It's great to be back home, but a bit of my heart and a large portion of my imagination
are lingering behind in Virginia. For the middle-part of our big summer
vacation, we drove south from D.C. to Colonial Williamsburg, with a stop
at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello on the way.
If I could live my dream life, I would garden and keep animals on a
lush green farm at the edge of a big city. I would spin yarn and churn
butter, cultivate the perfect cabbage, and make cheese. However, I would
also wear glamorous dresses to the theater, learn portraiture at an art
atelier in the city, take the light rail to business meetings, and type
away on my top-of-the-line computer. All with my kids in tow.
My life isn't too far off of this dream in spirit. I grow fruit trees
and make art. And my kids are here with me. But the lush trees and
rolling hills are missing.
This is where Virginia comes in. My. Freakin'. Word. Pardon the language. Virginia is gorgeous.
I almost had to close my eyes on the way to Monticello in order to
survive the view: white fences, electric green grass, trees as big as
buildings.
Perhaps Providence will plop the perfect excuse in my lap to move somewhere lush and lovely and near a fun city. How about a Kickstarter
campaign to build a blogger's getaway paradise with fully-teched-out
guest cabins. Or a reality tv show about trying to make such a
disjointed reality work. Have it all. Be it all.
But I need a town to pin this fantasy to. What are the best little
beautiful places to raise children, with great schools, strong, moral
families and exciting things an arm's length away. And don't forget the
large plots of land, big trees and cute houses. Give my dream new
breath.
If you relate, then you'd love Colonial Williamsburg.
They run the town like it never left the 1700s, wigmakers, shoemakers,
blacksmiths, cabinet-makers and all. I can't say enough about the place.
There's' nothing like it out west, that's for sure.
The gardens are immaculate and the buildings are charming—and I'm all
about the workshops. I don't blog about them much, but I have a
spinning wheel and a jeweler's bench of my own. I've built shoes,
churned butter, made yogurt, turned pottery, made lampwork glass beads,
and worked on a horse ranch. My inner pilgrim.
I feel so disloyal to Arizona right now. Sorry, Arizona. I still love
you—and your sun-bleached cow skulls and scorpions—but where are your
towering trees and brick buildings? Where are your moss-covered walls
and magnolias? Tell me it was a hallucination. Virginia is not real.
Virginia is not real…
Virginia is not real…
I know what you mean. I was there about 11 years ago in April. I’m a midwest girl at heart, living in NorCal, but I can’t get Virginia out of my mind. I can still see the azaleas growing wild in the forests. How gorgeous is that?
Oh Virginia is real all right! I’ve been a transplant for the last 22 years (from Buffalo, NY) and I’m thrilled to call the Old Dominion state my home. I love love love love it here, the weather is fairly mild, the scenery gorgeous and it’s a short ride to downtown DC or even New York City (about 4 hours) which is wonderful, but also a quick ride to the rolling hills and farm/horse country.
I’m like you, I think Virginia will have my heart forever!
Virginia is gorgeous, but you’d hate living through the ridiculously humid summers and then freezing in the winters with their really, really cold weather. I promise.
Go back in early October when the leaves turn colors and you’ll want to live there even more!
Asheville, North Carolina would be the place for you! It is very lush and green, and in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. There is a huge resurgence of art and artists (google the Penland School and John C Campbell Folk School) and a huge resurgence of a foodie culture, with lots of farm to table restaurants. Add in some Southern hospitality and it’s really a lovely place! I live in the Foothills of NC in Newton, we are about 45 min east of Asheville. I have travelled lots, but NC and the South still has the best vibe for me!
Oh it is so real and you only saw a bit of it. The Shenandoah Valley in spring time is truly breathtaking and driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway is heaven. Then there is Chincateague Island at anytime. I also love Appomattox and Winchester. Yes I love Arizona too but the rolling hills, the rivers like the Occaquan are fantastic. I hope you will go back to Virginia sometime. There is so much more.
By the by, we would love to have you come back to the Northwest also. Love ya all, Aunt Muff
I grew up in LA and moved to Boston 25 years ago and I won’t leave this place. I love New England; the seasons, the coast, the people, the Red Sox, all of it!
We used to live in VA…in a tiny apartment with 2 kids. It was a beautiful place, but now we are loving southwester PA with 4 kids, honeybees and chickens in a log home! Come visit!
Oh dear. Sorry.
It’s the terrible blessing and curse of travel.
You see new places, concepts, environs… and lo!
They get into your system, and blow your mind, and
Kickstart radical fantasies! Hawaii beckons me, so does
Wisconsin. I imagine I would love Portland, Oregon, and Maine!
And on a whirlwind trip through Switzerland, I lost my heart at a
place called “Ballenberg, Open Air Museum.” It’s sheer torture!
CW is my most favorite place in the whole world. I hope to work there someday, maybe. I did intern there when I was in college (Historical Research) and I never wanted to leave! But life has gotten in the way and I still live in PA. I do visit every couple of years and now my boys love it as much as I do!
Barbara Kingsolver and her family had much the same thought as you.
I was lucky enough to go to the College of William and Mary, which actually butts right up against Colonial Williamsburg. It made for an odd college experience sometimes, esp since a few of the College buildings were also part of the Colonial part. Glad you seem to appreciate it as much as I do — maybe even more!
I’ve lived in Virginia for 61 years! Ackk, I can’t believe it!! LOL! I love it here, to say the least. My husband and I lived in Colonial Williamsburg from 1992 – 2002 and now have lived in the Shenandoah Valley for the last 11 years.
Last month my husband took me on a birthday trip back to all our old haunts in Colonial Williamsburg. My photos look like yours…didn’t you love the gardens?? Here’s a link to my photos:
http://girottifamily.typepad.com/mountain_musings/2013/07/a-williamsburg-birthday.html
And a link to the gardens:
http://girottifamily.typepad.com/mountain_musings/2013/07/bloomin-tuesday-gardens-of-colonial-williamsburg.html
I’m so glad you loved my state!