Moving On...Changing My Focus

It was on July 18, 2010, 15 years ago today, that I first posted something on my blog site.  I have regularly published posts regarding historical, food, family, travel and restaurant experiences for most of the past many years.  At one point I was posting to the site 3 times every week.   Most recently, it's been twice a week.

I've decided to cease any regular publications/posts to the site.  Not gone...still will publish something from time to time as the spirit moves me, but my focus is moving elsewhere.  I want to spend more time researching our family histories and I've gotten much more involved with a local Knoxville collector's club.  I do enjoy the time spent in that endeavor...even with the work involved. 

What follows are a scattering of the many photos dating as far back as last October...a sampling of those taken near the conclusion of our long road trip through parts of Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and Virginia.  I'd never completed the Virginia portion of the trip...

This is the entrance to the Reeves Museum of Ceramics at Washington and Lee University in Lexington Virginia.  The Reeves collection showcases one of America's best collections of Chinese export porcelain as well as European and American ceramics made between 1500 and 1900.

FYI, Washington and Lee University is the 9th oldest college in the USA.  Originally known as Liberty Hall Academy, it was renamed Washington Academy in 1796 and Washington College in 1813.  A gift of stocks from George Washington had saved the school from financial ruin.  Robert E. Lee, who had led Confederate forces throughout the Civil War, had previously been the Superintendent of the West Point Military Academy.  A few months after the war, he became President of Washington College and he helped build the university for the future.

In today's highly charged political atmosphere, Lee's name being attached to this University has been controversial.  For the university's outlook on this subject, go to https://www.wlu.edu/about-w-l/university-history/university-namesakes.

During our visit, there was a exhibition of ceramics adjacent to artwork with blank spaces in the paintings that are related to the ceramics.  I still don't get it...but both Laurie and I do love ceramics and this plate was a stunner!

I just had to include this 'fowl' piece of porcelain in my post.  Love the brilliant colors involved!  

Then there was this gorgeous brown and yellow teapot with raised decorations.  This teapot from the Yixing Dynasty teapot dates somewhere between 1725 - 1775.

This stunning hard paste porcelain 'tea pot' from China didn't start its life as a tea pot, but rather as a wine pot.  The English later repurposed it as a teapot.  Note the 'bamboo bundle' shape that was created by a master ceramics maker sometime between 1700 and 1720.

Moving on down the road, it was time to find a place for dinner.  Research had revealed the possibility of a fine German dinner near Staunton Virginia.  The Edelweiss Restaurant is a log structure in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  The family that built it came from Karlsruhe Germany.  The menu is loaded with German specialties, something one doesn't see very often.

While Edelweiss is well rated on the Internet, Laurie and I weren't feeling it... The food was decent but not great and the service was rushed.  This restaurant is popular with long waits for customers so maybe our lack of enthusiasm isn't typical.  Check it out and give Edelweiss a try.  Let us know what you think... Website: https://edelweissvirginia.com/.

I love taking photos like this and imagining what might have been... Located at the eastern foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains on US Hwy. 60 in Amherst County Virginia, Forks of Buffalo refers to the place where the North and South Forks of the Buffalo River come together.

Since I like researching places, I came across this photo from the Forks of the Buffalo area, showing the Myers' Cash Store, United States Post Office and Esso Gas Station.  Perhaps the early to mid-1960s, the store opened in 1937.  Unfortunately, I also came across another photo from December of 2024, only 2 months after I took that first photo, now showing that the front of the old building had fallen down... Timing is everything.

This well preserved and restored railway depot is located at Amherst Virginia.  Amherst was founded in 1807 and it is the county seat for the county of the same name.  The town's population has never been much higher than its current level of about 2,200 residents.

Amherst was first known as Dearborn and the first depot here was completed in the late 1800s for the Orange and Alexandria Railroad.  It was replaced in the late fall of 1913 by the Southern Railway.  As was typical, the ticket booth extended outward from the center facing the tracks, with waiting rooms on each side...one for black folks and the other for white folks.  Three passenger trains stopped at the depot every day until the mid-1940s.  Passenger service was completely discontinued during the 1960s and finally freight service ceased in the mid-1970s.

So...just where is this old structure located?  Our next significant stop was at the Appomattox Courthouse National Historic Park at the village of Appomattox Courthouse...redundant I know.  This is not the original Appomattox Courthouse, but rather a reconstruction.

In the 1800s the original courthouse gave its name to the village around it.  As many of us know, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army here in 1865.  I always thought that Lee had surrendered to Grant at the courthouse but the courthouse was closed that day so the surrender took place in a nearby home.  In any case the village was already in a state of decline in the 1850s.  The original courthouse burned down in 1892 and the county seat was relocated.  This structure was rebuilt in 1964 and it now serves at the Visitor's Center for the more than 1,700 acre Appomattox Courthouse National Historical Park.

So this is the house...or an almost exact replica of the house...where Lee surrendered to Grant, virtually bringing America's long and painful Civil War to an end.  This is the McLean House at the Appomattox Courthouse National Historic Park and it was chosen for the surrender as it was the most substantial home or building in the Village.

The McLean House was originally built by Charles Raine in 1848.  It had served as a tavern/inn and it was sold to Wilmer McLean in 1863.  In an interesting historical quirk of fate, the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) took place on McLean's farm.  Seeking to avoid the war, and too old to serve in the Confederate Army, McLean moved here to 'avoid the war'.

This is a recreation of the setting where Lee formally surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant.  The original furniture is in the possession of the Smithsonian and the Chicago History Museum.

The terms of surrender were: "The officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms against the government of the United States until properly exchanged, and each company or regimental commander to sign a like parole for the men of their commands,"... neither "side arms of the officers nor their private horses or baggage" to be surrendered; and, as many privates in the Confederate Army owned horses and mules, all horses and mules claimed by men in the Confederate Army to be left in their possession.

As for the McLean house, Wilmer McLean was broke as all his money was in Confederate dollars, which he'd accumulated by running sugar through the Union blockade during the war.  Ownership passed from one person to one scheme or another.  At one point it was disassembled and labeled for possible reconstruction as an attraction in Washington D.C.  That project never got off the ground and much of what was left of the house was pilfered over the years.  The re-built house was opened to the public on April 9, 1949.  Over 5,000 of the home's original bricks were used in the construction.

To learn more about the Appomattox Courthouse National Historical Park and to plan a visit, go to https://www.nps.gov/apco/index.htm. 

This is the Booker T. Washington National Monument near Hardy Virginia.  Booker T. Washington was born a slave on the 207-acre farm of James Burroughs in April of 1856.  Following the Civil War, he became the first principal of  the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial School.  Later, as an advisor and confidant of President Theodore Roosevelt, an author and orator, he became the most influential African American of his era.

Booker T. Washington (1856 - 1919)

To learn more about Booker T. Washington, you can go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington.

This National Monument preserves portions of the tobacco farm where Booker T. Washington was born and where he lived for the first 9 years of his life.  The facility also provides interpretation of Washington's life and achievements as well as an interpretation of slavery and farming in the 1850s through the use of buildings, gardens, crafts and animals.

You can learn more about The Booker T. Washington National Monument at https://www.nps.gov/bowa/index.htm.  

The last stop on our long but interesting and relaxing road trip was of course, dinner on the last night of the trip.  We were tired and looking forward to getting home.  The decision was made that we should go casual for our final meal on the road so we picked JJ's Restaurant and Sports Bar in Abingdon Virginia from my list of dining options.  Laurie stuck to soup and cornbread and I went for fried catfish, beans, coleslaw and cornbread.  The food wasn't gourmet but it was tasty, reasonably priced and satisfying.

JJ's Restaurant and Sports Bar is located at 115 Charwood Drive in Abingdon Virginia.  Open daily for lunch and dinner.  Phone: 276-525-4999.  Website: https://www.eatatjjs.com/.

As I mentioned at the start of this post, I'll be back from time to time and I'll also check in on those who I've been following...

Just click on any of the photos you'd like to enlarge.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care...and, as the saying from the 50's (the era of 45 rpm records), "I'll see you on the flip side".

Big Daddy Dave