Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
who lived through it. At the re-created encampment, costumed Continental soldiers fire
cannons and discuss food preparation and field medicine of the day.
The actual town of Yorktown is a pleasant waterfront village overlooking the York
River with a nice range of shops, restaurants and pubs. Set in an atmospheric 1720 house,
the
Carrot Tree
( 757-988-1999; 411 Main St; mains $10-16; 11am-3:30pm daily, 5-8:30pm
Thu-Sat)
is a good, affordable spot serving playfully named dishes such as Lord Nelson's
BBQ and Battlefield beef stroganoff.
James River Plantations
The grand homes of Virginia's slave-holding aristocracy were a clear sign of the era's
class divisions. A string of them line scenic Hwy 5 on the north side of the river, though
only a few are open to the public.
the longest frame house in the country, was the home of 10th US president John Tyler.
Tours are available by appointment for $35 per person. The grounds (and a touching pet
cemetery) are open to
self-guided tours
(adult/child $10/free; 9am-5pm)
.
Berkeley
( 804-829-6018;
www.berkeleyplantation.com
; 12602 Harrison Landing Rd; adult/
child $11/7.50; 9:30am-4:30pm)
was the site of the first official Thanksgiving in 1619. It
was the birthplace and home of Benjamin Harrison V, a signatory to of the Declaration of
Independence, and his son William Henry Harrison, the ninth US president.
Shirley
( 800-232-1613;
www.shirleyplantation.com
;
501 Shirley Plantation Rd; adult/child
$11/7.50; 9am-5pm)
, situated picturesquely on the river, is Virginia's oldest plantation
(1613) and perhaps the best example of how a British-model plantation actually ap-
peared, with its tidy row of brick service and trade houses - tool barn, ice house, laundry
etc - leading up to the big house.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Hampton Roads
The Hampton Roads (named not for asphalt, but the confluence of the James, Nanse-
mond and Elizabeth Rivers and Chesapeake Bay) have always been prime real estate.
The Powhatan Confederacy fished these waters and hunted the fingerlike protrusions of
the Virginia coast for thousands of years before John Smith arrived in 1607. Today
Hampton Roads is known for congestion and a cultural mishmash of history, the military
and the arts.
