May 7, Thursday afternoon we picked Greg & Kelly up at Richmond Airport. Oh no! More visitors from California! What will we do? Well we did a lot and had a great time. Here is some of what we did.
The weather turned sunny after days of rain and we were able to enjoy cocktails outside under the carport cover, later moving to the living room for some pizza and vino.
On Friday morning we rented a car and took off up the back roads of the Tidewater Peninsula, eventually finding our way to New Kent Winery and naturally had to stop for a tasting. We then headed down to John Tyler Memorial Highway which parallels the James River and along which are located several old plantation homes.
After lunch at Charles City Tavern we decided to take in a plantation or two. We stopped at "Berkeley Plantation" the ancestral home of the Harrison family which includes two Presidents and a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
It also happens to be the location where "Taps" was composed as well as where the first Thanksgiving was observed, despite what the Pilgrims say!
It's a very impressive place but I wouldn't want to have to mow the lawn.
The photo on the right proves that Virginia is home to some really ugly lizards. This one was climbing up the wall of a building at Berkeley.
Right around the corner from Berkeley is Westover Plantation built by William Byrd II, the founder of Richmond about 1730. It faces the James River and is vary conducive to relaxing and watching the river flow by.
Although it doesn't have the claims to fame and history that Berkeley has, it does have a five-hole brick "necessary" building and here are the photos to prove it! We are wondering exactly how this place was utilized. I mean, what was the proper etiquette? Why five? I'll have to ask my brother Bob if there has been a book written on the subject.
From Westover, we skedaddled back to Williamsburg where we hit the Williamsburg Winery in time to join a herd of wine-tasters for a quick sampling.
After a brief stop back at Matoaka to freshen up, we tavern-hopped Merchant square. First stop was Berrett's where we tried our hand at eating some blue crabs but weren't very successful. There has to be a trick to it but nobody was around to instruct us.
After a quick stop at Trellis we found ourselves at the Blue Talon where Lorri ended up with two pieces of birthday cake! Did I mention it was her birthday?
The weather continued mild on Saturday so we hit the farmer's market at Merchant Square then continued to the Historic Area. Lorri, Kelly & Greg in front of Raleigh Tavern, a beer at Chownings, Kelly in the stocks.
Waiting for the fifes & drums; the fifers and drummers
The Colonial Gardens
The Public Auction; Saturday night dinner at Matoaka
Miraculously, it continued sunny on Sunday so we stopped briefly at the beach on the James River along Colonial Parkway on the way to Jamestown.
At Jamestown we listened to an interesting talk by one of the archeologists.
We said hello to Pocahontas and Captain John Smith and some geese.
The fort with the tri-centennial monument in the background; the church
Lunch at Green Leafe and then off to Yorktown! We didn't actually take the shuttle bus anywhere, we just took a photo of it.
The above six photos were taken at Surrender Field at Yorktown.
Sunday evening under the carport.
It was a great weekend with Greg and Kelly and, for Williamsburg, the weather couldn't have been better!
