In my continuing efforts to catch up with my goal of visiting one county per month within 500 kilometers of Morgantown in any state, I visited two counties in April, both in Virginia. Goochland is just upstream from Richmond along the James River; Grayson is in the mountains near the borders of North Carolina and Tennessee. I had great, too-warm- for-April weather all week, Monday to Friday.
I drove to Goochland on my favorite, shorter-but-takes-longer route, U.S. 119 through Grafton, West Virginia onto U.S. 250 and over the covered bridge to Philippi, then to Elkins and over the mountains to Staunton, Virginia, then onto Interstate 64 to U.S. 522. I found the Goochland's Old Courthouse, with the obligatory Confederate statue on the front lawn. It was already after 4 P.M., so I left town to go to the motel, "Usual Chain" in Short Pump, a section of Henrico County, north of Richmond. On the way in, I spotted a branch of Silver Diner, the diner I visit often with my sister in Maryland. I walked there from the motel. The neighborhood of the hotel is lushly landscaped, with mostly office buildings and hotels. Mine was luxurious (and not as cheap as usual) but not crowded.
Tuesday morning was my day to visit Goochland County. I decided to go east to west, visiting ten historic places that were accessible from a public road. Many of the historic places are 17th and 18th century estates down long driveways with fences and "No Trespassing" signs. I had discovered that I didn't have enough furosemide tablets. I usually take one every day so that water doesn't stay in my legs because of my weak heart's inability to pump it out. I decided this would be the day not to take one. It was a great relief, actually, because I could control when I needed to go.
My first stop was at Tuckahoe Plantation on the James River, in Manakin, built early in the seventeenth century. Thomas Jefferson spent part of his childhood there. The grounds are open to the public for a voluntary five dollar fee. It was a beautiful day, cool in the morning, then warmer in the afternoon. This was the best week in April to travel.There are several houses on the grounds, including former slave houses. To add to the scenery, there was a boy of about four with two dogs on the grounds. He was throwing a ball for the dogs to catch and retrieve. The dogs came up to me and I greeted them. They sniffed my hand, then went back to the boy.
I found Wells Tavern on River Road, in the same community, built as a frame building in 1770, then bricked in 1820. Although the road follows the James River, there is no access to it. It is lined with mansions and modern upscale suburban developments on dead-end streets.
Oak Grove is a mid-nineteenth century estate with later additions near the community of Manakin-Sabot. I caught a glimpse of the main house at Rochambeau Farm in the same community, from about 1855.
I visited Crozier, where I found the First Union School, a Rosenwald School, one of many in The South built by that family to educate Black children in segregated communities. According to Wikipedia, it closed in 1958, when the county integrated its schools, and became a residence in 1985. Tanglewood is near Maidens, just east of Goochland Courthouse . The front was built as a gas station in 1929, and the main part of the building added as a hotel in 1935. It is now a restaurant.
I headed to Goochland, sometimes called Goochland Court House in the Virginia style of naming the small community near a county courthouse the name of the county and "Courthouse." I ran into the tourist lady outside her office, which was closed. She told me she had come in to get some work done, but we talked for a few minutes. She said that the people along River Road will never say they live in Goochland County, they'll say they live in Richmond. I could feel her annoyance. She said "real" Goochland people are different. I guess she meant that Goochlan people aren't rich suburbanites, but more rural in their ways and outlook. There is a small shopping area near the courthouse square. I decided to go local and eat at Goochland Restaurant. Most items on the menu had bacon in them or were deep-fried, but there was a grilled chicken and vegetables plate that sounded healthy, so I ordered that. The waitress was surprised that I didn't want some ranch, bleu cheese or honey mustard dressing on my meal.
After lunch, I visited the beautiful county library (why isn't Morgantown's library beautiful?). I met a woman who had recently moved from Chicago to Goochland. She was turning in a novel by Emily St. John Mandel, which she said she didn't like, and complained that the library had no book clubs. I saw that they had a copy of Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex in the library sale section, and suggested she read that. She bought it. I got Hammond's Atlas of the 20th Century from the book sale. I found the Goochland Campus of Reynolds Community College. The tourist person told me they mostly teach gardening and landscaping. The Jackson Blacksmith Shop is a wooden shed built in 1932. Wikipedia says it is still in use, but I have my doubts. Nearby Byrd Presbyterian Church dates from 1838. A cousin pointed out to me that buildings like this look like houses in suburban Baltimore. Of course, the 20th century houses use buildings like this as models.
I ended at the Cartersville Bridge over James River, leading into Cumberland County, which I visited a few years ago. Cartersville is in Cumberland County. The original bridge was built on stone piers in 1822, with the superstructure of timber and cast iron is from 1883-84. There are only pieces of the bridge left. It's been replaced by a boring modern bridge. This was the only place I could find with a view of the James River.
I headed back to the hotel, a half-hour drive to and then on I-64. After a nap, I looked for a place to have dinner and found there is a Golden Corral buffet near the hotel. Although I knew where it was, I had difficulty finding it. The neighborhood, on Broad Street, way west of Richmond, reminds me of Kendall, the neighborhood I lived in in Miami from 1979-1984, full of garden apartments, shopping centers and office buildings far from the central city. I made up for my Spartan lunch.
After eating, I headed to Short Pump Town Center, the big mall I had found on the map. It's outdoors, a little like The Grove in Los Angeles, only bigger and better. There are fountains and places to sit in open courtyards. The weather all five days I was away was warm and pretty. I went into Macy's (we don't have one in North Central West Virginia), but I noticed that only the registers were staffed; there were no workers on the floor to help a customer look for things. I'm not interested in spending a lot of money in stores with no help, although I saw some clothes I could wear. I came back to the room and plotted out Grayson County for the second part of the trip.
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