Mark’s Notes On The Go

So, it’s Sunday, and I finally have the energy to relate the journey back to metro ATL.

I was good for my word and got an early start. Unfortunately, I had piddled about the night going through the photos from the day and such, so I got only about 6 hours of sleep. In the morning, that didn’t seem so bad. Later, I would regret that.

Still, I was on the move before 8am (okay, you have your early, I have mine). Having no real idea where my stop at Flowerdew Hundred was, I had once more put my travel in the hands of AAA’s triptik. The route it planned look sane enough. And for a rather cool effect, it included a ferry across the James River. Yayy!!

I had not been on a Ferry at all in decades and never a proper ferry in the sense of the one across the James River. I had seen it going across during my visit at Jamestowne. So, that was kind of cool. My experience with Ferry’s before had been back home, where for years Macon County had the last operating Ferry in Georgia. I don’t recall when a bridge finally replaced it, but it was a staple for some people at least into the 80’s if not the 1990’s . I had only ridden it for fun, as it was not on any normal path of travel for us. It held, I think, a maximum of two cars, but the ride was all of a couple of minutes anyway. I never drove onto that one myself, either.

So, about 20 minutes into my trip, I was waiting on a pier on the James River and watching a Ferry approach. I found it amusing that the same vague feeling of dread that comes across me before a plane flight hit here as well. I guess it’s the loss of control as I don’t have that feeling when I set forth to drive somewhere. A few minutes passed as the cars coming from the other side exited, and then they let us on. Lost in reverie for a moment, I missed the start of the trip but suddenly felt movement and my foot automatically went for the brakes. I found the sense of movement very disconcerting. I realized sheepishly after a second that the Ferry, not my car as such, was in motion. I wanted to get out but wasn’t sure if that was kosher. I saw a family in an RV unloading behind me and I decided there was safety in numbers. I never saw any locals get out, for whatever reason. As I enjoyed a good view of Jamestown from the River, I reflected that I’ve never been fond of small boats. I hate the feeling of them on the water, but give me a good solid boat and I enjoy it. The Ferry Pocahontas definitely fit the bill. Anything that holds a few dozen cars and is only half full has some heft behind it. The only boat with a similar feel to it was the hydrofoil that Brandy and I rode to Capri last January. The ocean breeze coming up the James River from the Atlantic was perfect. The trip was only about 20 minutes long but was just the perfect way to begin a journey. As the opposite dock came into view, I got back in the car and again felt that sensation to put my foot on the brake. Odd that I didn’t have that feeling on the decks, but the moment my body was back in my parked but moving car, I again wanted to stop it!

Now, came the fun… AAA’s map told me that I’d be on VA-31 for 8+ miles before my next turn… but did the mileage include the Ferry trip or not?? The line item on the map began with getting on the Ferry and gave the mileage. I didn’t realize until on the other side VA-31 continues and I was to be on it for?? How long? Did the Ferry include the 8 miles or not? And the next irritating thing that I’m mention to AAA when I get the time, whenever roads have names, they provide those INSTEAD of giving you the highway number… Well, when you’re on the road, you can about count on the highway numbers being up there, but you’re lucky if you can spot a street name before you pass it. The next turn was so marked by the road name rather than the highway number… booo… I don’t know how I managed to find it. Obviously I was not tuckered out just yet.

By 9:30am, I was sitting outside the Flowerdew Hundred museum waiting for it to open… half an hour from then… Let me say, this place is REALLY in the middle of nowhere. The road to it after the last turn led straight there. Nowhere else, at all… just this little museum with some farm buildings and a huge house nearby. hmmm… 10am finally rolled around and I’d yet to see a car pull up. If got out and followed the path to the museum (formerly it turns out an old house and before that a school house). When I got to the door, there was a sign stating the open hours and to pick up the phone in the box by the door… ooookay…. A guy answered and I told him I was a the museum… At this point, I was really beginning to question why I’d come out here. At any rate, he said someone would be out.

I’m horrible with names, but the lady who came out was probably Ms. Shriver, the curator. She thought at first I was a party that had an appointment that day, which of course I was not. So, she had to ask how on earth I came to be there. So, I said that I had family that had lived in the area quite some time ago, the Woodsons. She said, “Doctor John Woodson?” Yes! Reaching behind the counter, she produced a packet full of info. with name Woodson on the front and asked me to sign the registry and to check yes for being one of the original Flowerdew families. She listed a handful of the major names that people tend to show up claiming descendcy from, Woodson being one of them. So, they keep information for those people on hand.

I am admittedly not fully versed on this part of the family. The Fitzpatricks, Woodsons, and Napiers were comparably well researched parts of the family, so I’ve spent most of my time on other parts of the family tree over the years. I know only the highlights, that Dr. Woodson, a surgeon to a company of soldiers, arrived with his wife, Sarah, on the ship George in 1619. They came with Sir George Yeardley, the new royal governor of Virginia, and his wife, Temperance Flowerdew. John and Sarah after arriving, had at least two sons, John and Robert, before Dr. Woodson died in the Indian massacre of 1644. My family is descended from the son, John. I knew they came to live somewhere called Flowerdew Hundred, but what was that? I knew nothing about it.

The museum is the result of 30 years of archaeological work at the old plantation. The name never made any sense, but I had never examined it. The Flowerdew part is in honor of Yeardley’s wife. But Hundred? Hundred was an old English term that roughly amounted to enough land to support a company of 100 fighting men. And the division of new lands into these Hundreds along the James River was the first expansion of the English settlement. The people who came over did not settle inside Jamestowne but along the River in more forts as the colony expanded. It originally supported a colony of people dependent on one another, but in the 19th century, it came to be a family owned plantation and today is part of a 1,400 acre modern farm. Fortunately, the area has been studied since the early 1970’s by archaeologists from the College of William & Mary, University of California at Berkeley, and the state of Virginia. My guide is still in the process of cataloguing all the material finds that were made.

I intended for a brief stop, but after touring the small museum and nearby grounds (there’s actually a driving tour I decided I didn’t have time for), I got to talking with the curator. She told me a lot about the history of Flowerdew when my family was there as well, it turns out that she and her husband have been to London as many times as I have, so we began to compare notes. In the end, I was there over two hours (closer to three if you include my half hour wait for the place to open). It was a great stop, and I wouldn’t have traded it for anything, but it pushed an already long drive back by hours…

Back on the road, I hurried towards I-95. Country roads quickly gave way to a small town on the edge of the interstate. I had one last meal in Virginia, at a Wendy’s. I passed three McD’s trying to find something fast but different… They don’t appear to have learned the joy of Chick-fil-A up there yet. I saw one in Williamsburg under construction… sigh… Took my meal to go and headed down the interstate… I shortly was lost in the mind-numbing sound of the interstate passing under my wheels. I was determined to at least get out of Virginia before stopping again.

And I made it to North Carolina… The lack of sleep started to hit me, so I began a vicious cycle of drinking coke and stopping at half the rest stops on I-85… Soon, I graduated to water realizing it was more the fluid than the caffeine that did the trick. Still, didn’t stop me from popping a few vivarin. And the road kept passing. I finally stopped at the first Chick-Fil-A I’d seen in hours for dinner about 6pm. I lost time but I decided I needed out of the car for awhile, so ate there instead of on the road. I started questioning the sanity of getting back in the car with the intent of driving on, but I also just desperately wanted after all this time on the road to get back to my house.

Not long after I was back on the road, my Mom returned a phone call from earlier in the day. We talked for about an hour before I had my next rest stop. That really helped. By the time I had finished recounting the morning to her from the Ferry ride to the museum and information I’d gleaned on our ancestors, I felt awake and aware again. Which was good, because now it was pouring rain… great… now it’s dark and I’m tired, and it’s raining. Mom’s comment that it was raining there as well (quite some distance south of Atlanta) didn’t bring me much hope that I’d ride out of the rain anytime soon.

After our conversation and that last rest stop, I only made one more stop for gas before leaving South Carolina. And I arrived home a little before 11pm… I barely unloaded anything from the car. Took some aspirin, called my Mom simply to say I was home, and collapsed.

I slept late Saturday and never left the house. Today, I’m doing laundry and generally just trying to catch up. I’ve only been out today to grab lunch. Later I need to go get some groceries as there’s frightfully little in ye olde cupboard. The funny part is as tired as I am, I’ve already been reading the airfare tips I’ve gotten via e-mail the last few days but didn’t have time to review. No plans yet, but you never know how long that will last.

Last day in Williamsburg. Ah, a mixture of melancholy. More to do, but time to go.

Although I had dreams of making an early start today, I was wiped last night. I notied glancing over my BLOG from last night that I made some really bad typos. I mean, there are typos, and then there are “I’m half asleep and this won’t make sense later” typos… I see the latter…. Joy, I’ll have to fix that later. So, that’s why it was not an early start. Not in the cards when I’m nodding off at the keyboard before going to bed.

But, I got up and out to Yorktown. Again, I drove myself. I didn’t want to wait for a bus and lose more time. Like Jamestowne, Yorktown is two different attractions, administered by two seperate groups. One is the actual site of the battle, which is handled by the National Park Service. The other is a dramatic re-enactment down the road from the actual site. I had a feeling I wouldn’t make both given my late start, so I made my choice for the legitimate article. I can’t say I made the right choice or the wrong one, but I don’t regret it.

Now, there’s a lot of imagination required at the original site. We are talking about a battle from 1781 after all. Yorktown was the site of the last major battle of the American Revolution. The victory there by the American and French decided the outcome of the war, although it would be two more years before an official treaty was signed. I managed to walk in perfectly in time for a ranger led walking tour. She showed some of the artilery used in the battle and where and how the earthworks were made by both sides. And she explained how this really was a battle that was decided by firepower more than anything. The Americans and French boxed Cornwallis and his forces in and then pummelled his earthworks with artilery until he surrendered.

To those who actually read this, it probably feels like I always find a family member to mention, but there’s a reason I’m going where I’m going, you know? My great, great, great grandfather, William Johnston, was said to have been at this battle and to have been there for the surrender. Honestly, that’s probably the only reason I didn’t spend another day in Williamsburg. Honestly, if you’ve seen one pile of grassy earth works from the Civil War or Revolution, it feels to me as if you’ve seen them all. There’s some really cool information to be had there, but you could get the same from, GASP, a book! Still, it was the first in-depth information I’d gotten on the battle and it was interesting to me in the context that a scant few generations back was there. In fact, I could swear I’d read somewhere that at the time of the Revolution he lived in York County. He was a Virginian at any rate, wherever he might have called home while he fought in the Revolution as a young man.

Oh, funny thing for the day. The park service offers an audio you can purchase to listen to as you drive around the site…. Okay… It was only $4.95 for the CD, so I got it, popped it in the changer and started out…. uhmm… It was recorded for someone with a “tape recorder” and a portable one at that… I kept waiting for the beep to advance the film to the next slide (if you don’t remember those, I don’t want to hear it!). So, it was a scary old audio guide…. That would have been enough… But, they also expect you to be using a portable player to listen to it… It’s in the changer in my trunk…. So, everytime I got somewhere, I had to listen to the commentary, then get out and go try to figure out what it was talking about. By the time I finally reached Surrender Field, I realized that I wasn’t even at the right part of the guide anymore, so I listened to the past two stops and surrender field before getting out. Yes, it was that confusing. And yes, I finally understood why I hadn’t seen anything described at the past stops…. So, the moral is if you visit the national park, ask about the audio guide and if you need a portable player for it. If you go to Yorktown, you can have my audio guide with that caveat…

Back in Williamsburg, I ventured over to the old Gaol (jail in modern day). Was very interesting, especially since it’s the same vintage as the capitol (well, the capitol is a re-creation, but Gaol is original). So, early 1700’s jail that survived and was still used by the city into the early 1900’s! Yoiks! I meandered through quite a few buildings and then finally made my way down to the College of William and Mary. I wanted to see the Wren building, as it’s called. The original main building of the campus is supposedly designed by Sir Christoper Wren of London fame (think St. Paul’s Cathedral for example). Now, there’s some question as to the truh of this. Still, very old college building. I never made it down to tour the inside, but it’s a beautiful building, so I followed the outside of it taking shots here and there.

After that, I watched “General Washington” talk to the townsfolk about how the war is faring. And then watched a fife and drum corp march down the main street. Those are the moments where the old music is going and you almost feel transported back. For a moment, the out of place clothing of all the tourists is gone and you’re just there.

The last stop on the agenda was a re-enactment of the debate of whether or not Virginia would support the Revolution or not. We got to hear from multiple townsfolk and why they were supporting the Patriots or the King. And then we were all given little slips of paper with the name of a person who reprsented their county at that meeting and whether they were Patrio, Loyalist, or Moderate. I was a moderate from Amelia County. The funny part? Guess where William Johnston was born? Yep… Surprise, we voted for independence, altough it was like 30-something to ten. The original vote was near unanimous.

That done, I walked around and took my last shots of Williamsburg before I ran out of space on my memory cards. And back here for dinner. Yum McD’s… where they seem to think a ketchup only burger means mustard only… garrggggghhhh….

Oh well, first real fast food in days and the only meal I had today other than breakfast… Still, I digress. The trip was great fun. In a matter of a few days up here, I got to see the beginning of the English colonization at Jametowne, the middle of that time when the first sparks of the Revolution played out here in Williamsburg, and the concluding moments at Yorktown. And the mark of any good trip, in my eyes, is when there was such a wealth of things to see that there are things I didn’t see but hope to some day. Would I come back next week? No, but between the 400 year anniversary next year and the consant research and changes at these sights, the landscape will be different down the road and worth another visit, I’m sure.

Tomorrow I leave Williamsburg, and I’ve decided it’s a one way long trek back to Georgia. I had thought I’d stay on the way back somewhere, but I could never come up with somewhere I just wanted to stay the night. So, I plan to actually make a real early start of it and get my butt home. I do plan to stop at Flowerdew Hundred and see the land my 10 greats grandparents called home. It’s not like there’s a house there or anything, but there is a museum, etc. So, it could be cool. It’s not per se on the way, but it’s not out of the way. It just means that like I did on my way in, there will be a round-about journey back to the interstate. Here’s hoping it’s at least scenic!

Now to bed, and then the next stop, my own bed sometime tomorrow night!