Plantations

Well, the title is a little misleading as we've got pictures from Savannah & Charleston as well as our trip today to plantations on the James River in Virginia.

Probably too hard to recall all we did in Savannah and Charleston. Suffice it to say we did a tour in each city which gave us an overview of the area. In addition, in Charleston, we went out to Magnolia Plantation -  but you've heard all about that in the email we sent.

Houses in the south

We saw Forest Gump - run, Forest, run.

Wormsloe Plantation has a 1.5 mile oak allee

Did we mention it was Garden Week at the beach?

We saw some gardens from the water

So, on to today....

Rousted everyone out of bed for an early start. Tried to get off by 9 am and managed 9:30 which was pretty good. Started at Westover which was delightful. A family home built back about 1640 which is only open five days a year - during Virginia Garden Week in the spring. The gardens are open all year round though and we wandered around looking at the azalea, peony, dogwood, iris, and other flowers.

Then it was time for lunch. We had reserved a spot at an old house converted into the James City Tavern. Rosie and Van had lightly fried oysters and crab cake, in that order. Margaret, for some reason, eschewed the seafood and opted for ham and spinach quiche. We also had a bowl of asparagus soup to start off and Margaret also checked out the Bourbon Pecan Bread Pudding for dessert. She proclaimed it the best meal she's had so far. Glad she enjoyed it. Then off to Shirley which is currently occupied by the eleventh generation of the same family. No gardens to see, just as well as the rain began to drop whilst we were touring the house and we were glad to sink into the car seats and head for home.

The fact that Ma snuggled down and took a nap whilst we were reviewing the evening news suggests we have been running her a bit hard. That's OK as we have a bye tomorrow. Need to prepare for luncheon on Sunday. Rosie has invited about a dozen people to share lunch with us at home Easter Sunday. Usually people will head off to an expensive and crowded buffet somewhere to celebrate the day but we have decided to spend time at home with a potluckish dinner. We supply the spiral cut honey ham and wine and mimosas too..... mmmm. The other guests are all bringing something to add to the feast and we'll enjoy one another's company without noisy and intrusive strangers around us competing for the food.

Here are some more photos from down south.

See the Spanish Moss hanging from the tree...