Humpback Bridge

A lovely covered bridge crosses a small river in southwest Virginia. Joy and I took a long drive to check out the area. February is a cold month, and the trees were bare and the sky grey.

Humor and Wit

We have fun when our subjects are smart and have a sense of humor. That pretty much covers every Stormtrooper I’ve met.

Kids and Droids

Star Wars Reads day brings kids out for fun with books and Star Wars. We went to Barnes & Noble to take part in some readings and appearances by the 501st Legion. I grabbed my camera and took photos of Andy and his Astromech droid.

Field of fire

We started our tour of colonial Yorktown with the < href="https://www.nps.gov/york/index.htm">museum of the battlefield. From the British battlements, you can look out over the field, and imagine the lines of soldiers firing muskets and advancing.

Nelson House

Joy and I love visiting old houses. The house of Thomas Nelson stands in Yorktown in a prominent position. The rooms have tall ceilings like most grand house of the period. The walls are coated with thick paint. The house seems barren without furniture, but the window seats are open for sitting.

A Morning Drive

Andy, his son Drew, and I set off to explore the numerous yard sales around the Staunton area Saturday morning. Since I rode shotgun, my job was to spot signs and call out addresses. Evidently sale season is in full effect, as signs hung on every tenth telephone pole. Taking full effect or clustering, many yards in a single neighborhood held sales. I wanted to capture some of the day with my camera, although I didn’t have any particular items in mind to look out for.

Andy collects vintage video game systems. The sales were on fire this day, and as the morning wore on he came away with an Atari 2600 with games, and a Pokemon N64 of some value. I gained a couple of tool bags and a couple of nice butcher knives.

Shenandoah Heritage Market

After lunch in Harrisonburg at Quaker Steak and Lube, we returned south on Hwy 11 to Staunton. On the way we stopped at Shenandoah Heritage Market for some treats. The market features crafts, antiques, and local foods. I brought some fudge and took a few photos.

A Spring Evening

This evening I put my new(old) 50mm prime lens on my new camera walked around my neighborhood. Joy came with me. I watched for colors and compositions that would benefit from a really shallow depth of field. Joy played the role of model, as she so often does.

Frontier Culture Museum

The Frontier Culture Museum covers several hundred acres in the Shenandoah Valley near Staunton, VA. Joy and I visited in May while Joy’s parents were in town. The day was calm and bright and the museum rather empty. I took my camera and remote flash and snapped away. Combining dark interiors with windows on the green outside proved quite challenging.

Houses

Small farms dot the acres of the museum. A stone wall or split rail fence define a homestead. Each one describes a different nationality of settler on the frontier. Visitors explore the houses and grounds, and find actors ready to play out a role. I much enjoyed speaking with a lady in deerskin about the construction and utility of wigwams in this area.

Blacksmith’s Shop

Even on a cool day, the blacksmith’s shop is warm. The blacksmith and his apprentice worked the bellows and hammered the metal, making new items for use around the homesteads of the museum. The hard work did not discourage these fine men from wearing proper attire. I took much inspiration from Strobist David Hobby’s video tutorial on photographing a blacksmith. I hope I did it justice.

Lake in the Mountains

As we drove south from Charlottesville, we left hwy 29 as we approached Lynchburg. We drove west into the mountains. Along the way, we saw signs for a lake and recreation area. The place turned out to be a beautiful little valley surrounded on three side by high mountains and filled with a small lake. A few people had come to picnic or cast off from the small launch to fish. The sun warmed the air enough for us to enjoy a short walk.

Washington & Lee

Once we left the peace and quiet of the lake, Joy and I made the winding and slightly treacherous drive through the mountains to Lexington. Lunch at a small bistro was delicious. The small town slumbered with the students gone on Spring Break. The campus of Washington & Lee College lies at the edge of downtown. Joy and I enjoyed a short walk around the campus and a short talk in the chapel about their first president, Robert E. Lee.

Gunston Hall

The house itself is reached by a long oak lined drive, the perfect way to guide the eye and produce a wonderful shade as carriages approached the house. Our visit started with a video describing the under-appreciated role George Mason played in the governance of Virginia and the formation of the fledgling national government. The house is in pristine condition, and offers a vivid picture of the separate public and private spaces the family enjoyed. The many rooms tucked under the eaves upstairs are a real treat.

Overlooking the Potomac

Gunston Hall, like many Virginia plantations, made it’s money by shipping tobacco and other good back to Great Britain for sale. The plantation was located right on the Potomac river, allowing easy access for loading ocean going vessels arriving from or going to overseas ports. This was a rather cold and dreary day, and we declined to take the 3/4 mile walk down to the wharf.

Belle Grove

The plantation house sits on a rise overlooking the property. The stone exterior is beautiful work, made from the same stone used to construct much of Washington DC. The house itself has high ceilings, tall windows and the standard transverse hall leading from front to back porches.

Valley View

The location of the house and plantation provide lovely views of the surrounding mountains. This section of the valley has been extensively farmed, so most of the trees have been cleared. This give a sense of openness to the land and connection to the surrounding mountains.

The House on the River

Stratford Hall is typical of many early Virginia plantations, with long tree-lined lawns approaching the house. Stratford Hall adds a second approach from the river. The house is built from expensive glazed brick of three stories. The tour guides bring a special charm to tours they have given for years.

On the River

One of the most surprising parts of visiting the Stratford Hall estate is finding the sandy cliffs. A wooded trail runs along the cliffs from the mill to the perpendicular point from house to river. Occasional breaks in the trees yield long views across the river and along it for miles. We had a nice walk listening to the animals in the underbrush. The river is gradually eroding the cliff so a split rail fence stands guard. The house is now closer to the river by a few miles than when it was built.

A Beautiful Beach

The estate lies on the river and contains one of the few water level accesses from the West side of the Potomac for miles. This access was the source of the estates prosperity. It allowed convenient loading of ships with cargo from the area around Stratford Hall.