Maritime Museum Gears up for Seafood Festival
The Deltaville Maritime Museum & Holly Point Nature Park's Annual Art and Seafood Festival will be held Saturday, October 9th, 10 am - 4 pm, rain or shine. Visitors to the popular event will enjoy new and expanded arts and crafts booths, the new "Pierwalk" with the "Living Shoreline" Exhibit, Camellia Garden, major changes to the F. D.Crockett project and attractions for all ages. Upgrades have been made to the Kitchen Pavilion and there will be plenty of seafood and other tasty offerings for all.
All the offerings you enjoyed last year at the Museum Concession will be on this year's menu. Steamed shrimp, seafood salad, hand-made crab cake sandwiches and fish filet sandwich will all be served. Sides dishes will be cole slaw and hush puppies. An Eastern Carolina bar-b-que plate or bar-b-que sandwich plate with cole slaw and hush puppies, which was very well received last year, will be again on the menu. Soft drinks and water will again be sold in the popular twist-top plastic bottle for convenience. The "Food Court" will be spread out slightly this year, allowing patrons more access room. All the Museum cashiers this year will accept monies and the new "Meal Ticket," hopefully eliminating some of the cashier bottleneck of last year. All proceeds from the Museum food and drink concession go directly to benefit the Museum, so Event Chef Bill Powell says, “Eat hearty! It's for a great cause.”
A new offering this year will be a "Museum Meal Ticket," available at the Museum tent. This $10 ticket gets you your choice of entrée, 2 sides and a drink, a savings of $2. This ticket will also be available in advance at Nauti Nell's and NAPA in Deltaville ,and Papeterie in Urbanna. This is a rain or shine event , so get your tickets early.
All food and drinks this year will again be located in the Museum "Galley" area with something for everyone. In addition to the Museum concessions, the local Moore and Duke families will again have hot dogs for the kids (and anybody else), funnel cakes for all you folks with a sweet tooth, and iced tea. David Moore said, "We're working on a couple of surprise additions to our menu. So come on by and check us out!"
As last year, the $5 per car parking donation will apply from 10 am to 2 pm, with the fee voluntary from 2 to 4 pm. As the fields used to accommodate parking are part of the Nature Park's playfields and natural area, after-event repairs have been necessary to restore them. Proceeds from the parking fee will go to these restorations with residue to the Museum and Park fund. A large handicapped and mobility-restricted parking area will be available in the closest parking area to the Festival, with expanded golf cart and trailer rides scheduled for all parking areas.
In addition to the arts, crafts and food, all Museum facilities will be open. The Nature Trail, Sculpture Garden, Wildflower Meadow, Pierwalk with Explorer, F. D.Crockett and other workcraft of historical interest will all be on display, with their best foot forward. There will be a golf cart available for those with mobility restrictions to tour the Nature areas. The nefarious naughties of Blackbeard's Crew, pirates all, have promised fun for all ages with "Scallawag School," cannon firings, sea shanties and lots of impromptu "pirating about." Michelle, down at NAPA, has been hard at work to make the Napa-Sponsored Car Show bigger and better than ever.
Deltaville Maritime Museum and Holly Point Nature Park are located in Deltaville, VA. If you are coming for the first time, signage on Route 33 will easily direct you to the Park. The park is open from dawn to dusk daily.