The Departure Diaries: The Shirley Plantation

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

The Shirley Plantation

America is quite a young country, as far as countries go. I mean, Italy dates back to the 8th Century, BC, for pete's sake, if you count the Romans. America, a fledgling 200+ years old, by contrast is just a wee little thing.

So our ammassment of historical places is a bit thin.

And mostly on the East coast. Because, Philly, DC and VA are pretty much where everything got started for us Americans.

In contrast with my wily youthful days, I now really enjoy historical tours of places. (Especially things of ancient Roman historical value... but I digress)

Being that my Grandmother lives in Virginia, one of the history-rich places in the US, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do a bit of exploring on my last trip out there. As a child, I spent some wonderful summers in Virginia with my siblings and Mother. It was always inevitable that Mother would need to leave the farm at some point, after all, contrasting city life with country life is sometimes an unsettling thing and may leave even the mellowest city-folk a bit bored. So Mother would take us to tour battlegrounds in Petersburg and War Museums in Richmond and the Capitol in Washington, DC. We went to the Smithsonian and the Whitehouse and learned about General Lee and Pocahontas. It was all... very memorable and at the same time, quite boring for me as a child/teen. I would have rather been playing in the sweet Viriginia mud and rivers than face those long car rides and arduous, monotonous tours... But anyway, I do remember that they weren't always boring. Or rather, I remember my Mother's excitement for the subject matter. Her eyes would open wide and she would tell us about those historical sights in hushed, fervent whispers and ask us what we thought about them. Her excitement was what made the trips bearable.

So now that I understand that excitement for things ancient, or in the states, newly decrepit, I feel that excitement myself as I explore. So one day during my visit to Grandma's farm, I hopped in my favorite little gold Ford Ranger (my car of choice for driving down Virginia back roads with the windows down) and hit the road. Down the backroads and out to the freeway I went. Around Richmond and off toward Colonial Williamsburg.

On my way, I noticed signs for a place called the Shirley Plantation. And then signs for the Virginia Plantations. And I knew I would not be getting to Colonial Williamsburg straightaway. And it was a good choice.

A bit of background from Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Plantation):
"Shirley Plantation is an estate located on the north bank of the James River in Charles City County, Virginia. It is located on State Route 5, a scenic byway which runs between the independent cities of Richmond and Williamsburg. Shirley Plantation is the oldest active plantation in Virginia and is one of the oldest family-owned businesses in North America, dating back to 1614 with operations starting in 1638.^[3] The plantation was added to the National Register on 1969-10-01 and declared a National Historic Landmark on 1970-04-15.

The lands of Shirley Plantation were first settled in 1613 by Sir Thomas West, 3rd Baron De la Warr Hundred. The land was cultivated for growing tobacco to be shipped around the colonies and England."

1613!!