The weather was not nice every day. It rained quite often. But that is wonderful for touring. Since we had the rental car we hopped in and went up the James River (by roads not boat) to the Shirley Plantation.
Remember this entire community is connected. The British crown granted certain favored people large tracts of land in the new world. The Shirley Plantation is Virginia's first plantation, one of the first land grants to Sir Thomas West in 1613, only 6 years after Jamestown settlement.
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| The main plantation house. |
The plantation has been in the same family since 1613. Sir West named the plantation after Sherley, somethig that meant something to him from back home. In 1638 a portion of the land was granted to Edward Hill the first who established a farm in 1638. The property expanded by good marriage alliances and land acquisitions.
The mansion that sits on the land today was built in 1723 when Elizabeth Hill, great-granddaughter of the first Hill, married John Carter, eldest son of Robert "King" Carter, the richest man in the land. King Carter is all over Williamsburg. Famous family members who lived there include Light Horse Harry Lee whose famous son was General Robert E. Lee.
Carter's direct descendent, Charles Hill Carter III lives there today. He is about my age, the 11th generation of this family. He and his family still live on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the mansion. They allow tourists in to the first floor for tours. The rooms are filled with family antiques worth a fortune. The floors are the original wood and the windows the original windows. It is SOOO cool!
According to the literature, the plantation is still a working plantation. The revenue from the $10 admission fee supports preservation. The outbuildings have interesting displays in the kitchen highlighting the use of slave labor and in the storage room highlighting the farm.
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| The kitchen on the right and the gift shop on the left |
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| A publicity shot of the stairway |
The main building has about 10 bedrooms with about 6 large rooms on the first floor. It has a cantilevered grand stair case in the main foyer. We weren't allowed to go up the stairs but the guide says the stairs give a little when you walk on them. These stairs aren't the elegant curved stairs we have seen in other mansions because this home was built so long ago.
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| Root cellar |
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| Entrance to the root cellar |
There used to be other buildings on either side of the main building used as guest houses with bedrooms because the family had so many visitors.
Both flanker buildings were torn down after the Civil War when the bricks were needed to build homes for other family members. They had to split up the plantation after the Civil War to reduce costs when slavery was outlawed. Today historical markers show the place where those flanker buildings used to be. The basement of one flanker building was turned into a root cellar.
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| The window with the signatures! |
In the dining room is a window in which all the young women in the family "proofed" their diamond engagement rings by signing their names in the glass with the diamond. Too bad we couldn't take pictures because you can see the signatures all over the windows!!
In the storeroom was a family tree showing the current Mr. Carter.
During Civil War the four daughters were left home alone while the menfolk went away to the war. They woke up one morning to Union forces camped out in the yard. The girls talked it over and decided that they would help the sick and injured because that is what they would want a union family to do for their men if their men were in trouble. They baked bread and brought out water and shared their food. The union general was so grateful he issued an order of protection to the house for the duration of the war. Consequently the house was untouched while other homes were destroyed. The guide passed around a copy of the original safe order.
It is a very sedate estate, quiet and neatly run. No historical re-enactors. Just regular people sharing their history. Pretty cool.
The best part was the chickens!!! Yes, we have chickens!! I love chickens. I can't get over how they run around outside of the refrigerated case. It is the craziest thing!! It was rainy so the little guys were hiding under steps and running to avoid the raindrops.
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| See the little chickens under the building? |
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| Kermit wandering over to Jim's Joy |
Back at the ranch, a random photo of little critters growing on a fender. We see the craziest things here.
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| A rare photo of Katherine |
To complete our backwards walk through history we visited Jamestown next. There are two Jamestown's to visit. We went to the one with the re-enactments, to keep with our theme. We did not get to the place with the archeology and glassmaking. Maybe next time.
Jamestown has exhibits reflecting the Indian village experience, the fort experience, and the ship experience. We had a guide to each segment as part of a walking tour. Folks working in each section were wearing the appropriate clothing, using the right tools, and doing the correct activities.
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| We went into the teepees |
We went into any of the Indian homes and saw animal pelts being cleaned for clothing. They grew all the correct vegetables and cooked what they grew. They had a pot of potatoes, beans, and green beans cooking on the fire along with a fish cooking in clay under a layer of clay. It smelled good.
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| Dinner anyone? |
Then we went to the fort. Our guide was really interesting. He made the fort seem really awful, just like it must have been.
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| Inside the church |
The penalty for missing church was death. Pretty tough.
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| The church |
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| Another photo of Katherine really interested in the info |
Then we visited the ships where real sailors told us about the journey across the ocean.
Believe it or not, this sailor went up in the shrouds to kill a spider.
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| Joy talking to a sailor |
Part of the fun of this touristy stuff is watching the people. Kermit couldn't resist this photo of a beautiful lady with an awful tattoo. Unbelievable.
And the chickens!!! All over the fort!!
Everywhere I looked. It is hard to concentrate on the fascinating talk when there are chickens.
And more osprey, living at the top of the tower at the main building. Gotta love these guys. They also have an eagle nest with little eaglets but the walkway near it was closed off to give the family some privacy.
Next: Colonial Downs - a little diversion
The weather was not nice every day. It rained quite often. But that is wonderful for touring. Since we had the rental car we hopped in and went up the James River (by roads not boat) to the Shirley Plantation. 
The plantation has been in the same family since 1613. Sir West named the plantation after Sherley, somethig that meant something to him from back home. In 1638 a portion of the land was granted to Edward Hill the first who established a farm in 1638. The property expanded by good marriage alliances and land acquisitions. 
According to the literature, the plantation is still a working plantation. The revenue from the $10 admission fee supports preservation. The outbuildings have interesting displays in the kitchen highlighting the use of slave labor and in the storage room highlighting the farm. 
In the dining room is a window in which all the young women in the family "proofed" their diamond engagement rings by signing their names in the glass with the diamond. Too bad we couldn't take pictures because you can see the signatures all over the windows!!
During Civil War the four daughters were left home alone while the menfolk went away to the war. They woke up one morning to Union forces camped out in the yard. The girls talked it over and decided that they would help the sick and injured because that is what they would want a union family to do for their men if their men were in trouble. They baked bread and brought out water and shared their food. The union general was so grateful he issued an order of protection to the house for the duration of the war. Consequently the house was untouched while other homes were destroyed. The guide passed around a copy of the original safe order. 
It is a very sedate estate, quiet and neatly run. No historical re-enactors. Just regular people sharing their history. Pretty cool. 
The best part was the chickens!!! Yes, we have chickens!! I love chickens. I can't get over how they run around outside of the refrigerated case. It is the craziest thing!! It was rainy so the little guys were hiding under steps and running to avoid the raindrops.
We went into any of the Indian homes and saw animal pelts being cleaned for clothing. They grew all the correct vegetables and cooked what they grew. They had a pot of potatoes, beans, and green beans cooking on the fire along with a fish cooking in clay under a layer of clay. It smelled good.
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