Virginia Byways

I'm so grateful that gas prices have dropped, because one of my favorite things to do is hop in the car with a friend and explore the two-lane highways of Virginia. Richmond is geographically convenient for day trips that will let you be at the Atlantic Ocean, Blue Ridge Mountains, Chesapeake Bay, Colonial Williamsburg, or our nation's capital in less than two hours.

Spurred by Suzanne's wedding, I finally bought a digital camera. I love it! It's just a basic model, a Panasonic Lumix, but it has a lot of features for $150.00. Some of the available settings for taking photos I will probably never use. In addition to what I would expect (portrait, scenery, sports), I can select soft skin, food, party, candle light, baby, pet, sunset, starry sky (the van Gogh setting), fireworks, beach, snow, aerial, and underwater. Some of these options have come in handy, but I usually use the point & shoot setting.

I thought I'd show you some photos from a few recent jaunts.

Jeffrey & I took a ride up to Montpelier, the home of James Madison. Montpelier is an estate in the foothills with a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains - the frontier, back in Madison's grandfather's time. The original house was a modest frame structure, built by Madison's grandfather. Madison's father built a handsome brick Georgian house in 1764, which James Madison enlarged with two separate expansions. In the early part of the last century, the plantation was purchased by William duPont. The duPonts slapped pink stucco over the original Flemish Bond brick, and added wings, rooms, and bathrooms until the twenty-two rooms numbered fifty-five.

In 1983, heiress Marion duPont bequeathed the property to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and a colossal restoration project began in 2003. All of the duPont additions were dismantled, and the pink stucco was painstakingly removed. Now the restoration is nearly complete, and it is a marvelous place to visit. I'll probably write more about Montpelier, but I'd better get on with the photographs before I get too distracted by the Madison story. The picture below shows the front of Montpelier, and the one below that is the view from the veranda atop the west wing. Note the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance.




A few weeks later, Sheldon & I piled in the car and headed to Madison County. We passed very close to Montpelier, and headed northwest. Our goal was Yoder's Market, operated by Mennonites on a country road. It's one of those places you wouldn't find unless someone clued you in. I love going there to buy baking goods. This time, my items included raw sugar, dried cherries, pitted dates, baking cocoa, dark brown sugar (which makes the dark brown sugar from a grocery store look sand-colored), macaroon coconut, and various spices. Sheldon bought a slab of Amish butter, and a bag of dried hominy, and some other items. He also bought sticky buns, which we ate in the parking lot. The market is on farm-like land, and there were goats in a side pasture that came dashing up to the fence, sensing that Sheldon was an easy mark. Sure enough, Sheldon purchased several handfuls of food from the modifed gumball machines beside the goat pen.



Our ride happened in the nick of time to see autumn leaves. Although some trees had peaked, many were still boasting brilliant reds, yellows, and ambers. The day was sunny and invigorating. After we shopped at Yoder's, we drove to Madison Courthouse and ate at the Pig & Steak. Isn't that a fabulous tell-it-like-it-is name for a restaurant? Remember your favorite Vegan this season with a gift card from Pig & Steak.

After lunch we drove down through Charlottesville, past Jefferson's famous Rotunda at the University of Virginia, and south to Scottsville. Along the winding road, we stopped to admire a simple hillside, pictured below. By the time I got my camera out, a cloud had obscured the sunlight that lit up the bright yellows, but it is still a nice picture which shows the rolling hills surrounding Charlottesville.



Scottsville is a pleasant town of about 550 people that sits on the edge of the James River. It was the westernmost major commerce point in the region during the 1700's. Before the train came into use, agricultural goods from the Shenendoah Valley were brought to Scottsville to be transported by water to Richmond and the sea. Hatton Ferry, just west of Scottsville, is one of two operational poled ferries in the nation. There are several beautiful old buildings in Scottsville, including the charming little church shown below.



This past weekend, it was time for another Sunday drive with Jeffrey. This time I aimed the car to the east, and we drove to Virginia's Middle Peninsula. We roamed around West Point, Urbanna, and Deltaville before coming to the road's abrupt end at Stingray Point. The name was coined in the 1600's when Captain John Smith was stung by a ray while fishing. It was a life-threatening injury, but he was saved by Indians who brought a natural remedy from a nearby creek. As a way of expressing our thanks to the natives, we proceeded to take everything that was dear to them, consign them to barren, unwanted land, and turn them into alcoholics. Happy Thanksgiving to all Native Americans! Pack some Manifest Destiny in your peace pipes and smoke it!



The picture below is from the bridge into Urbanna. This is a quiet town, unless you attend the annual Oyster Festival. The Urbanna Oyster Festival is wildly popular, for reasons that bewilder me. Friends of mine had a river home nearby, and invited me down for the festival each year. One tent was famous for its oyster fritter sandwiches, and I watched with fascination as the cooks scooped the batter-fried oysters out of the bubbling vat of oil, squeezed about a quart of steaming fat out of each fritter, and slapped it between two slices of white sandwich bread before handing them to my friends. The bread soaked through with oil immediately, and my friends had to eat rapidly. Oil smeared their lips and fingers. They encouraged me to eat, but I demurred. About fifteen minutes later, they complained that their stomachs felt like lead.


Along the highway, we passed a street sign. The inclusion of rural areas in the Enhanced 911 system requires that every household be assigned a definite street address, so roads previously known by route numbers now have names. Below is one we found interesting.



I know, I know, but it was startling to see as we were zooming down the road. I had to turn around to take a picture. There's a street in Ashland, a town just north of Richmond, that has a name that is as bad - if not worse. Lickinghole Road. I kid you not. You can run it through Mapquest if you don't believe me.

Home again, home again! That concludes today's glimpse of Virginia, with the exception of a snapshot I took one morning this week. Below is Lee Circle on Monument Avenue. Thanks for dropping by, and Happy Thanksgiving!