an18-hole golf course, the Tides Inn is a destination in itself.

Not to be outdone, Irvington’s Hope and Glory Inn is one of the highest rated inns in America with recommendations too numerous to mention. This boutique inn has seven rooms and 13 cottages in a unique and memorable setting.

Irvington has another golf course, the Tartan Club, designed by none other than Sir Guy Cambell of St. Andrews, Scotland in 1959 – the only golf course he designed in America. And the town’s newest golf course, the King Carter, has been recommended by Golf Digest.

History comes alive

On King Carter Drive visitors can relive life in the age of steam – Irvington’s Steamboat Era Museum features the boats themselves, what the landings were like, and the people who rode and worked on them.

Historic Christ Church built by Robert “King” Carter in the 1730s is an awesome architectural experience in Irvington and a National Historic Landmark that visitors should not miss.

The town is also known for its boutique shopping experience. There are a number of interesting shops worth visiting in Irvington.

The town also hosts a farmer’s market the first Saturday of every month from April through December from 8 a.m. until noon at the Irvington Commons Green that is quite an experience.

And the White Fences Vineyard and Winery is just outside Irvington’s town limits.

A lot of holiday events are coming up in Irvington including a number of events at Tide’s Inn.