Berkley Plantation, VA

Right after Jamestown  was settled in 1608, the property which came to be known as Berkley Hundred Plantation in 1619 was settled. 23 people on a ship landed. This is where the first Thanksgiving was given on this American soil. 

 

You can see the landing spot. They leave some masts up so you get the idea.  The picture on the left is the spot where they knelt in prayer and gave Thanksgiving after they arrived.   

This sign says it all! I was amazed all that actually happened on this site!

This is the home where the family has lived for many generations! We got a tour of the house. No pictures inside. The family still lives in the upstairs portion. Was beautiful and all original!  William Henry Harrison (9th US President) lived here. He actually was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

 In early 1812 he was out in Indiana Territory fighting the Indians. They were trying to take the Indian Trading Post (equivalent to our Washington DC) called Tippecanoe. There were two indian brothers, one was a prophet. This prophet told the indians that the white man's weapons would not hurt them. So when Harrison's army showed up and killed lots of them, the indians left and stripped their prophet of his duty. This is the battle that actually started the war of 1812 with the British.   After the war, Harrison was asked to run again (2nd time) for the White House.  They used the campaign slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too!" Tyler was his VP running mate.  They won. William asked Daniel Webster (the dictionary man) to write his Inaugral Address. After standing outside for 2 hours giving his speech he caught a cold, it turned to pneumonia and he died 1 month later! Tyler then became President.

His grandson, Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the US. So a lot of history has taken place on just this one plantation!

 

Here are some photos of the beautiful lush gardens that were all around the Berkley Plantation. I just loved the gardens.  The weeping willow trees brought back lots of memories of me growing up in South Carolina with the Spanish Moss trees.



 The photo on the left I wanted Curtis to pretend like we were in Sound of Music! He thought I was crazy! It was perfect!

The sign on the right is where the original hymn TAPS was written.   It was like a "Wow, really?"

  

 This was a restroom for visitors that was converted from old slave quarters.

 All the wood was still original.

The door to the actual bathrooms had this sign on it. I thought it was totally appropriate! That is what they used to call the restroom or bathroom back then.

St. John's Church - Patrick Henry

One of the most famous' churches ever is the St. John's Episcopal Church in Richmond,VA. Back in the early 1774 to 1775 era,  Patrick Henry gave a speach in the House of Burgesses in Williamsburg, VA that some of the people said was treason. He said if it be treason lets make it really good! The colonists were getting tired of the rules being placed on them. The Governor of Virginia shut down the House of Burgess thinking it would quiet the people.So the people went up to Richmond to St. John's Church to continue their discussion. This is the church that Patrick Henry gave that said "Give me Liberty or give me Death!"



It was only open to the public until 3:30 pm. On Saturdays they do re-enactments of Patrick Henry's speach. But we could do neither! I was so
disappointed seeing inside.



 This was a sign on the side of the street.

Notice that Edgar Allan Poe lived in the area.

We didn't go see his house. 



This is the glass memorial of the words Patrick Henry said
in the church across the street from this little park.
It was a bit hard to read - hope you can see it well enough.

Curtis was fascinated that all the lamps (lights) on the street in this area were all STILL gas with little mantles that are hand lit every day! We were there at 5pm. You can see them lit.



Here was another sign on the same street that talked about the British invasion of 1781.
One interesting thing, is my great great great (way back there) grandfather Ammi Andrews and some of his brothers and cousins fought under the command of Benedict Arnold before he turned bad!



Richmond, VA - State Capitol & Governor's Mansion

Every time we go on vacation in the USA, if we are near a state capitol, we go there! So no exception this time - we found the capitol building of the state of Virginia only a few blocks from the Confederate White House.  As you can see it was overcast and cool.

This is the front of the Capitol building. There is a walkway in front of it (used to be a drive). The state recently added office space completely underground to house staff and offices so it wouldn't detract for the historic building STILL in use today.

 Here you can see Sandi on the steps. Remember there is that walkway between the pillars and the steps. This photo is deceiving.

 Inside the rotunda they have an original statue (in marble) of George Washington. He actually posed for this and the french sculptor Hudon made it. Apparently in the early years of our country the Federal Capital would alternate between Philadelphia, PA and Richmond, VA.  Finally when George Washington was president, he chose the site in Washington DC that we now have - which they apptly named after him!

 Near the capitol building when one could drive into a circular driveway - there is a very large statue all in tribute to George Washington on horse. It shows the four aspects of our country and a statue just below Washington in each corner:  Andrew Lewis (Colonial Times; Patrick Henry (Law); Thomas Jefferson (Independence) and Thomas Nelson (Finance).

 The mace on the left is the only left of British style rule in Virginia. When Congress (on the right) is in session this mace fits on the podium (see photo right in the center of podium) until they are done.

This is the Governor's mansion or what they called the Executive Mansion for Virginia. He has been used every term of the Virginia Governor since it opened in 1813. The current Governor and his family live there today. Easy walk for him to the capitol. The capitol was right behind me when this photo was taken.

Confederacy - Richmond VA

The heart of Richmond, Virginia was the capitol of the Confederacy. Apparently Pres. Lincoln asked Jefferson Davis to be a Union General.  Mr. Davis felt that since Virginia was the first colony, first state, and he himself was from there, he could not abandon it. Since Virginia was claiming separation with the Southern States he decided to lead the Confederate Union as their President. There was no election, just his appointment. 

 This is St. Paul's Episcopal Church where Gen. Robert E. Lee and Conferate President Jefferson Davis worshipped with their families.

 

 This is inside the church. It was very large with a huge balcony all around it, very nice pipe organ at the back end.  Where Sandi is standing next to the pew was where Jefferson Davis and his family sat. Robert E. Lee and his family sat on the other side.

 This is the actual Confederate White House! It is still in exact state as it was during the Civil War.  All the furniture is the same for the most part. Jefferson Davis stayed here until the last moment when Stonewall Jackson came and took over the house and arranged for a talk with Pres. Lincoln inside the house!

The photo on the left is a sample of a train track (or rail) that was removed and twisted so the trains couldn't run either direction for the North or the South. It looked to me like it was very hard to do, but they did it.

The photo on the right talks about the Civil War near Tucson (which we know was actually Picacho Peak) in the confederate part of Arizona.

Richmond Virginia - driving by

 We saw statues in the middle of the streets, which Curtis had me pull over and he would jump out and run and take a picture of!

We saw incredible old (original) homes from early colony era through Civil War era. I loved it! Some of these homes are known as famous Mansions. In fact we drove down Mansion Row. I would have loved to see inside some of them!

 The building on the left is the original City Hall from 1894. It was used up to 1970's and took up two blocks.

The pictures below show the inside.
The floors were actually clear glass tiles. I was afraid to walk on them!

 

Museum District Bed & Breakfast - Richmond, VA

We enjoyed one night at a very nice Bed & Breakfast. It was downtown Richmond near several famous museums. While we were there the museum had a Faberge display - we didn't go. The photo to the left is the place we stayed. The owner was so hospitable and friendly. She gave us maps and then went over detail about all kinds of places to visit in Richmond and how to get there. So we spent the next day just in Richmond.

Sandi standing on the little porch of where we stayed. We were in the Carriage House. It had an antique claw tub and very lovely sheets! OHHH they felt terrific!  Anna made a huge delicious breakfast the next morning.  Great stay!

In the parking lot we found a car with this license plate. How nice it would be if every state had this motto! We were impressed! I think too many have forgotten that it is God whom we should TRUST!

Ash-Lawn Highland - James Monroe plantation

We found out by accident that James Monroe's home Ash-Lawn Highland was nearby (didn't know that when we planned the trip) so we decided to head on over.  

On New Year's Day, 1825, at the last of his annual White House receptions, President James Monroe made a pleasing impression upon a Virginia lady who shook his hand:

"He is tall and well formed. His dress plain and in the old style.... His manner was quiet and dignified. From the frank, honest expression of his eye ... I think he well deserves the encomium passed upon him by the great Jefferson, who said, 'Monroe was so honest that if you turned his soul inside out there would not be a spot on it.' "

 The photo here shows Monroe home. The yellow part was originally white but was torn down after a fire in the 1800s and rebuilt in Victorian style. The white part is still exactly the same, even down to the paint on the walls and their dishes! I was amazed at how people back then knew to keep all of these homes the same, not sell stuff off or tear it down. This view is from their side door (or back yard) that lead to the gardens.

This is the the back view of his home. The balcony is the ground level from the other side. The basement was the cellar, kitchen, etc.  The path you see leads to the slaves quarters and the guest quarters.

 These are the slave and quest quarters. All still very original!

 I fell in love with all the gardens on these plantations. This one is very small and private.

 From the end of the garden by the gate you can look up to the left center and see a small patch of grass. In those trees you can see a red roof line - that is Thomas Jefferson's Monticello! That close! How neat that would be to have friends like that!

This was a sampliing of the exact tools they had there at Monroe's home. A waffle iron! The metal square you see on the left is a brick of actual tea. I guess it was all packed very tightly and marked with a print in small squares. When broken apart each little square would serve 25 people with tea! So when they had the "Tea Party" it was bricks like these they threw into Boston Harbor.

Meadow Run Mill & Michie's Tavern

We found this really quaint Old Mill with an old fashion water wheel. We stopped to take a picture of it. Inside the building was a little store. We wandered around and found at the other end of the parking lot was a Tavern where old southern food was served buffet style, so we ate there!

 Old Meadow Runn Mill and General Store.

 Water wheel

 Michie's Tavern. You could take a tour of the place for $9 but we weren't interested!

We did enjoy a marvelous "home cooked meal" after eating out every day!

 Left - start of food line with silverware and metal plates.

Right - buffet: mashed (real) potatoes, gravy, stewed tomatoes that were heavenily, green beans, baked chicken, pulled pork, corn bread, biscuts & peach cobbler.

 Here is a sampling of what we ate. They gave you free refills of whatever you wanted. YUM!

 You can see the inside of the eating area. Old, old building. It had about 5 really large rooms. They could feed an army here! The atmosphere was very nice.