With our tummies full with the wonderful food from Weezie's Kitchen (see previous post), Dave, me, and my family went and toured the Shirley Plantation. This plantation has been existence (land wise) since the early 1600's. It is still privately owned -- by the 11th generation of the family that owned it in the 1600's. I found that pretty amazing! It is prettily situated on the banks of the James River and the tour was excellent!
This tree is over 350 years old. They had a rope surrounding the tree and it's roots so no one could disturb it.
Here are Dave, my dad, my sister, and my mom on the backside of the main house, looking towards the James River.
Merry Christmas from the Shirley Plantation and the Pedersens!
On Sunday, after everyone had attended church and then feasted on Christmas leftovers, we all traveled down to our old stomping grounds -- Colonial Williamsburg. It felt odd to be walking Duke of Gloucester Street (DOG St.) without our 2 dogs like in the old days. The family walked DOG St., perused Merchant Square and enjoyed the Christmas decorations. We then retired to the Blue Talon for dinner (a favorite!). Here are my mom and dad in front of the beautifully lit tree in the Colonial Section, across the street from the Courthouse.
As I wrote in the previous posting, Dave had to work a few days while my family was visiting. However, I was fortunate to be able to take some days off from my job. So, on Monday morning (very early), the family (sans Dave) boarded the Amtrak train to Washington D.C. I cannot express how much I love taking the trip to D.C. aboard the Amtrak! You don't have to deal with parking, traffic, etc. You just board the train and fall asleep for 2 hours. And for people from the West, it is just mind boggling that after boarding the train, you are in a major city of the World in 2 hours! Back west, that would be a journey of 6 to 7 hours!!!
We were in DC on December 29th and already, preparations for the Presidential Inauguration were already under way. {And that one sentence is the most I will ever discuss politics on this blog -- just an FYI.} Here you can see the "temporary" stadium seating being built on the front of the Capitol. The eerie thing is that nothing looked "temporary". If you'd never seen a picture of the building, you would have thought the auditorium style seating was a permanent feature.
My parents were very interested in seeing the relatively new World War II Memorial -- which I must say is the most beautiful of the memorials. It lies just behind the Washington Memorial. Pillars for each state and territory ring a pond with fountains. One side focuses on the Atlantic Theater and the other focuses on the Pacific Theater of the war.
This is looking towards the Atlantic side.
The Korean War Memorial (seen below) is the most startling because of the life sized figures poised as if they're a unit on the advance. The wall next to these figures has the faces of those who fought in the war -- all done using a pointillism technique.
We were very blessed with good weather during our time in DC. Had the wind been absent, it would have been brisk. The wind made it a little frosty but at least it wasn't raining!
The beautiful thing about taking the Amtrak to DC is this:
You woke up early to make the trip, you've spent all day walking (we figured we had walked about 7 miles that day), you've been out in the elements and getting fresh air which will make you tired. The LAST thing you want to do is hop in the car and drive Interstate 95 back to Richmond, dealing with bumper to bumper traffic, near misses with accidents and a travel time of sometimes 4 hours (where the trip up takes 2). You've just had this wonderful day and then the trip homes almost ruins the whole experience.
But if you've taken Amtrak -- your ride home is spent sleeping for 2 hours and letting someone else do the driving! It is the ONLY way to go!!!!
The next day, I took the family to Agecroft Hall which is a magnificent house (about 10 minutes from where we live). It stood in England during the time of Shakespeare but in the early 20th century, it was slated to be demolished as its collapse was imminent. So, some very wealthy man from Richmond, bought the house, took it apart, and shipped it over here, and then put it back together piece by piece. It is really amazing. And it is the only place I know of in the US where you can watch the Richmond Shakespeare Company's summer performances in the courtyard of a house that stood in England during the time of Shakespeare!
The Harris family returned to AZ to ring in the new year after a fun filled trip to VA. Dave and I had a wonderful time with them but enjoyed a very quiet New Year's!
We look forward to more visits from our friends and family!
2 comments:
Someday Heath & I will come & visit. There are so many things to do back there! That tree is pretty! I can only imagine what it would look like in spring/summer!
What a fun trip! I love how the Harris clan is so steeped in tradition and culture. Makes me want to be a Harris too!
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