This Friday starting at 4 pm Eastern time, the Breeders' Cup races begin. Races restricted to fillies and mares are slated for Friday, and the rest will be held Saturday starting 1 pm. If you're here, you'll find us all in front of the big plasma screen in the living room, watching, handicapping, and phoning in our bets. The rest of the county may be focused on the Oyster Festival, and we're certainly mindful of it: Oyster Festival Friday and Saturday, we offer salad and cake all evening, to balance out the festival food for our guests; but for this household, thoroughbreds rule. Like-minded guests are most welcome!

An event for Laser sailors age 35 and up, October 16-17 at Fishing Bay Yacht Club, a very few miles from Heaven Scent B & B, on the beautiful Piankatank River where it meets the Chesapeake Bay. We still have a room open, so call or book online at chickcovemanor.com.

Fishing Bay hosts many regattas throughout the year: One Design (series from April through October), Lasers, the Leukemia Cup, and this past summer, the Opti Nationals as well. Check out Fishing Bay Yacht Club's Photostream on Flickr for some fine shots of sailing on the Piankatank and the Bay.

This Saturday brings my favorite annual event here in Rivah Country - and that's saying a lot. Holly Point is the grounds of the Deltaville Maritime Museum, a lovely waterfront tract. The festival showcases somewhere between 70 and 100 local artists and craftsfolk, offering a lot of beautiful, creative works tempting for your own home or for special gifts. Get ready for Christmas! I find pottery and jewelry especially tempting at this festival, but there is truly a lot to choose from, art in all media, wood crafts, stained glass. And the food is delicious, simply crabcakes, fried fish, shrimp, and of course hamburgers and barbecue as alternatives. I love this festival because it gives you a lot to enjoy, good quality, a beautiful setting, and it's all in a just-right size: you don't have to hike the length of two football fields from the parking lot ... You can take it all in, have a wonderful day, and have energy left over. A very happy event, well-planned, well-executed, from our pride-inspiring local staff and volunteers at the Deltaville Maritime Museum.

The beautiful Abingdon Episcopal Church sponsors the Arts at Abingdon concert series, with most concerts offered for whatever free-will donation attendees care to make. The acoustics at Abingdon are wonderful, the performances are world-class, and the setting couldn't be better. Abingdon dates back to about 1650. I love the old brick, the architecture, the church grounds with its cemetery where I've seen stunning hawks and owls.

This Saturday, September 11, the Russian-American artists of the Kopelman Trio (piano, cello, violin) will perform the Glinka and Aronsky piano trios at 5 pm.

On September 27, the Daedalus Quartet (two violins, viola, cello) along with Ethan Sloane, clarinet, will perform; the program has not been announced.

Abingdon Church is in the White Marsh area of Gloucester county, right on Route 17: 4645 George Washington Memorial Highway.

There will be five more concerts this coming season, October 23, November 14, January 9, February 5 and April 10. I'll post updates as the concerts approach. Why not use those dates as inspiration for a weekend getaway? You could combine a concert with a dinner overlooking the marina at River's Inn, Gloucester Point, then come back to our comfy beds and a good night's sleep before a gourmet breakfast here at Heaven Scent.

With the change in weather to milder - but still quite warm - temperatures, this is a great time to come for kayaking. Do-it-yourself anytime with a local rental, $35/day, and put in on Jackson Creek, the Piankatank River or the Rappahannock: half a dozen public access points are within a couple of miles of Heaven Scent B&B. If you'd like a bit of company or a specific program, Bay Trails Outfitters in Mathews can take good care of you.

Saturday, show up by 9:30 am for Marshes and Mansions, a 3-hour kayak tour suitable for all skill levels. Following a former steamboat route, paddle back in time past exquisite mansions, an historic tide mill and steamboat wharves while exploring quiet coves off the East River in Mathews.

Sunday, enjoy a wonderful Star Gazing Tour, 3 hours of nighttime paddling at its best. Explore a shallow estuary by the light of the moon under a phenomenally starry country sky.

Call Bay Trails at 804 725-0626 to confirm availability and book. I can recommend Bay Trails from personal experience. You'll get help if you need it, and enjoy a laid-back but interesting outing. Homemade cake and refreshments offered after the tour in a convivial atmosphere. And we'll make sure you've got detailed directions for the return drive to Heaven Scent.

There's a lot going on from early morning through the evening this Saturday! Morning from 9 am till 1 pm there are Farmers' Markets in Deltaville on the grounds of the Maritime Museum at Holly Point, as well as in Kilmarnock on the Northern Neck. Just a little over 20 beautiful country road miles between the two of them, so it would be easy to shop at both.

There's a choice of music, too, with the Josh Walker Trio offering jazz at Deltaville's monthly "Groovin' in the Park" from 5 to 8 pm at Holly Point Nature Park. Pack a picnic, or better yet, pick up great eats at J & W Seafood right in town, bring blankets or chairs and enjoy the waterfront location. $10 at the gate. Or, starting at 7 pm, Bluegrass bands are featured in concert at Freeshade Community Center in Syringa (which is between Heaven Scent and the bridge over the Rappahannock).

Have it all in one location with the Middlesex VFD Crab Feast and Dance behind the firehouse in Urbanna. Food from 5 - 7 pm - all-you-can-eat crabs, other food; $20 in advance, $25 at the door; beer extra. Then Jumbo Lump Daddy and the Backfin Boys offer music from 7 pm to 11 pm.

So come on out to Heaven Scent and the tip of the Middle Peninsula where it meets the Chesapeake Bay, and enjoy the best kind of small-town, country fun.