One Sweet (Presidential) World

10.29.2009: Hail Traveler! Still in Richmond, VA. After briefly seeing some of the sites of the town yesterday with Aunt Anita we decided to return to Agecroft Hall. Agecroft Hall, pictured below, is a 15th century English Tudor estate. In 1920, a wealthy U.S. businessman, T.C. Williams, purchased Agecroft which was then located in England. The hall was then dismantled and shipped to the United States where one quarter of the hall was re-assembled in Richmond, VA. Being that we were the only people there, we spent nearly two hours on a private tour with a very knowledgeable guide. We loved touring the house and gardens and seeing so much authentic 15th and 16th century art and furniture.



After running a couple of errands around town we headed to the Patrick Henry pub for a pint of beer. Both of the beers we tried were locally brewed but the highlight of our visit was a tasty kale and artichoke dip that the chef made just for us.



We returned back to Aunt Anita's for the evening where we had quite a feast. For dinner she served her "best crab cakes in the world" which were truly magnificent! Along with the crab cakes we enjoyed a starter pea soup, beans, squash and spinach salad. With barely enough room in our tummies, we had rum fried bananas and whipped cream. We enjoyed a lively post dinner conversation over coffee and Bailey's Irish Cream. A most enjoyable evening as Anita would say!

10.30.2009: Our morning began with homemade French toast with strawberries and coffee. We helped Anita complete her crossword puzzle. The clue was nannies and she was thinking nanny goat instead of au pair, which we were able to figure out. We sadly said our good-byes and headed on our way. We traveled backwards yet again, this time to Charlottesville, VA, home to three U.S. Presidents - Jefferson, Madison and Monroe. We stopped at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson,s incredible plantation and mansion (see the back of a nickel). Monticello means "little mountain" in Italian, which we huffed and puffed up as we were passed by bus loads of school children. We toured the house and grounds and saw the burial site of Thomas Jefferson and his family.



After all that history and walking up and down the mountain, we needed a drink! So we stopped at Jefferson Vineyards to taste wine - though we were skeptical this would be nothing more than a tourist trap, the wine was excellent! Next we briefly stopped at Ash Lawn-Highland, the estate of President James Monroe.

Charlottesville, VA is also the birthplace of the Dave Matthews Band. Dave Matthews was a bartender at Millers when his band began. We of course had to go and visit Millers. :) David enjoyed a local beer and a Rx burger while Katrina, also drinking a local beer, enjoyed a Hotlanta burger. There were no signs at Millers referencing the band, only two DMB themed license plates pictured below.

We headed to Ft. Eustis, VA to visit our cousins Stacy and Joe and their daughter Tessa. We arrived almost around Tessa's bed time (7:30 PM) and spent the evening catching up.

10.31.2009: Happy Halloween! After a lovely mid morning brunch, we headed to Pumpkinville! We walked through the pumpkin patch looking for pumpkins to carve. David had a lot of fun pulling Tessa around in a red wagon. David and Joe took Tessa on a hay ride around the pumpkin patch. We left with four pumpkins - three orange and one green!

After changing out of our pumpkin patch clothes, we spent the afternoon at a study group with friends of Stacy and Joe's. It was a great afternoon of conversation and fellowship. Returning back to Stacy and Joe's we went trick-or-treating with Tessa. She was a beautiful mermaid! It was a lot of fun to watch her at each door and see her learn how to trick-0r-treat.

After trick-0r-treating we returned home where Tessa looked through all of her candy and selected the two pieces she ate. Gummy bears and a Now and Later, in case you were wondering... We carved pumpkins - pictured below, from left to right - Stacy's pumpkin, Joe's pumpkin, Tessa's pumpkin, David's pumpkin and Katrina's pumpkin (along with Stacy, Joe, David and Katrina).

After much deliberation, David decided to carve his pumpkin in the image of a drawing that Tessa did of her pet guinea pig, Oatmeal. Take a close look at both the pumpkin and Tessa's drawing below. We do believe this could be one of the most creatively carved pumpkins this Halloween!

Again, a very happy and safe Halloween to all! And happy birthday to our sister Theresa!