Enjoyed: Thursday, June 18, 2026.

Listed on the menu: Yes, as “Kill Devil Old Fashioned”

Ingredients: Kill Devil Honey Pecan Rum, Black Walnut, Maple Cinnamon Finish.

The occasion: Several months ago, I heard that one of the East Coast stops for Sail 250–a fleet of the world’s most magnificent international tall ships and military ships gathered to honor the USA’s semiquincentennial– was Virginia. Seeing tall ships actually in motion sounded so appealing, so I booked us a stay in Hampton, so we could sit at the seawall (at Fort Monroe at the edge of the Chesapeake Bay) and watch the ships travel from Virginia Beach to Norfolk.

My rating: *** out of 5. The drink was sweet, due to the rum, but not nearly as sweet as “tiki” drinks that I associate with the beach. The nutty flavors were lovely, though. I once purchased this rum, made in North Carolina, while on a post-pandemic trip to the Outer Banks, so it brought back some memories.

Final thoughts: We always try to eat as much seafood as we can when staying near the ocean, and our supper did not disappoint. Yet this was not a typical seafood place that overlooked just the water–The Deadrise also overlooked the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel–you could see where Interstate 64 just disappeared under the bay!

My husband knew what a “deadrise” was, but I did not. The name is fitting–it’s a type of boat, traditionally made of wood, used on the Chesapeake Bay for catching crabs, oysters, fish, and even eels.