Photo courtesy of The Tides Inn
The Tides Inn will host a pickleball camp in August.
For Alexandria residents who love a Virginia river town, The Tides Inn offers a familiar pleasure in an unfamiliar setting. Like Old Town, it sits where the water shapes everything — except here, the water is Carter's Creek, a tributary that winds toward the Rappahannock River and on into the Chesapeake Bay. Set on its own peninsula in the small town of Irvington on Virginia's Northern Neck, the resort has been a generational retreat since it first opened in 1947.
The resort
The Tides Inn is a waterfront property of roughly 70 guest rooms and suites, most with views of the creek, shoreline or marina, and many with private balconies or patios. The grounds run to a beachfront outdoor pool, a spa, a 24-hour fitness center, and a 27-slip marina that welcomes guests arriving by boat. A 2022 shoreline restoration project added a walking trail along Carter's Creek, an expanded beach and a new oyster reef, part of the resort's long lean into its natural setting.
Activity is the point here. Guests can charter an electric boat for a sunset cruise, head out with the resident ecologist on an oyster or blue crab excursion, or take a kayak, canoe or paddleboard along the quiet coves. There's the Golden Eagle Golf Club, plus bocce, tennis and — relevant to what follows — pickleball, all included in the daily resort fee alongside beach, pool and fitness-center access. Dining runs from Salt & Meadow, the resort's sea-and-farm-to-table restaurant, to the casual Fish Hawk Oyster Bar on the water, with an old-fashioned ice cream counter for the walk back from the pool.
Just beyond the property, the town of Irvington rewards a slow afternoon: boutiques, a good coffee shop or two, the Steamboat Era Museum and the 18th-century Historic Christ Church a couple of miles north. Nearby Belle Isle State Park is a worthwhile detour for paddling and birdwatching.
The pickleball weekend
From Aug. 27 to Aug. 30, 2026, the Tides Inn hosts a Pickleball Camp in partnership with Richmond-based Breakout Pickleball — a rare chance to learn from two of the region's most accomplished coaches in one of Virginia's prettiest resort settings.
The coaching duo is APP Tour pro David Bieger (6.0 DUPR) and Collegiate National Champion Lauralei Singsank (5.0+), who together won the 2023 DUPR Collegiate National Championship while at the University of Virginia. The weekend features on-court clinics, coached gameplay, a closing tournament with an awards ceremony and reception, and personalized PB Vision AI-powered analytics — video and data on every part of your game, from shot placement to serve percentages to skill ratings.
Designed for intermediate-to-advanced players, the camp is meant to give you a clear, data-backed picture of your game and new strategies to push it further. Because the format is highly personalized, space is extremely limited — anyone interested should secure a spot early through the Tides Inn.
Why it makes sense from Alexandria
This is one of the more achievable waterfront escapes from Northern Virginia. Irvington is about 135 miles from Alexandria — roughly two and a half to three hours by car — and the most direct route runs straight down U.S. Route 17 South, a scenic alternative to the interstate slog. It's close enough for a long weekend without committing to the Eastern Shore or the Outer Banks.
For Alexandria's growing pickleball crowd, the August camp is reason enough to make the trip, but the appeal is broader than the courts. Both Alexandria and the Northern Neck are steeped in early Virginia history — the peninsula is the birthplace region of George Washington — making this a natural pairing for travelers who already gravitate toward the Commonwealth's historic river towns. Pack a racket or just a book; the Tides Inn accommodates both.
The Tides Inn is located at 480 King Carter Drive, Irvington, VA 22480. Reservations and camp details are available at tidesinn.com.
