I, unfortunately, did not have a camera, so the pictures here are courtesy of www.jamesriverplantations.org.
We were able to visit Shirley Plantation, which is Virginia's oldest plantation home, dating back to 1613. One of the oldest, most prestigious families in Virginia has owned the home since its early days.
Shirley was a really great example of a traditional working plantation, and had lots of horses, goats, and sheep still on the property. One of my favorite tidbits of information from our tour was that all the family women who marry in the home sign their names in the dining room windows with their diamond rings. It was interesting to see the signatures that were there.
We also got to tour Berkeley, which had stunning grounds. There were large sweeping lawns and lots of weeping willow trees framing the view of the river. We thought the tour wasn't too outstanding, but it was pretty outstanding to be in such an important early American home.
Berkeley was the home of two American presidents (the Harrisons), and was the camping ground for General McClellan and his troops during some battles of the Civil War. In fact, President Lincoln visited to review the troops.
We had lunch at the Charles River Tavern on their nice veranda, and my day was topped off with dinner with both parents at The Melting Pot. You can't get too much better than that!
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