James River Plantations - Hwy 5
 

We'll be out in the area in a week and were thinking of driving from Richmond to Jamestown along Hwy 5. What I can't find out is if you can see the plantation homes from the road or not. Time doesn't allow for us to tour them (and frankly, my husband and boys have ZERO interest), but I'm hoping I can either glimpse them from the road and/or drive into a visitor parking lot (?) and see the stately homes from there.

Any feedback?

(thanks for my numerous questions!)

> I'm hoping I can either glimpse them from the road
> and/or drive into a visitor parking lot

I was able to do both a couple of years ago. Note that the houses are not terribly interesting from this view, but you'll be able to see them. For example:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pr77x/8...in/photostream

"if you can see the plantation homes from the road or not."

You can't but it's a pretty drive and you will see some old houses just not the more well-known plantation houses.

That drive has always been one of my favorites in Virginia, and that goes back to 1953 while driving between Norfolk and Chester.

We visited the Shirley Plantation, not terribly interesting as noted above, but as Birdie says the drive was very pretty. The guide that took us through the relatively small and tourist-crowded house was as interesting as a telephone tape recording, but the grounds are pretty.

Really, anneti?

We have been to Shirley many times and have always found it interesting, as have our visitors.

It is instructive in our day to visit a house that has only been repainted inside six times since 1745 -- and always the same color!

I will never forget Canadian friends chasing cotton bolls as they blew down the road after harvest, for it is still a working farm, and the family still lives upstairs in the house.

I also loved visiting Shirley Plantation. The floating staircase was an architectural marvel!

My husband also visited Berkeley and Westover, and he said they were nice, but not as good as Shirley. They all sit back off the road, so you have to go down the driveways to see the houses.

The tours at Shirley Plantation haven't been quite the same since Hill Carter passed away a few years ago. Mr. Carter was one of the owners and a resident of the plantation. He would come downstairs to lead tours. Mr. Carter had the Olde Virginia accent that is common in the Guinea area of Gloucester. It's cadence is very different from the more common Southern accents. It was fun to watch the tourists's faces as they tried to make out what he was telling them.

We toured the Governor's Mansion in Richmond a few Christmases ago. Our docent was a tiny, elegant elderly lady with a strong Tidewater accent, and it was a treat to hear her speak.

My MIL has a coastal SC-GA accent that is very similar (she grew up in Savannah and just outside it) and a now deceased friend from coastal Maine had a similar accent as well -- "Sears" to both of them was "Sayuhs" and so on. My MIlL does not, however, say "aboot".

It's fascinating to hear and learn about some of the old accents. When I introduced an Irish friend to a friend with a Guinea accent, the Irish woman thought my friend was from Australia because of the sound of the accent.

I ended up traveling down the driveway to see Berkeley but not getting out. It was a nice view and I look forward to one day going back. The drive was gorgeous along hwy 5

Glad you liked the drive! It is a very scenic drive in the fall (when we did it), and I imagne spring would be nice, too.