Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Sunday's Excursion

Not wanting to sit around or do 'chores' on Sunday afternoon we decided to take a drive......... yes along the Colonial Parkway. We had a destination in mind, but first let me take you down this beautiful drive. We start at Yorktown.

Then we drive along the York River (see Yorktown Onion post) and as we head to Williamsburg the parkway becomes more tree lined and lush.


After we pass through Williamsburg, we find now there is a river on our left (the York was on our right).
This is the James River.

From one end of the parkway to the other is twenty-three miles of peaceful, quiet, scenic views, and lots of history. As I said, we started in Yorktown, drove through (under) Colonial Williamsburg, and at the other end is Jamestown. Both Jamestown and Yorktown have the actual village -- and then there is a recreation of what life was like. Yorktown Victory Center and Jamestown Settlement are wonderful re-creations. Yorktown Battlefield and Jamestown are part of the National Park Service. At the Jamestown site there has been an archaeological dig that has been going on for a few years. They have recovered a good number of artifacts and found the original fort walls. Be sure to check this link for all sorts of info on the dig.

Closer to the end of the Parkway is one of the oldest continually worked dairy farms. The family that owns this farm also owns Oleta Bus lines.
When the kids were in middle school (a hundred years ago) a bunch of parents chartered a bus to go to band camp and the charter was trip leased out to Oleta. This is probably one of the nicest group of folks and the nicest buses we have been on in the life of a band parent. I remember chatting with the bus driver and he was telling me about the history of the farm. I can't find info online to verify it now, but he said land for the Parkway used to be part of their farm. I would recommend this bus company in a heartbeat. Very nice to work with.

At the end of the Parkway you either go into the National Park at Jamestown or take a left and go on the ferry. We are going on the ferry.



Now it is our turn..............


Once underway we go past the Jamestown Settlement and can see the replicas of the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria........... WHAT!! Just kidding, can you name the three ships that brought the colonists in 1607 to Jamestown? They are the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery.



Here is the original site of Jamestown- part of the National Park Service.



As we cross the James River enroute to Scotland we pass another one of the ferry boats.

Why have we taken this trip? What is across the river that would interest us on a pleasant Sunday afternoon? What indeed! Here is our destination. And our bounty.


College Run Farms, a nice family farm.



This is half of what we picked, and of course while picking strawberries one needs to sing..............................


15 comments:

  1. Yummy on the strawberries! I've never been to Jamestown. Skeeter went last year and did a lovely post on it. Didn't expect strawberries for sure. Our season here is over. I bought a gallon, prepared it all up and let the juices mix in with Splenda in preparation for freezing then guess what? The Jimster and his friend ate every last one of them! Not a one was put up. Probably best anyhow since I still have some from last year. I hope you got yours up and ate lots of fresh too.

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  2. omg Janet! I would take that beautiful, scenic drive any day of the week to get to those strawberries!!! Yum!

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  3. Oh my goodness! What a treasure, especially since I only got one strawberry this year, the rabbits got the rest, every last one. While the drive was fun and educational, those lucious red berries made me want to gobble up the laptop screen! :-)
    Frances

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  4. HI Tina, yes, we have been eating strawberries every night-- making a strawberry rhubarb cobbler for my daughter's birthday 'cake' and then who knows how much more we will have.
    Kathleen, the drive is so nice, the strawberries (and corn later on) are worth the trip.
    Frances, growing your own berries is like declaring war with the critters. We had a small strawberry patch that ended up getting flooded with salt water, so now we drive to get them.

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  5. What a beautiful daytrip! The farm looks like such a peaceful setting. And then a ferry. A dear friend I use to go spend a day or two with was out on Vashon Island and I loved the ferry ride. Guess I could just go hope one for the giggles!
    Growing up we picked strawberries to help out with school clothes. I'm sure we ate our fair share when the row bosses heads were turned - or had berry fights! LOL

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  6. Linda, ferry rides are lots of fun. When the kids were little they loved picking strawberries, but they were stained with juice by the time we were done...eating more than they put in the basket. Fond childhoods memories forged in the strawberry fields.

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  7. Those strawberries look pretty delicious. Glad you & hubby had a nice trip this past weekend. :)

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  8. Wonderful, scenic drive! I love taking the ferries. Aren't they so much fun? Your strawberries look so yummy! Pound cake and strawberries - my favorite.

    Cameron

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  9. My favorite place for strawberries. I usually combine it with a trip to Chippokes.

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  10. Racquel, the strawberries ARE very good. Tomorrow is cobbler day. :-)

    Cameron, this is very scenic. Two years ago when we went to get strawberries one of the ships from the Jamestown Settlement was out in the river and a helicopter was taking aerial shots of it for the Jamestown 400 year celebration. That was pretty neat to see.
    I haven't had pound cake for a long time, that sounds good too.

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  11. Les, Good idea, will remember that for our next excursion. Understand Helen is going to visit you. Have a great time.

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  12. Looks like a great time...Some history, viewing historic sights, a ferry ride, and a beautiful tune to sing while gathering some beautiful strawberries. A perfect day in VA.

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  13. Good Grief! Do you ever take a bad vacation or outing? When I come here, I feel like I need to get up and see what's in my area to go do tomorrow.

    Gary and I got the Godspeed but that was it. I mean, who knew the Constant Susan? Did you know before you looked?

    Really yummy strawberries. Do you have seeds in your teeth?

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  14. Hi Anna, We have a good time exploring our area. There are always interesting places to check out. (though the history in this area is over the top) When you go on enough field trips with the kids, you remember most of the tidbits. I will fess up that the Discovery eluded me -- kept thinking no,no that is the space shuttle.
    yummy strawberries-- tonight was strawberry rhubarb cobbler. (cuz I am not a pie crust maker.)

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