Shenandoah – A Traveling Fool

The site of Richmond, Virginia was once a Powhatan Village. Some of the settlers from Jamestown moved up the river to join the Native Americans there in the early 1600s. By 1737, the village of Richmond was formed. During the American Revolution, it displaced Williamsburg (which had displaced Jamestown) as the capitol of Virginia.

It was in St John’s Church, where the House of Burgesses from Williamsburg was meeting after having been kicked out of Williamsburg by the Royal Governor, where Patrick Henry gave his famous “give me liberty, or give me death” speech. This church was built in 1741, replacing a couple of earlier churches. The first one was Henrico Parish Church, which had been built in 1611. This church was the first college in the American Colonies. It also educated the children of the Native Americans there.

Pocahantas was held captive nearby. But was baptized (taking the name “Rebecca”) at the Henrico Parish Church and married John Rolfe there. They established a plantation across the river. When the town of Henricus, along with the church, were destroyed in the Massacre of 1622 (and never rebuilt) a new church was built at the Rolfe Plantation. Once Richmond was founded, the present church was built in an area that became known as Church Hill.

It was during the Second Virginia Convention at St John’s Church, which was attended by all the important Virginia delegates, including Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Harrison V, Thomas Mann Randolph, Richard Bland, Richard Henry Lee, Francis Lightfoot Lee, that Patrick Henry gave his historic speech. By the time of the Third Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry found himself elected as the first Governor of Virginia while George Washington was appointed as head of the American Army.

During the Revolution, Benedict Arnold housed his troops in St John’s Church. A signer of the Declaration of Independence, George Wythe, is buried in the churchyard. He was also the first law professor in the US and a delegate to the Continental Congress. Edgar Allan Poe’s mother was buried in the churchyard as well, but the location of her grave is not known.

I was moved to be in that church, which wasn’t a replica, but the actual site of such important US history. We had the time to walk around in the neighborhood next to the church, which was also authentic and dated back to the time when the church was built.

From there, we visited the Capitol Building, designed by Thomas Jefferson with the help of French architect, Charles-Louis Clerisseau. It was built at the summit of a hill and completed in 1788. The House of Burgesses moved in and became the Virginia General Assembly.

The building survived the Civil War, despite its role as the capitol of the Confederacy. But the gallery and floor of the large courtroom on the second floor collapsed in 1870. Instead of being demolished, the Capitol was repaired and two wings were added. A short distance from the Capitol, in Capitol Square, Is a large, equestrian monument to George Washington.

We had lunch in Charlottesville on our way to Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello. Designed by Jefferson himself and built in 1772, the house is one of the most interesting I have ever seen. He had so many inventions and contraptions all over the house that were way ahead of their time. I really liked his bedroom, which had a bed built in an alcove as part of the wall between two rooms – his bedroom and his study.

After coming in through the original main entrance, our group (there were a lot of people in the house) was taken into the library. I ended up at the very back of the room, next to a very old looking chair. We were pretty well packed in. This was one time when being short was a good thing. Because I couldn’t be seen, was behind everyone else, and didn’t need to bend down at all, I was able to caress the arm of the chair.

Later in the talk that the guide was giving, he mentioned the chair next to which I was standing as being one of Jefferson’s favorite chairs that he sat in often. Yay! Although I do usually stick to the rules and keep my hands off, this was one time it was just too tempting, especially since my hip was already up against the side of the arm in that very crowded room.

Even if photography had been allowed, there were so many people it wouldn’t have been possible to get a decent photo anyway. We could take photos of the kitchens and outbuildings.

Once we toured the inside of the house, we had free time to explore the grounds. I headed along Mulberry Row, which contained a lot of the service buildings and the slave quarters for the house slaves. Several gardens were also along the path to the family graveyard where Jefferson’s grave is located. Once again I hiked all over the area to see as much as I could, then finished up at the visitor’s center.

When I was a kid, I saw a film called “Shenandoah” starring Jimmy Stewart. In addition to its Civil War setting and its anti-war theme, I remember being impressed by the beauty of the scenery. Come to find out much later that it was filmed out in Oregon, not in Virginia. Oh, well. I was still really looking forward to taking the Skyline Drive through Shenandoah National Park. A very heavy thunderstorm hit shortly after we left Monticello and didn’t begin to clear until we reached the entrance of the park. That was a relief as visibility had been quite bad up to that point and I didn’t like the idea of driving along a road high up in the mountains in heavy rain.

We had quite a drive before we arrived at Skyland Lodge, our quarters for the night. The lodge was built in 1895, which was before the park existed. It had cabins and lodges scattered around the property. The lodge in which I was staying had beautiful views of the Shenandoah River Valley below. That was what I had been waiting to see and it was truly gorgeous.

It was a relatively short walk from my room to the building containing the dining room. I decided to just go simple and southern with fried chicken for dinner. Along with dinner, I sampled some Virginia bourbon with orange juice and lemonade. It was quite tasty, despite the fact that I tend to prefer vodka, rum or tequila in my cocktails. While perusing the menu a little further, I discovered that they offered moonshine. Since the Appalachians were where moonshine (a clear, unaged whiskey mostly made from corn mash) was mainly distilled, I figured I couldn’t not give it a try. So I had some moonshine with lemonade as an after dinner drink.

It went down smooth and was quite delicious. It had a higher alcoholic content than most other hard liquors, but didn’t taste like it – not at first. As time went on, however, the effects began to be felt. Then it sucker-punched me! Wow! I was glad that I wasn’t alone and walked back to the lodge I was in with others in my group whose rooms were nearby. My friends, Gaye and Judy, however, were in another part of the resort.

The effects just increased. By the time I got into my room, I was feeling might tipsy. So, I got ready for bed, set my alarm for the morning, and went to sleep. The next day, we continued along Skyline Drive to the north, stopping off at Hazel Mountain Overlook to take some photos and look at the spectacular views.

Next time – complete immersion in the Civil War at Harper’s Ferry and Gettysburg.