We are still at the plantation, but I didn’t want to wait to post these awesome pictures! We had three eagles cruising the plantation today and for once the sky was clear and we could see them pretty close!

Enjoy the pictures!

Don’t forget to help Hurley get his monster chew bone!

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by Tuesday, February 12th

(Our 1st Zoning Permit Meeting)

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We are posting pictures as we travel to the plantation and other areas for research!

@BelleGroveVA

It’s the weekend and we are so excited!

The term “TGIF” has a whole new meaning to us these days.

View of Belle Grove from the opposite bank in Port Royal

Yes, tomorrow we are heading back to the plantation for a full day of fun.

But we won’t be taking this trip alone!

We will be taking our favorite staff member…

Hurley!

We have two or three meeting set up for tomorrow.

Ferry Farm

Our first is with our favorite archaeologists from Ferry Farm. They are coming to see the plantation for the first time! We are so excited to have them there! Who knows what we are going to find out with expert eyes viewing the plantation for the first time!

First Bridal Shoot at Belle Grove Plantation

Afterwards we are meeting with a bride-to-be to discuss having her photo shoot at the plantation. We expect to have many photo shoots and weddings in our future! We can’t wait!

We may also have a group of ladies stopping by to see the plantation and to discuss a future meeting and luncheon with Belle Grove Plantation. I am so excited to have this group come to see us. We are much honored to have them. I will reveal the name once I talk with them to make sure it’s okay to let you know too.

Sidewalk on the Carriage side

All while this is going on we are going to start pulling up the bricks that are laid out as the sidewalks on the Carriage side and pathways on the Riverside. There are tons of them! But we have to get them up before they can do the grading on the grounds. We are going to “repurpose” them as part of the new sidewalks and arrival area on the Carriage side.

Front Gate Entry

If we have any left, we are going use them to upgrade the front entry gate. They are about four feet tall and have been painted white. They use to have a topper that would have been most likely a ball and the wrought iron gate has been removed. The wrought iron more than likely went during the Civil War.

Idea for the new Front Gate Entry

But I have an idea of what I would like it to look like now. I want to replace the ball toppers with a finial topper like the one in the picture. It matches the ones I have used in my design for the road sign at the entry.

Best of all I have my father’s really nice camera to take tomorrow. Maybe we can finally get a good shot of the eagles that are flying over all the time. I think I could sit all day and watch them!

Follow us on Twitter tomorrow!

@BelleGroveVA

I will be sending our “Sneak Peak” Pictures and Updates!

Don’t forget to send your Cookie Recipes in soon!

The Deadline will be here before you know it!

On Tuesday, Brett and I had a meeting back at the plantation with several of the key people we need to get through our zoning process. As we drove up to the plantation, I spent the time playing with Twitter and learning some of the functions on my Twitter app. By the time we arrived at the plantation, I think I have figured some of it out.

@BelleGroveVA

I am not sure if you notice, but we also got “Pinned”!

http://pinterest.com/bellegroveva/

The first person to arrive was Doug from Fredericksburg Paving. He is going to be doing the paving we need at the entry from the highway. Then we had two officials from King George arrive, followed the representative from the Virginia Department of Transportation. As we were waiting, we were talking with everyone about the history of the plantation. And just as if it were on cue, over our head flew five eagles.

As we walked down the long driveway, I was talking to the VDOT rep and Doug. I asked them if they knew who all had rode or walked down this plantation drive. It was so much fun watching their faces as I told them about General Ambrose Burnside during the Civil War and the escape route of John Wilkes Booth and the detachment that followed and had stopped at the plantation to rest. I have to say for me, I still get chill bumps knowing the history that has passed through our plantation.

After viewing the drive and entry and reviewing the plan for the parking area, we got our answer as to what we needed to do for each. For the entry from the highway, we are not going to have to move the entry twenty feet to the north…whew! We just need to widen it as far as we can without adding a new covert or moving any utilities. As for the long driveway from the entry to front gate entry, we will be expanding the drive to 18 feet. We are currently at 14 feet. We may have to trim some of the limbs of the Red Cedars that line the drive, but at least we won’t have to cut any of these historic trees down. As for the circle drive around the bowling green, we will need to expand it out to 16 feet. It is also at 14 feet like the long drive. We will use the circle drive as a one way so we won’t need to have places for two cars to pass.

After all the zoning talk, Brett and I walked everyone through the Mansion. Only one of the visitors had ever been in the house. He had come during the restoration, but had not seen it since it was completed. As we walked around, we shared history and our ideas for each room. Giving tours of this grand house is one thing I have to say I just love. To be about to share the history that walked these halls is just…. priceless.

Ferry Farm
Boyhood Home of George Washington

After we said our “good-bye” we decided to head to Historic Fredericksburg for a bite to eat. But being that we were here during the week, I talked Brett into stopping at Ferry Farm, George Washington’s boyhood home to see our favorite archaeologists, Mara and Jason. WE also got to meet a new friend Melanie. I brought along our new finds to see what we had. Of course, all the small items were all 2oth century, so no excitement there. But I know Mara is really into bottles, so I couldn’t wait to see if our bottle was something special.

Mara

First intact artifact! Bottle with screw top

After examining it, she thought it could be an extract bottle or medicine bottle dating somewhere around 1925-1928. Ok, so it’s not Civil War or Colonial, but I could take that. Plus it was the first item we had intact. After we arrived home, she had sent me an update on the bottle. Here is her final outcome:

“The bottle is indeed an extract bottle, although from what company remains to be seen.  It does not appear to be utilized by Sauers, however. The reason we can never be sure of what company utilized this bottle is that the form is still prevalent today. So, the company that made the bottle was the Brockway Glass Company.  This mark was utilized since 1925 so the bottle dates anywhere after that.  They merged with Owens-Illinois Glass Co. in 1988 and that’s when that mark when out of use.”

So it could be anywhere from 1925 to 1988. Darn! But that’s okay. We are going to find so much more as we start doing landscaping!

Capital Ale House
Fredericksburg

We decided to stop at Capital Ale House on Caroline Street in Historic Fredericksburg for a bite. We have been here several times and it didn’t take long to figure out what we wanted.

Bavarian Pretzel with Sweet Bavarian Mustard

Fried Potato and Cheese Pierogies with Onion and Applewood Bacon Bits topped with Melted Havarti Cheese and Herb Sour Cream

The best part was that we were able to see the manager we had meant the first time we came. Because it was in the middle of the afternoon and everyone else was at work, we were able to talk and catch up on things. When you come to see us, you have to stop in and see Jason and grab some awesome food!

As we headed home, we took a road that cuts through our plantation called Port Conway Road. We made a quick stop in an area called Dogue. Down the road from this area is another old plantation that dates back to the Colonial period called Cleves Plantation.

Cleves Plantation

I had found it one day when I was exploring the area. You can’t really see the plantation house, but you can just image what it must look like. I found out today though that the original Colonial home burned down and that the house we saw was built in the early 1900s. I may have to do some research to find out more for you later.

As we arrived at our plantation and headed over the James Madison Bridge, I was able to catch the sun slipping down behind the trees across the river from our plantation.

Sunset as we cross the James Madison Bridge.
Belle Grove is to the right on the opposite bank.

The sunset continued as we passed through Caroline County into Essex County.

Sunset across the Virginia Country side in Essex County

It was just so beautiful and wonderful end to our day of skipping work.

See more pictures and updates about Belle Grove on our Facebook Page!

Have you sent in your Cookie Recipe? 

Don’t forget! 

Deadline is January 31st!

Yesterday, we headed back to the plantation to meet with our landscape contractor, Linda from Arrowwood Landscape Design from Fredericksburg. We need to start the work on our driveway, entry to the plantation, sidewalks, parking area and grading of the grounds.

When we arrived at the plantation, the air was cool but the sun was shining and the sky was blue. As I got out of the car, to our delight, five eagles were cruising the currents, circling over the Mansion. Of course, my small camera just couldn’t get close enough to get a good picture of them. But in the picture I did get, you can see them just over the house. It was amazing to see them.

Eagles flying over the Mansion at Belle Grove

Once Linda and her helper, Rick arrived, they got with Brett to start discussing the ins and outs of what we want for each of those areas. I wasn’t really needed to talk with them, so I left to do some walking around the grounds and taking pictures.

Brett, Linda and Rick planning the driveway and parking area

www.arrowwoodlandscape.com

I wanted to show you some recent pictures of the trees we have in the Bowling Green. A lot of you made the suggestion for us to add some Magnolias. Well, we have two beautiful ones in the Bowling Green.

Hickory, Sweet Gum and Magnolia (l to r)
Trees in and around the Bowling Green on the Carriage side

Our Second Magnolia

We did talk about which trees we are going to remove. There are three that we feel the need to remove, possibly four. The first one is the Hickory that is located just in front of the house.

Hickory in front of the house on the Carriage side. It is within 40 – 50 feet of the house

Hickory in front of the house – Check out the size of this truck! It has to be 200 – 300 years old!

The second is a Maple that is just behind another Maple in the center of the Bowling Green. This Maple has lost a lot of its top and is mostly a straight truck with little limbs.

The Second Maple we are going to have to remove is the third tree from the left not counting the Magnolia.

The third is the Walnut located towards the front gate entry. It has lost most of its top and sides. It also has insects in the truck eating away at it.

Walnut located just beside the front entry gate

The fourth is a Sweet Gum located just to the left of one of the Magnolias. It is a really health tree, but it throws off a lot of gum balls. It’s not on the “ax list” yet, but we are talking about it. You can see it in the first picture of tree with the Hickory and Magnolia.

This is an Elm that is the first large tree you see as you enter the gate. This old man will be staying.

This is a Holly Tree. It still has its berries on it. It will be staying too.

I am not sure what kind of tree this is. Does anyone know? The rest of the driveway is fulled with Cedar Trees.

It has these little balls on it. I don’t have a clue.

One of the requirements that we are facing to get our zoning is to expand the driveway into the plantation. Currently it is 14 feet across, but the county has requested that we make it 20 feet across to allow for two car traffic. This could be an issue as there are ancient trees that have lined this drive that may have to be cut down if they are in the way of the expansion. So we needed to get out to the drive and walk it to see what might need to moved. We found that in most places we could move the drive on a slight curve to avoid cutting any of them down, with the possibility of only one that might need to go. But it isn’t looking really good so it could be a blessing.

The entry from Highway 301

We are also going to be required to move the entry twenty feet to the north of the curr entry to match up to the cut through on the highway. This doesn’t sound like much, but the cost could be an issue. We are also going to have to pave that entry back twenty feet. This isn’t much of an issue. The cost isn’t too bad either.

But I look at it like this. Right now, you can drive past the entry of the plantation and see the Mansion at the end clearly. If we move the drive to the north and put in the curves to make the twenty feet across, you won’t be able to see the Mansion from the road. I kind of like this. It makes it more of a “Wow” when you do come up on it.

Looking down the current driveway towards the Mansion from the entry at Highway 301 (James Madison Highway)

While Brett, Linda and Rick walked the grounds, I kept myself busy by walking the grounds by myself. I have to say I love this time of year to walk the plantation. The grass has turned and thinned so I can see more of the ground and less of the grass. This makes it a lot easier to see artifacts laying in the grass. I have found so much so far just walking around. Yesterday was not expectation. I found two pieces of glass, one bottom piece that I think is kind of modern and one that is a lot thinner than modern glass and has writing on it. I also found another green and white plate shard. It looks like pearl ware and if it is, it could date in the late 1800s.

Bottom of a bottle artifact.

Bottom of a bottle artifact.- reverse side

Thinner glass with writing on it – artifact

Thinner glass with writing on it – artifact – Looks like Ls or Es – I’m not sure

Green Plate Shard – Maybe pearlware – around late 1800s

Green Plate Shard – Maybe pearlware – around late 1800s – reverse side

But the most exciting piece was my first intact piece, a bottle. Of course it does have a twist top, but it looks like a medicine bottle. Could it be from the late 1800s? Or maybe early 1900s? I will have to do some research and see. Or I might need to consult with Ferry Farm to find out. Either way, it was so cool to find it in one piece.

First intact artifact! Bottle with screw top – Maybe early 1900s

First intact artifact! Bottle with screw top – Maybe early 1900s

First intact artifact! Bottle with screw top – Maybe early 1900s

First intact artifact! Bottle with screw top – Maybe early 1900s

Another issue that I am going to have to face is the parking area. They are going to have to remove several layers of top soil to put in the gravel we are going to need for the parking area. The top soil that is removed will be moved to another area of the grounds to help fill in when it is graded. The issue that I have to face is what if there are artifacts in the ground in this area? Everyone kind of got a laugh when I said for them just to pile it up in the Bowling Green and I would sift through it all. But I am serious! I don’t want to lose anything we might find. So I guess I need to find a metal detector to start doing some sweeps in this area. Then I will have to do some test holes to see if we have anything there. Wow, I’m starting to sound like an archeologist.

Linda and Brett looking over the parking area

On our way back home from the plantation, we made a stop at the House Key in Yorktown. The owners will be doing our interior design. We had stopped there a week ago and saw a bed that we were drawn to. It is a beautiful walnut bed that was from the late 1800s. But what drew us to it was the craving in the headboard. It is a Dogwood design. This is one of the interior design elements in some of the door entries. After talking with them, we placed it on hold! We are going to put this bed into one of the Junior Suites called the “Hipkins-Bernard” Room.

Bed for the Hipkins-Bernard Room
Late 1800s – Eastlake Style

Bed for the Hipkins-Bernard Room
Late 1800s – Eastlake Style

Bed for the Hipkins-Bernard Room
Late 1800s – Eastlake Style

Dogwood Pattern in Head Board

Dogwood Pattern in Door Frame

They were also able to show us two chairs that we really liked. One was a small love seat and the other was just a chair. Both are Victorian style and will go into a Master Suite upstairs called the “Turner” Room. Of course we will have them reupholstered to match the room. But they were great prices!

Victorian Period Loveseat
Rococo

Rococo Chair – Victorian Period

And I think we are going to be able to get the “Wheat Back” Shield style chairs I want for the Formal Dining Room. They will need to be reproductions since we will be using them so much, but I just love this pattern and style!

Wheat Back Shield Chairs

Close up of the Wheat Back Design

This week we have a few things on our plate. Brett is meeting at the plantation on Tuesday with several people that are involved with the Zoning Approval.

I will be working on the website and getting us started on Twitter. Since we are now going to be doing a lot more things, I thought you might enjoy some up to date pictures and status of what is happening for us. If you have Twitter, please leave me your account in a comment so I can add you as a follower!

I am also going to look into starting a Pinterest account and a RSS feed. I am still learning how RSS works. I feel so lost with it. But give me some time to do the research, I will figure it out.

Don’t forget to submit our Cookie Recipe for the First Annual Official Cookie of Belle Grove Plantation Cookie Contest! Deadline for entries will be January 31^st.

To see more pictures of Belle Grove

Please visit our Facebook Page!

Yesterday we headed back to the plantation to deliver some gifts to the caretaker and his family and to meet my sister from Stafford at the Manor house. It was her first time seeing the plantation. As we pulled into the plantation, all I could think was, “Oh wow, we have so much to do before March 16th!” But we are getting organized and calling in the “troops” to get ready for the mad dash to the finish line.

It was a really beautiful day yesterday. It was a little cold for me taste, but the sun was out and shining. After we delivered the gifts to the caretaker and his family, we walked back over the Manor house. To our amazement we caught sight of five eagles!

James and Dolley’s Osprey Babies 2012

Now we have osprey that come every year and nest on one of the chimneys, but they leave us from September to April for the winter. We know that we have eagles in the area too. Milbank Plantation, just next door to us has a couple that nest there. Even when the osprey (we call them “James” and “Dolley”) returned this last year, they fought eagles for the nest. The osprey won. What we didn’t know was that the eagles don’t leave for the winter. I think this is awesome. So on any given day throughout the year, we could be blessed with these majestic birds flying overhead.

At first they were just flying up high, kind of cruising the wind currents. But we saw them swoop down over the farm fields. They were coming in for a low pass over. It was almost like watch World War II fighter pilots coming down and “buzzing” the ground. I can’t say we saw them land or pick up anything. They were just a little too far for us to see. But I am sure something must have caught their eye. Sadly I didn’t get any pictures either. My small digital camera just wouldn’t pick them up. The shot ends up too small making them look like dots. If I blow it up, the shot is too grainy. So I think I will have to invest in a really good camera soon so we don’t miss any more pictures.

After my sister and nephew came and toured the plantation, we headed back over the river to Port Royal to grab lunch. As we headed over the James Madison Bridge that connects Port Royal to Port Conway, we caught sight of two eagles. Before we knew it they came together, locking talons and started spiraling down toward the bridge! It was amazing! Just before hitting the bridge, they pulled a part and flew away. Of course because it was so sudden and was such an amazing sight, we didn’t get pictures again. (Sorry) But I did find out that it was more than likely two males fighting. I found a YouTube clip of two eagles doing the same thing. This clip is a National Geographic clip and it shows Sea Eagles, but at least you can see what we saw. Our eagles are Chesapeake Bay Eagles.

National Geographic Clip

http://youtu.be/tufnqWNP9AA

Chesapeake Bay Eagle

After lunch at one of our favorite restaurants in Port Royal, Riverhaven, we headed back to the plantation. We wanted to look at some of the grounds we are going to be converting to parking spaces for guests. While we were looking at this area, we decided to head back into the wooded area between the Manor house and the highway/bridge. This area once was the town of Port Conway. It has been establish in 1787 when Captain Francis Conway III, Cousin of James Madison and Nephew of Nellie Conway Madison, set aside a 13 acre area and divided it into half acre lots. When Carolinus Turner owned the plantation in 1839, he started to purchase back these lots. By the late 1920s, the town was in decline and the County decided to place the first bridge between Port Conway and Port Royal to replace the ferry system. This bridge and highway would take the remaining lots and completely remove all remaining buildings or homes. We haven’t figured out yet just where the main street of Port Conway was, so we are interested in getting into this wooded area to do some research. To our knowledge we don’t think anyone has ever done any research or digging in this wooded area, except for the sand and gravel pit the state transportation department created when they built the second bridge. That pit is now a small pond.

We headed down a trail in hopes that we might be able to find at least the pond. We had heard about it from the caretaker and from one of the past owner’s grandson. I have to tell you I was a little nervous going back there. First, I am deathly afraid of snakes. But being cold out, I figured most were hidden away from the weather. Second, we have a lot of hunters in the area and I didn’t want to be mistaken as a deer or something. But we did okay, no snakes and no hunters.

The first thing we came up on was the clearing that runs from the highway to the Manor’s side yard. This is to allow for the electric wires. The ground in the clearing was high with weeds from this summer, so we had to move carefully so we didn’t step on something.

The next surprise we found was what appeared to be a trash dump. It was piled up and had several items that we could see were somewhat modern.

But as we looked closer, we started seeing bricks. Lots of bricks. Some individual, some connected by mortar. Look at this pile; I had to wonder if we had come across a house that was left and had fallen in from age and weather. Looking at the bricks, it doesn’t appear to be old bricks like in the basement of the Manor house or Summer Kitchen. But in my mind it could be a house that was there just before the bridge was built in the late 1920s. I think it will be a great idea to do some digging to see what we might discover.

One other thought in my mind was the fact that we found out that during the last years of the Conways, Rebecca Catlett Conway Moore, Grandmother of James Madison returned to Belle Grove and lived in a separate house from the main house that her son, Francis Conway II lived in. Could this reveal that location? I see some real digging coming our way soon!

We walked around some more, finding small piles in one area, but no pond. After I returned home and was able to see the Google map of the area, I realized that we were way off from where the pond is. So next time, we may need to take a copy of the Google map so we can find our way.