monrovia

The best time to visit Monroe's Birthplace is on his birthday at the end of April. There are folks in period costume, guest speakers, fife and drums, etc. The mini-museum at the site here is nicely done and the grounds are well kept. There are long range plans to rebuild some of the structures that existed on this land back in the day.

I visited Colonial Beach and thoroughly enjoyed my visit. The town hosts a lot of very talented artists who display their work in a monthly art walk that was welcoming, interesting, and offered delicious appetizerss at no cost. Many people in the town were friendly and helpful wherever I went. The restaurants were amazingly good for such a small town especially the Seaside Restaurant and The High Tides Restaurant. Seeing the bald eagles was a highlight but there were many birds to view - blue herons, cormorants, and ospreys. I enjoyed my trip to Colonial Beach and will definitely return soon.

Don't believe the Official Colonial Beach, VA Website - with nice pictures and happy people. The whole beach, town, area, and the restrauants are just bad news. On a whim, we wanted to go to a beach to spend a hot August day. What a disaster. The only place to shower and change are the uncleaned and unsanitary urine smelling porta-potties along the beach. The sand on the beach is dirty and the water is full of garbage. The only apparently decent place to use the facilities and possibly change is the Dockside Restrauant. But they have a bad attitude if you don't spend money there. If you go in to use the bathroom to change for the beach, instead of using the portable bathrooms, and DO NOT eat or drink there, they will call the police saying you look like a trouble maker. The police come, are very polite, ask you for ID, check you ID, and then tell you to have a nice day. Of course, if you are not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear from the police. Still, it just ruines the day. Be warned - STAY AWAY - Colonial Beach is a dive, dirty and putrid. Don't waste your time or money.

The building is hidden from the road, and even from the first area you drive in to, so keep going back. It is very small, but worth going in if you are in the area. There are a few things about James Monroe, and also about other founding fathers. Free, and you can see everything in about 10 minutes (longer if your read everything.)