Who Knew We Were Virginians?

[tazdev3225]

If you get the Orlando Attractions magazine, check out page 41......I'll up date on that later!

I was going to try and update my TR and wrap presents but maybe I'll had to the book store and see if they actually have it this month. Been very hit and miss with them.

 

[jenseib]

There was a building I could go into, so I did.





I only took a quick look as I was trying to get around fast since Dad was waiting in the car for me.



After getting home, I did look up Westover online and found that at one time there were several different buildings and in the late 1800’s a family descendent, Mrs. Clarise Sears Ramsey, bought the place back and then enclosed it all to make it one big house. Also during the Civil War, troops also occupied this place as well. And cannon fire had burnt down one wing. The place was left in ruins till Clairise bought the place and rebuilt the wing and enclosed everything.



















If I was a rich plantation owner, this would be the kind of house I would have.
Maybe that has something to do with the house I grew up in?



I always had a thing for brick houses and I was going into the 5th grade when we built that house. My mom said she was having a brick house with pillars, even if it was a shack. LOL


Back to my walking tour.



Coming around to the front now and a car pulled in. It was the owner. I talked to her a few minutes and told how beautiful the place was and she told me to go to the pump building to see the tunnel and told me where the light was to turn on. So I took a few more pictures and worked my way over there.









And this is where the tunnel came up. I am not sure if it is useable anymore or safe, or if the other end is open. It appeared on the map to be kind of in the side of the cliff over by the river and I never went to look and see if it was there.



Back out to go and check out the front of the house.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'm going to bet that YOU are in the magazine! Am I right? Huh? Huh? Am I?

That was so nice of the owner to tell you about the tunnel and let you go take a look. I'm betting most owners wouldn't have disclosed that little tidbit.

 

[jenseib]

I was going to try and update my TR and wrap presents but maybe I'll had to the book store and see if they actually have it this month. Been very hit and miss with them.

I didn't know that some carried it. I might have to go look and get a copy early if mine doesn't show up soon. I know what is in it though...sort of.

 

[jenseib]

I'm going to bet that YOU are in the magazine! Am I right? Huh? Huh? Am I?

That was so nice of the owner to tell you about the tunnel and let you go take a look. I'm betting most owners wouldn't have disclosed that little tidbit.

You are"sort of" right. I hope to update this soon...but I am still waiting on my copy to come in the mail. I have friends who have gotten theirs already though.

The owner was really nice. I think I would be annoyed with people walking around my property all the time, but she didn't seem to have an issue at all.

 

[mickeystoontown]

You are"sort of" right. I hope to update this soon...but I am still waiting on my copy to come in the mail. I have friends who have gotten theirs already though.

The owner was really nice. I think I would be annoyed with people walking around my property all the time, but she didn't seem to have an issue at all.

Wellllll, what time do you expect the mail to arrive?

 

[jenseib]

Wellllll, what time do you expect the mail to arrive?

LOL. Well I heard it can take up to a month for them all to be delivered, so I am not sure how soon it will come. I have been checking the mail every day since Monday and nothing so far. But our mail comes really late, like 5 PM lately.

 

[tazdev3225]

I didn't know that some carried it. I might have to go look and get a copy early if mine doesn't show up soon. I know what is in it though...sort of.

I have seen there twice but not lately. I will have to ask about it again.

 

[jenseib]

I have seen there twice but not lately. I will have to ask about it again.

Shhot I was in town and forgot to even look. Oh well.



And we NEVER got our mail yesterday. Still waiting for it today too.

 

[Beth D]

Great pics! That is so cool about the tunnel.

There are quite a few houses in my town still with hiding spots from the Underground Railroad. Being on the lake we were a stopping off point to cross to Canada. DH and I bid on a row/townhouse that had a second cellar that had been used to hide runaway slaves. We didn't end up buying the house, but it was really cool!

Do you have a picture in the magazine?

 

[jenseib]

Great pics! That is so cool about the tunnel.

There are quite a few houses in my town still with hiding spots from the Underground Railroad. Being on the lake we were a stopping off point to cross to Canada. DH and I bid on a row/townhouse that had a second cellar that had been used to hide runaway slaves. We didn't end up buying the house, but it was really cool!

Do you have a picture in the magazine?

That would be so neat. There is one in a suburb of Toledo and it was going to be knocked down to build something else, but I think they raised enough money to save it. ...I think they may have moved it, but i don't remember all the details.

Yes I do....but I haven't gotten my copy yet.

 

[jenseib]

I just love this house.









This fence was in front of the house.









I knew I was taking too much time and I figured Dad was getting impatient in the car, so I made my way to the garden, where I could walk through and then exit.



















Even the wheel barrow looks old fashion.



This is William Byrd II's tombstone.









The garden was gorgeous!

I then headed back to the car and we took off once again.
I believe I called Mom then and told her that we were running later than we had planned and we didn’t think we would have time to pick her up and come back to look at Sherwood. She was fine with that, but Dad was not. He hates when we change a plan and he griped about it, but there was just no way to do it all in one day.

 

[MEK]

These just looked disgusting to me. I am not sure if that is mold on the side of the house, but it sure looked like it to me. I guess they were keeping the place looking original?

I totally don't remember mold being there when I visited. Odd?

A very belated Happy Birthday to Claire. That song was too cute.

EVery time I stop by to visit this TR and I want to go to Williamsburg the next weekend. If only it was that easy. I really want to get there for the Christmas lights.

The tunnel is pretty cool.

 

[jenseib]

I totally don't remember mold being there when I visited. Odd?

A very belated Happy Birthday to Claire. That song was too cute.

EVery time I stop by to visit this TR and I want to go to Williamsburg the next weekend. If only it was that easy. I really want to get there for the Christmas lights.

The tunnel is pretty cool.

It was really ugly in my opinion and not sure why it was like that. I guess I should've asked.

I would love to go see the lights too. Today Claire and I went to see an indoor light display and immediately we just wished we were at Disney. I tell you once at Disney for Christmas lights, you are so spoiled and we are trying to get that feeling back.

 

[dolphingirl47]

I wish Claire a belated Happy Birthday. What a shame that she was not well for her party.

I loved all the photos and are now all caught up again.

Corinna

 

[jenseib]

I wish Claire a belated Happy Birthday. What a shame that she was not well for her party.

I loved all the photos and are now all caught up again.

Corinna

Welcome back!!!!

She is back to normal now!!!!

 

[jenseib]

We made our way towards Sherwood next. We were both hungry and there was nothing around we could see. I had grabbed a granola bar in the morning and threw it in my bag for that just in case I am starving moment. Well it was here and I fished it out. I wasn’t sure I would even like it, but at this point I was going to eat it anyways. I asked Dad if he wanted half of it and he looked at it and scowled. I knew he didn’t like granola, but he surprised me by saying yes! Yep, we were both so hungry we would eat anything at this point. It didn’t fill us up, but it sure did help with the hunger pains.

Soon we arrived at Sherwood Forest and all I wanted to do was take a few quick pictures and be on our way. I believe there is a fee to tour the grounds and if you want to tour the house, you have to make an appointment. My plan was to just walk up and shoot a few pictures and be off, so I wasn’t going to pay any fees at all.

The driveway was kind of long and winding and they had us park out fairly far from the house. It also looked deserted for the most part.

We parked and got out and started our walk up the driveway.



This is the pet Cemetary where John Tylers family pets were buried, including his horse.



Sherwood Forest has the distinction of being the only private residence in the United States to have been owned by two unrelated United States Presidents. William Henry Harrison inherited the plantation, then named Walnut Grove, in 1790 and held it for three years. He sold the 3,000 acres property in 1793 having never lived in the house. Harrison's successor John Tyler purchased the plantation, which by then had been reduced to 1,600 acres, in 1842 and lived there after leaving the White House. John Tyler was the first vice president to ascend to the presidency upon the death of 9th President, William Henry Harrison.

Sherwood Forest Plantation has been the continuous residence of the Tyler family since the President purchased it in 1842. It is still maintained by the Tyler Family descendants. It is known to be the longest frame house in America, it is over 300 feet long.



This was about the best I could do to get the whole house in the picture.



The house is supposedly haunted as well, with a grey lady being heard rocking for over 200 years.







Though this house IS long, I really didn’t think it looked much longer than Westover. But I assume Westover is not a frame house (though I am not sure what gives that classification).







We had our look and headed back to the car then.



We set off on our way back to civilization. We were very hungry now. We knew where a few fast food places were not too far from our resort, so we figured we would head that way.
Luck would be that we got behind someone who had no clue how to drive. They were driving so slow and swerving back and forth a bit. And the road we were on had some turns, plus oncoming traffic, so there was no safe way to pass them. We were having a fit as we were wasting away now without having lunch and I think it was after 1 PM at this point. Soon Siri was telling us our turn was coming up and sure enough these people got in the turn lane. We made a quick decision not to follow them anymore ….we should have…….
I went straight thinking that that we would find food quicker and then easily get back to the resort. We came into a populated area, but no fast food was in site. There were even strip mall looking places, but not a single McDonalds or the like to drive through. I finally pulled over and set Siri to get us back to the resort again as I knew how to find food from there. She took us to the main drag we had driven so many times and we found a Burger King. Sadly the route was much longer than I thought it would be and I think following the slow people would’ve gotten us there faster.

We both had to use the restroom by this time, so we got out and used it and made our orders inside. I think it was now around 2 PM. Luck again, was not on our side and they were the slowest burger king ever! I got the wrong drink and I think Dad got something wrong as well. We snacked on fries as we made our way back to the resort where we then inhaled the rest of our food.

Claire and Mom were not there when we got back. Amanda said they had been swimming and taking walks and they even had her do some of her homework as well that morning.
I laid down for a quick nap then and got a nice little rest and then Claire came back and of course had to wake me up. You never allow a Mom to sleep too long, it’s in the kid rule book.

Soon it was time to get ready for dinner. Today was Mom and Dad’s anniversary!

Amanda had bought a ring a few days earlier that already broke, so we headed out early so she could return it. Dad and I sat in the car while the rest went to return it. Sadly they wouldn’t give her her money back and she had to either get something else or have them repair it. I think she chose something else. Since we still had time and a primo parking spot in the shopping area, some of us headed off to the book store to look around and make some last minute purchases.

We then drove over towards the Kings Arm Tavern and found a parking lot across the street. It was very easy to find actually and not a far walk at all from there.









We came in the back way and made our way around the front of the restaurant.

 

[dolphingirl47]

The history of the plantation is fascinating. I think you were not destined to get food with all the hold ups.

Corinna

 

[jenseib]

The history of the plantation is fascinating. I think you were not destined to get food with all the hold ups.

Corinna

It's amazing how many famous people in American History lived right in the area.

I am telling you, we were not having the food mojo at that moment at all!

 

[Kathy Jetson]

I'm a little behind I'll catch up on Thursday or Friday but I just wanted to pop in and wish you and Claire A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS (and Skip too!)