#8 Varied Virginia

November, 2008

Virginia is so dense! No, of course I don’t mean in their IQ, I mean population, history, towns and cities, the forests, the mountains, the geology; it is layer upon layer upon layer. Even the weather comes in layers, literally. As we drove cross the northern portion of the state to Front Royal and the beginning of the Shenandoah National Park, the fog or low clouds as they prefer to call it, began to close in around us and by the time we arrived at Big Meadow campground we could barely see ten feet! We spent a few days waiting for the low clouds to rise so that we could see some of the spectacular views out across the Blue Ridge Mountains and down into the valleys of the Shenandoah River. It was a good time for resting and catching up with all of those layers we had photographed.





Shenandoah was a planned park from the very beginning when it became evident to the park planners that the long established road across the top of the mountains known as Skyline Drive would become the “greatest single feature” of the new park. Here motorists could enjoy a leisurely drive through the Blue Ridge and they could experience the awe and inspiration of magnificent views. This park was so well planned that you are actually driving through a landscaped environment!







We learned of the unfortunate displacement of over 1,000 families by the State and Federal governments as their lands were confiscated for inclusion in the new park. These were generations of subsistence farmers whose homes were all they had. No wonder several chose to ‘stand off the guvment’ until their land was taken. It was a sad chapter in the development of a grand park.




The first CCC camp in the NPS system was created here where they built miles of stone walls and planted thousands of trees on the steep roadside cuts. The museum at the Byrd Visitor Center has a wonderful segment on these “boys” and what the CCC taught them and how it shaped their lives. We are certainly grateful to them for all of the things they built that have made our visits to the National Parks easy and interesting.



The weather did clear enough for us to get in a couple of hikes: one from the campground to the Visitors Center and one that Cokie took over to Dark Hollow Falls. It was a joy to see how much color was still hanging on in this area and to remember that we have been following eastern fall colors for nearly three months!











As we began our drive down Skyline Drive southward towards Waynesboro we were blessed with some clearing of the mists or clouds or whatever so that we could gets some glimpses of the gentle farmlands and villages off down the mountainsides. You really are driving right up on the tops of the ridges and you do drive to scenic viewpoints on each side to look eastward or westward. Those CCC boys built some 75 scenic overlooks along the 105 miles of Skyline Drive and we were most grateful. Again the fall colors were so much more apparent than we had thought possible. This is copper and bronze country with hints of cinnamon, lemon and lime in the palette (Palate?) of the forest, much different than the blazing colors we saw further north in New Hampshire and Vermont but equally pleasing in a more subtle and soothing sort of way.












At Waynesboro we turned left and took Hwy. 64 east to Charlottesville and Monticello - Thomas Jefferson’s remarkable plantation. I never really appreciated what a genius he was until I saw this remarkable home and the myriad innovations he built into the structure: triple hung windows that also served as doors; weather vanes, clocks and calendars that worked in synchronicity; kitchens, toilets, wine cellars, laundries, ice houses and all other places of service tucked under the house in order not to interfere with the views from the mansion. Unbelievable creativity! The house design was based upon old Roman structures which he studied and revered. The dome, greenhouses, spaces and light all attest to his architectural genius. I loved this home and the experimental gardens, vineyards and orchards were examples of his renaissance interests and inquisitive mind.
























Unfortunately, again we were prevented from photographing the interior of the house but we scanned the brochure in an effort to give you some idea of the beauty that we saw. These colonial plantation owners were interested in so many things- horticulture, architecture, husbandry, astronomy, literature, poetry, medicine, history, to name just a few. Jefferson’s 7,000 volume library certainly attests to his unending curiosity. Much like Washington, he experimented with and collected all types of things including a myriad of artifacts from the Lewis and Clark expedition. In fact the front entry hall was set up as a museum to display these items and others that reflected his vast interests and achievements.







We walked outside along Mulberry Row, the 1,000 foot long portion of the road around the Mansion that was the neighborhood of the slaves, workers and craftsmen. Little remains of the wooden frame cabins and shops that lined this street but just below them are the terraced garden and orchard areas. These still remain as viable, working laboratories reflecting Jefferson’s desire to create an ornamental farm by “interspersing the articles of husbandry with the attributes of a garden.” When he referred to his “garden” he was speaking of his vegetable garden where he planted nearly 330 varieties of 70 species of vegetables on a terraced shelf of land some 80 feet wide by 1,000 feet long. In the center of the terrace is a small pavilion where Jefferson often retreated to think and view his most enduring horticultural achievement.







We also strolled down to the family graveyard. Chosen by Jefferson in 1773, it is owned by an association of Jefferson descendants and is still used by them today. His is a simple monument with a simple, self-written epitaph: “Author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom and Father of the University of Virginia.”



We did not drive over to the University of Virginia but rather to Hampton and the Gosnold’s Hope Campground to set up a base of operations, so to speak, for our visits to Jamestown and other areas. Kae had some serious poking around to do for her Brother’s geneology research on a distant relative named Charles Grymes. He was an immigrant from Kent, England sometime in the 1640’s. She was ‘dead set’ on digging up something about him!