Guest Blogger – Morgan Hockensmith – Take a Walk Through Belle Grove Plantation

Morgan Hockensmith is the talented photographer behind Hockensmith Portraits. Morgan recently shot a wedding here in June 2015. After seeing her work, we decided to ask her to be the one to reshoot our rooms and suites for a new and updated look for our website. The photographs should be ready next week, but here is a sneak peek of the work she had done for us!

Thank you Morgan for the wonderful work!

Joey and I both share an intense love for history, which initially brought us together. What do history nerds such as us do on a day date, you ask? We visit and drool over historic homes, of course. There isn’t many old homes or plantations in Virginia that we haven’t visited. And lucky for us, we only live about ten minutes away from one of our favorites.

Belle Grove Plantation was established along the Rappahannock river in 1670, and is the birthplace of President James Madison. We have been captivated with Belle Grove since the first time we visited a few Winters ago. Since then, we have participated in reenactments there, photographed there and even been through a tornado there. And let me tell you, there is a special kind of bond between vendors that go through a tornado wedding together. I was thrilled when we were asked to take some new photographs for their website. I knew that meant there was a lengthy visit in my future, and there is something beyond the warm welcomes that really draws you to this place.

I spent about four hours hanging out and photographing Belle Grove. Of course it stormed, so there was awhile where Michelle and I just sat and talked in the huge empty house. Only a few lights on, dimmed by the storm like it would have been so long ago. A very comfortable eeriness.

If you ever find yourself in Port Royal and decide to visit Belle Grove, be prepared to completely fall in love with it.