Pirate's Cove Adventure Golf

Two 18-hole miniature golf courses built into an artificial rock landscape of caves, waterfalls, footbridges and a full-size pirate ship — considerably more elaborate than the format usually warrants, and maintained to a standard that keeps it near the top of every regional list.

The courses are pitched at different difficulties, so mixed-age groups work. Each hole carries a fragment of Blackbeard lore, which is locally earned: the pirate was killed off the Outer Banks and his head was displayed on a pole in the James River not far from here. Ponds full of large carp and ducks take fish food for a dollar, which children reliably find more interesting than the golf.

Practical: open late into the evening, around $15 for eighteen holes. Sits on the commercial strip north of Williamsburg with the outlet malls and the Busch Gardens traffic.