Sky-High Fun in Topping, Virginia

Topping, Virginia, boasts a past as spectacular as its stunning scenery. And much of the story of this town involves local hero Fred Hummel.

Planning a visit? Stay at Grey’s Point Camp.

When he was a teenager in 1911, Hummel built a glider and went airborne from a cliff overlooking Lake Michigan, a feat that earned him induction into the Early Birds of America who flew before 1916.

Poor eyesight kept Hummel from becoming a pilot, but he erected an airfield outside of Topping near his summer home in 1925 to attract recreation seekers and fishermen. Hummel Field is still in operation but there are roads now in Virginia’s Tidewater to bring sportsmen to Middlesex County.

Topping offers the finest saltwater fishing on the lower Rappahannock River with the Chesapeake Bay just six miles downstream. Locklies Marina houses the largest charter fleet in Virginia with a mix of pleasure and working craft; it is also the oldest marina in the Commonwealth, popular with oystermen and crabbers.

This is Virginia Oyster Country and several quaint museums nearby tell the salty story of the region’s favorite bivalve—the varying amounts of salinity in the water affect taste. Sample for yourself at Merroir, where signature favorites Rappahannock River Oysters, Stingray Oysters and Olde Salt Oysters are all on the menu.