At 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 28, a Coastal Seaplane will come down over Carter's Creek with Santa on board. It lands at The Tides Inn in Irvington, and the arrival is open to the public from 10 to 11 a.m. From there the day keeps moving. Santa visits three Main Streets, and his last stop ends half an hour before Kilmarnock lights its tree. Look at the whole Thanksgiving week near Weems and the same pattern shows up from Thursday morning to Sunday night. Irvington, White Stone and Kilmarnock have scheduled their holiday openings one after another, with few overlaps, so a family can follow the season from one town to the next.
Here is the order, and where the gaps fall.
Thursday Starts at Irvington Town Commons
Thanksgiving Day is Thursday, Nov. 26, which is also the date of the 26th annual Irvington Turkey Trot. It is based at Irvington Town Commons, 98 King Carter Drive. The 2-mile race starts at 9 a.m., the 5-mile at 10 a.m., and the free Tot Trot for young children at 11 a.m. The race page describes a route through the neighborhoods of Historic Irvington that runs rain or shine. A small share of the proceeds goes to animal welfare organizations in Lancaster County.
Volunteers with the Village Improvement Association run the event. Race director Michelle Lybarger told the Rappahannock Record that entrants can run the 2-mile race, the 5-mile race or both. The paper also reported that online registration stays open until 5 p.m. on Nov. 22 and that signing up early is the way to reserve a T-shirt in your size. Tot Trot registration opens that same Sunday morning, Nov. 22, at 8:05 a.m.
Thursday's sequence starts here. The Tot Trot is scheduled to end at 11:15 a.m. Forty-five minutes later, at noon, Salt & Meadow at The Tides Inn starts serving Thanksgiving dinner and continues until 8 p.m. The inn recommends reservations and lists the price at $120 for adults and $65 for children. Both happen in Irvington, so race morning and an afternoon dinner can fit into one Thursday without leaving the village.
Saturday Runs on One Route, Timed to the Half Hour
Nov. 28 is Small Business Saturday, and Virginia's River Realm has set the day up as a route rather than a list of separate events. In the organizer's words:
"Watch the sky above Carter's Creek, then follow him to Main Street in Irvington, White Stone, and Kilmarnock."
That line comes from the Small Towns Go BIG for Holidays page. The schedule on the Santa's Coming to Towns listing, joined with Kilmarnock's evening event, gives the day its order:
- 9:00 a.m. Candy Cane Hunt at The Tides Inn
- 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. Free cocoa and cookies at Fish Hawk, at the Tides
- 10:00 a.m. Santa arrives by seaplane on Carter's Creek. He leaves at 11.
- 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Santa visits retail shops on Main Street in Irvington
- 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. Main Street, White Stone
- 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Main Street and West Church Street, Kilmarnock
- 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Countdown to Christmas tree lighting at Town Centre Park, Kilmarnock
Each stop gets one hour, except Kilmarnock, which gets two. Between stops there is a 30-minute window to drive to the next Main Street. Santa leaves the Kilmarnock shops at 4:30, and the tree lighting starts at 5. The Town of Kilmarnock's event listing says Santa and Mrs. Claus will be at the lighting, with free cocoa and cookies and a Toys for Tots collection. The route runs north from the creek, and on this schedule the last stop becomes Kilmarnock's own holiday event.
That half-hour spacing makes it realistic to bring children from the Tides dock to the Kilmarnock tree in one day. Each town still gets its own hour, and shoppers stopping in Irvington, White Stone and Kilmarnock reach each Main Street around the time Santa does.
Where the Saturday Route Leaves Choices
The route has a few overlaps, and they're easier to plan for ahead of time.
At The Tides Inn, the Christmas Kickoff includes an ornament workshop from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Guests can shape clay, paint a pre-made design, or turn local materials like oyster shells and crab claws into decorations. The workshop costs $75 per person. It runs during Santa's White Stone hour and into the start of his Kilmarnock visit. A family that books it is choosing to spend early afternoon at the inn, then catching Santa in Kilmarnock or at the 5 p.m. tree lighting.
The Deltaville Maritime Museum also holds its Holiday Gift Market that Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 287 Jackson Creek Road in Deltaville. The listing includes free Santa photos, crafts and free museum admission. Its hours run during the seaplane arrival and the first two Main Street stops. Anyone who wants the market and the Lancaster County route will have to choose, or catch the route late in the day for the Kilmarnock shops and the tree lighting.
Small Business Saturday is mostly about the shops, too. Santa stops at the retail shops along Irvington's Main Street, and the same River Realm page suggests a selfie with the big Santa at W.F. Booth & Son's in Kilmarnock's Steptoes District or at the Christmas LOVE sign at 17 S. Main Street.
Sunday Brings the Lights to the Same Park
The relay doesn't end Saturday night. Kilmarnock's Walk in the Park display is at Town Centre Park, where the tree was lit the evening before. The town's description says it opens Nov. 29 and runs nightly through Jan. 1, 5 to 8 p.m. Those are the same hours as Saturday's tree lighting. Sunday evening at the park looks a lot like Saturday evening without the crowd, and it stays that way for five weeks.
From this weekend on, Town Centre Park is the center of December in lower Lancaster County. The Thanksgiving week sequence runs from Irvington's Town Commons on Thursday, out along Carter's Creek and the Main Streets on Saturday, and into Kilmarnock's park on Sunday. Kilmarnock's December events start from there.
What the Weekend Sets Up for December
Before Thanksgiving, two events fill in the calendar. Kilmarnock holds its first Artfully Crafted Holiday Edition on Saturday, Nov. 14, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It's a curated market with more than 35 makers on Main Street and West Church Street. On Tuesday, Nov. 24, the RAL Art Center opens its Holiday Shop.
After the weekend, most of the dates come back to Kilmarnock:
- Thursday, Dec. 10, at 5 p.m.: Elf plays at Holiday Headlights, a free movie you watch from your car at the front of Town Centre Park.
- Friday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m.: The annual Kilmarnock Lighted Christmas Parade comes down Main Street. The Lancaster by the Bay Chamber has named Carroll Lee Ashburn grand marshal and announced a new showmanship award with a $500 prize.
- Saturday, Dec. 12: The Holiday Sip & Shop at Good Luck Cellars.
- Thursday, Dec. 17, at 5 p.m.: The Polar Express closes out the Holiday Headlights series at Town Centre Park.
Every one of those Town Centre Park evenings happens while the Walk in the Park lights are already on, and the 5 p.m. movie start matches the hour the display turns on each night.
Thanksgiving weekend is often when family visits and the conversation turns to the next move, whether that's on the Northern Neck or back in Hampton Roads. If that happens at your table this year, Debbie Childs is glad to help you plan the details with you. Let's Connect.
