The Terrible Catsafterme

Brad's Musings and Meanderings

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"Women - can't live with 'em, pass the beer nuts." - Norm Peterson, "Cheers"

at.jpgBob and I had a great many memorable and significant experiences on Tuesday, August 7, during our crusade across Virginia, but the least memorable and significant was that Bob shaved off his moustache first thing that morning. The weekend before he had had a full goatee, by the time he arrived in Washington D.C. the past Saturday he had whittled it down to a mere moustache – and now he was bare-faced. And this would be what I would have to deal with for the remainder of the trip. So anyway…

We awoke at our tastefully decorated bed and breakfast in time to get ready, shave, take a few pictures of our inn (including the one of me above at the stuffed bunny tea party), and go downstairs for breakfast with the owners of the house. They were very kind and shared the story of their acquisition of the house as well as the tales of Lizzie’s ghost, who many guests encounter when they stay there. We didn’t – even though Bob was possessed to shave his moustache. The food here was better than the last B&B with bacon and eggs, some great almond french toast, and a banana with strawberries sprinkled with granola. Yum I say.

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The last photo of Bob’s moustache

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Breakfast at the Edgewood Plantation

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Goodbye to Edgewood

We had to rush off in order to visit the Berkeley Plantation before making our 11:00am appointment at Sherwood Forest. The Berkeley Plantation was full of history including being the location where President William Henry Harrison was born (more info in the forthcoming posting on Harrison). But outside of that, it was the site of the first American Thanksgiving on December 4, 1619, the site where the first bourbon whisky was distilled, and the site where Taps was first played on the bugle. It is also the final resting place of Benjamin Harrison the Fifth (1726-1791), a signer of the Declaration of Independence and father of William Henry Harrison. We walked the grounds in the already sweltering heat, saw a film about the estate, hit the gift shop, and saw part of the tour before we had to make a hasty exit in order to make our appointment.

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Site of the first Thanksgiving at Berkeley

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We saw the monument and listened to the recorded history of Taps and then waited an eternity to actually hear the bugle call

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Signer of the Declaraion of Independence visited by author of The Terrible Catsafterme

Sherwood Forest is the estate of President John Tyler. This place is most interesting because the estate and home are still in the Tyler family – owned by the former President’s grandson. This was an excellent private tour…and should have been for $35! More info on this in the forthcoming John Tyler posting.

We also swung by the Greenway Plantation, which is private property. This didn’t stop us from nearly pulling the car into the cornfield to snap a photo of the sign in front of the house. This was where John Tyler was born. Photos of this will be displayed in the John Tyler posting.

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The lengths we took to get a picture of a sign…

Bob and I then headed slightly north for a few minutes at Roxbury, where Tyler’s first wife Letitia Tyler is buried at the Cedar Grove Cemetery. It took some doing to locate this extremely small burial ground but we managed it. Photos of this will be displayed in the John Tyler posting as well.

Although so far, we were doing well with our triptik, we decided to eliminate a few items from our agenda at this point. We had planned to tour the Shirley Plantation, but were satisfied with merely seeing it the day before when we arrived in town. We also decided to forego a site of General Grant’s Headquarters in Hopewell and the Edgar Allen Poe Museum in Richmond. It had been closed when we passed through on Monday, but when Bob found out that Poe had never actually lived there, he decided to skip it.

We then traveled west for about two and a half hours to Brookneal to see the Patrick Henry National Memorial and burial site. We arrived just as they were closing. Since their cash register was closed down, Bob had to take his souvenirs without paying and then write a check and make a donation to the memorial site. That check floated around the car all week, but I’m not sure if it ever got mailed. I quoted Bob’s line “give me liberty or give me ham on rye.” He was not amused.

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Give me ham…no wait…give me liberty or give me…oh never mind

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The grave of Patrick Henry. I was hot enough to climb inside

From Brookneal, we headed to Appomattox for the evening. Here we found a little southern dive called Granny Bee’s where I enjoyed a nice flounder and shrimp dinner. When I went to pay the bill, their credit card machine receipt printer jammed and I tried to help them fix it to no avail. Even on vacation, I can’t escape my inclination to help with point-of-sale equipment.

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Trying to fix up Granny Bee

We stayed in a dumpy little Super 8 motel in room 214. The place smelled like a blend of cigarettes and indian food. We were so tired that we didn’t care. They had a continental breakfast and two beds so we were happy.

The fun will continue

2 Responses to “Tuesday in Virginia: From Charles City to Appomattox”

  1. Two things: First, I’ve never had almond french toast, and I have to say that it sounds amazing.

    Next, you’ve been doing a lot of interesting things, but I’m sorry to say that you did miss out on one when you skipped the Edgar Allen Poe museum. Despite the fact that he never lived there, it is still worthwhile.

    Peter

  2. What do you mean me without a moustache is what you had to deal with the rest of the trip??? It was no picnic for me either! MMMMMM!

    Bob

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