Oysters from Virginia’s Eastern Shore are plucked from the Atlantic Ocean on one side of the peninsula and the Chesapeake Bay on the other. Oysters from the region ship to restaurants around the world. Buy them at Whole Foods and order them at Grand Central Oyster Bar in Manhattan.
Head here to eat your fill, right from the source. You’ll find them raw, smoked, roasted, fried, topped with crab, and in chowders, pastries, sandwiches and salads.
This tradition hearkens back to the days when cooler weather signaled that oysters were safe to eat – the old “r” month rule. Today, because of refrigeration and modern aqua farming, you can eat oysters all year round, but this age-old fall tradition continues: roasting local oysters just pulled from the water over an open fire. There’s one almost every weekend starting in early fall and it kicks up a notch during Wine and Brine Month when pairing oysters and wine grown in the same Chesapeake Bay watershed is celebrated. As they say, what grows together goes together. Sip an award-winning Chatham Vineyards wine along with your roasted oysters or enjoy a late morning brunch with oyster shooters.
TIP: Tickets go fast, so get them sooner rather than later — all of these oyster roasts sell out.
One of the best ways to really understand how oysters and clams get to your dinner table is to get out on the water where shellfish grow in shallow water surrounding Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Boat out to an oyster rock on the Broadwater Bay Oyster Tour, pluck an oyster right from the water and slurp it down; request a side-by-side tasting of different Eastern Shore oyster flavors. Dig for your clam dinner on SouthEast Expeditions’ Kayak Clamming Tour or kayak to a winery along the Chesapeake Bay shoreline. Sip wine and slurp oysters grown in the same Chesapeake Bay watershed on the Church Creek Wine and Oyster Tour.
Forage for local seafood, heritage meats and produce, award-winning wine and specialty foods.
Experience Virginia’s Eastern Shore much as John Smith did when he landed here in 1607. Virginia’s 23 barrier islands once had thriving communities but today are deserted and protected by strict conservation measures. The longest stretch of undeveloped barrier islands on America’s Atlantic coast, these islands are a United Nations World Biosphere Reserve and wild ecosystems like this are increasingly rare worldwide. Make sure to stop at the Barrier Islands Center to learn more before you head out. Hire an outfitter to lead your expedition — they have an encyclopedic knowledge of the channels, tides and other challenges of getting there, and are experts in birding, wildlife, history, marine science, ecology, fisheries or any other interest you have.
No mega malls here. Shop local and take home hand-crafted treasures and interesting relics from the past.
Antique Stores: Comb through antique stores scattered throughout the region along Rt. 13 and in little towns on both coastlines. History buffs will enjoy the vintage oysters cans and advertising posters from the last century and nothing gives a home a shabby chic nautical vibe like a wire waterman’s basket filled with fluffy blankets or an oyster rake adorning a front porch display.
The frenetic pace of modern American life has yet to make its way to the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
Saxis Island: This is not actually an island per se but is surrounded by a huge Chesapeake Bay marsh. Take the scenic route from Parksley. If it’s a Saturday, stop by the Saxis Island Museum then spend some time on the 200-ft. Saxis fishing pier to drop a line or just sit a while. Locals gather at Martha’s Kitchen, right on the wharf, every morning for breakfast.
My grandfather had a secret oyster bed back in the forties and fifties. Only 3 people knew where it was and all are gone now. Sure wish I had written things down when I was a child.
Enjoy articles about the shore’s past as my family arrived there in mid-160O’s. Roots run deep on the peninsula.
My Dad. Had an oyster bed on Eliots Creek and we had some mighty fine oysters from there. Always had panned oysters for Christmas dinner as well as at other times.our cook, Annie Stafford made the best fried oyster ever. My brothers and I would eat them raw as fast as Daddy could shuck them. Annie would make us stup so there would be enough to fry for supper.