This morning we made a few phone calls to tie up some loose ends that we didn't get to before our departure and so didn't head out until 11:30 am. We went directly to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VFMA). True to form for this trip we were "one day late" for their blockbuster special exhibit on the Forbidden City. One would guess that everyone in Richmond and environs had been to the Museum in previous weeks for that exhibit as it was eerily quiet today. In most galleries it was us and the very bored guards. We spent the most time in their Arts + Crafts, Art Deco and Art Nouveau collection and then surveyed the other collections.
George Washington's Birthplace National Monument - Gari Melchers Home and Studio - Lunch for Dinner1/19/2015 After another hardy Stratford Hall breakfast and a stroll through their visitor center exhibits we headed for George Washington's Birthplace a few miles down the road. Here on the banks of Pope's Creek (which empties into the Potomac) Augustine and Mary Washington welcomed their first child George into the world some 283 years ago. George's great grandfather John began farming this land in the 1660's. A private group build a memorial home on the site in the 1930's This structure is brick and furnished in a fine manner. The Washington home would have been wooden and much smaller. We walked the grounds of the working farm and introduced ourselves to the animals -- the oxen Lewis and Clarke and the friendly horses. It is a very idyllic and beautiful setting.
You know you are in Virginia when... As the waitress delivers your dinner she drawls.... Y'all enjoy!
It has been an enjoyable day. We are at Stratford Hall the ancestral home of the Lee Family. The family Patriarch Thomas was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. His son's Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee were the only brothers to sign the Declaration of Independence. Henry "Lighthorse Harry" Lee was a colonel in the Revolutionary War and his son Robert E. (for Edward) Lee was born at Stratford in 1807. Construction on the massive, brick great house began in 1737. At midday we arrived at Lincoln's Cottage in Washington, D.C. The cottage is on the grounds of the Soldier's Home 3 miles from the White House. Lincoln spent 13 months of his Presidency in residence at the Cottage. That was one quarter of his Presidency. The Capital City was noisy during the war years with troops drilling and the constant movement of supplies and men. During the summer months the air was unhealthy.
Although our original purpose for stopping at Chadds Ford was to go to the Brandywine River Museum, we decided to first go to Longwood Gardens. That piece of spontaneousness saved the day because as it turned out, Longwood Gardens was wonderful even in the Winter and the Brandywine Museum was getting ready for the next days opening of the Jamie Wyeth exhibit that we already saw at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Two thirds of the museum was closed, taken up with the Jamie Wyeth exhibit.
After all the planning and preparing it is always liberating to finally be on the road. It is even nicer when the weather gods cooperate with dry roads and bright blue sunny skies. Our first stop was the traditional one at Reins Deli in Vernon, CT for lunch provisions (chopped liver on light rye) and then, speaking of Rye, it was on to Rye, New York for a one hour visit to the Rye Arts Center to view "Irving Harper a Mid-Century Mind at Play". Harper who is still with us at age 98 worked as an industrial designer for Herman Miller and Heywood Wakefield among others. To combat stress he began creating sculptures and 3-dimensional works of art and stopped 40 years later when he had filled up his 3 story farm house. We continued along our way and crossed the Delaware Memorial Bridge before the sun set. On the agenda for tomorrow is Longwood Gardens and the Brandywine River Museum of Art.
Click Read More in next line for more photos of the day. |
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