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<\/a>Map of Berkeley Plantation<\/p>\nOn our way back to New York, we meandered along scenic Route 5, which parallels the north shore of the James River, and stopped at two Virginia plantations. \u00a0The first one we visited was the \u00a0beautiful Berkeley Plantation. \u00a0A costumed docent gave us a tour of the first floor of the main house.<\/p>\n
The Georgian-style mansion was built in 1726 and was the birthplace of two American presidents: William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison. \u00a0The plantation had a long colorful history and claims to be the location of the Colonists’ First Thanksgiving in 1619.<\/p>\n Closer to Richmond, we turned into the driveway at Shirley Plantation and were surprised to see a huge cotton field. \u00a0I didn’t know that cotton grew as far north at Virginia and it seemed late in the year. \u00a0The weather was chilly this week with temperatures in the 40s at night.<\/p>\n Cotton plants are almost unreal because the cotton balls seem to poof out from the hard stems. \u00a0During the lectures this past week, we learned about the enslaved African people who did the backbreaking work of picking cotton and how important their work had been to the economy of our young country.<\/p>\n Further along the road there were several more vast cotton fields and a large harvesting machine at work picking the cotton. \u00a0The green machine, with one driver, drove through the field and created the huge cylindrical bales of cotton.<\/p>\n We followed signs to a parking lot and walked toward the James River. \u00a0Another sign directed us to an out-building where we bought tickets for a guided tour of the main house. \u00a0We learned that the 11th generation of the original Carter family still lives on the top two floors of the mansion. \u00a0The descendants of “King” Carter, the land baron of the early 1700s who owned hundreds of thousands of acres in the region, were vacuuming upstairs during our tour of the first floor.<\/p>\n<\/a>Berkeley Plantation<\/p>\n<\/a>Cotton Field<\/p>\n<\/a>Cotton Plants Up-Close<\/p>\n<\/a>Modern Cotton Picking & Bailing<\/p>\n<\/a>Shirley Plantation<\/p>\n