I just got home from a work trip to Virginia. Had some good meetings with good people, but also to see some cool stuff.
This picture is from Carter's mountain on the southeast side of Charlottesville, VA. Just on the other side of the hill with the apple orchard and vineyard is Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. We went to the visitor center, but didn't have time to take the tour. Good apple cider and apple cider donuts at the orchard though!
Our next meeting took us to Norfolk and Virginia Beach. We made a quick trip out to the Virginia Beach boardwalk just so we could see the Atlantic Ocean.
After our meetings on the coast, we headed back to the airport in Richmond, but made a stop at the Jamestown settlement near Williamsburg, VA. This very spot, where the National Park Ranger is giving us a history lesson, the English settlers landed in the 1607 and created Jamestown, the first settlement in America. Where we are standing would have been pretty much the center of the town. The James River is in the foreground.
In 1992 or 1994, an archaeologist discovered the original triangular shaped fort at Jamestown. When we were they they were excavating a well that was within the fort walls.
The original foundation for this church was laid in 1617. It was rebuilt in 1907 to celebrate the tricentennial of the Jamestown settlement. You can see a swingset looking structure just behind and to the right of the church - that is the current archaeological dig at the old fort site.
