More Press and More History
Sunset over the Rappahnnock River
Looking from the Riverside of Belle Grove Plantation
I can’t tell you how wonderful and amazing this week has been since the article in the Free Lance Star has come out. We have had so many individuals come forward from the area with family history and stories of Belle Grove. Through one of these individuals, we have discovered a new resource for historic information. So on Saturday, Brett and I will be heading to Fredericksburg to the Central Rappahannock Heritage Center to find out what new pieces we can add to the ever growing historical records for Belle Grove Plantation. By the time we finish, we are going to really need that Summer Kitchen as a museum to house all this!
On Monday, we met with another reporter from Chesapeake and completed our second interview for a local newspaper. This article will come out on October 22nd. The newspaper is The Citizen of Chesapeake and talks about local Chesapeake citizens. The reporter who is writing this article turned out to be a young lady we have known for years. It was so much fun revealing our plantation, business and history to her and watching her interest in the plantation ending with her wanting to visit soon.
Virginia Executive Mansion
Today, we submitted our information for the 2013 Celebration of Virginia Historic Homes with the Virginia Executive Mansion. How wonderful to celebrate this rich history within Virginia. We completed a small survey and submitted some pictures of the Manor house. Do you know how hard it was to pick just one or two pictures of Belle Grove! There are so many we truly love. We are so honored to that Belle Grove will be recognized along with the likes of Mount Vernon, Monticello and Montpelier.
Brett has also met with the surveyor who will be doing our preliminary site plan. The surveyor and Brett spent some time walking the plantation and discussing the areas we will be using for the bed and breakfast. At this point, we are waiting for the surveyor to complete the plan and put together his part of the zoning package. After the surveyor has finished his part we will add our part and submit it to the Zoning Board for approval. Fingers crossed that we can get this done quickly so we have time to get the house and grounds completed in time to open in March. (That of course isn’t a firm date, just the one I hope for) It would be so wonderful to open on James Madison’s birthday on March 16th.
Silent Auction Item
Check out all that we have to offer!
Don’t forget to check out our Silent Auction page located just to the left side of our blog under our “About Us” page. This is your chance to grab a bit of Virginia History! And the proceeds go to help us restore and open the Summer Kitchen as our plantation museum!
And finally, back by popular demand…. Hurley, our Plantation Dog. Yes, he is still hanging out wishing he was at the plantation when we go. We haven’t been able to take him with us lately because we’ve been meeting with others. But his time is coming soon. Maybe we will take him with us to help us clean up the Summer Kitchen, Ice House and Smokehouse.
Hurley
The Plantation Dog
Hi, Hurley!
Woof! (He says Hi)
What a grand adventure this is! I am so impressed by what you accomplish every day. You will have to pinch yourself when you finally open your doors. So excited for you and to see it when it opens!
You know I was standing in the break room at work today just thinking about what has happened so far and wondering what is around the corner! It has just been a dream so far. I don’t want to wake up!
make sure to provide a link or something so i can see the newspaper article!!
I will. I promise!
Your first photo is beautiful. You have a marvelous view from the river side of the manor house.
It was just a beautiful sunset. I can’t wait to be sitting on the balcony sipping my refreshment with all my new friends and enjoying the show every evening.
Beautiful photographs!
Thank you!
Beautiful sunset, I’m amazed at how much work and committment goes on behind the scenes before you can open the doors. You will certainly have earnt that refreshment as you finally open and sit watching the sunset every day.
Thank you. We are just plugging away. It will get done. Just need to keep up the rest of the stuff until then. Yes, that sunset was something to see.
Congratulations on the whole articles thing. That’s sooo amazing 😀 I can imagine the schedule you guys must have and ofcourse the everyday thrill of something so new and amazing popping up. This place truly IS unique and really lucky 😀
P.S –> Hurley’s a cutie.
Thank you! Hurley says thank you too! He love the attention. Yes, we have a whole new schedule lately, but it has been a joy at every turn. Wait until you read what happen today! I am going to post it tomorrow night. It will blow your mind!
Oh god. *waits for mind to be blown* :O
Haha. Btw , I can’t wait for the lunch/dinner over 😛
I promise I will work on it later tonight. Busy schedule yesterday and today. And I needed some sleep… ahhh But today is Friday and tomorrow I can sleep in.. a little 😉 We can’t wait to have you over!
I was kidding. Take your time. You need to relax a bit and just soak it all up. All the great things happening around and all the positivity 😀 I love how sweet you guys are and how interactive you are. Neither can I 😉 haha
Aw thank you! I am going to work on it shortly. If I can get it to look the way I want, I will post it. If not, it will be tomorrow night… 😉
That takes a lot of work, patience, and determinations!
It has, but worth every minute!!
Thanks for visiting my Blog. Belle Grove is absolutely gorgeous!!
Best of luck with your new B&B adventure!
You are so welcome! We look forward to seeing more of yours! Thank you! We hope to see you at the plantation some day!
Hey thanks guys. Let us know if you ever need our services so you can preserve your historical infrastructure!!
Will do!! Thank you!
I love that sunset photo!
It was so beautiful! It took me six shots as it was happening to find just the right one! Are you on your tour yet?
You are chronicaling quite a process. Make sure you print hard copies of all of this for future generations to find (even when our technology goes kaput).
Oscar
I hear that a lot. That may have to wait until a later time. Or I might need a ghost writer to do the hard part of putting it together. At least I have the research done.
As much of what I write about is really correspondence with my family, I started early on making a print copy for the personal documents file. Wow, have those folder grown! Best to start early before it become too daunting of a task.
You could have “chapters” on history, restoration, setting up a Bn’B, local interests, furnishings and antiques, etc. Several Bn’B’s we have stayed in had binders with such information. We, as guests, enjoyed browsing through these.
Oscar
I see what you mean. I think I might start by putting together an outline to at least know what to aim for. Then I can just fill in. Thanks for the tips!
Back to a question that you asked a while back about setting up some type of link on your sidebar for past posts on specific topics… Of course, you appear to be using a different format that I do (cheap-o Standard, for me), so your options may be different.
I notice that you use Tags, but not Categories. I use both. The Tags show up on the widget Tag Cloud, which are the words in different sizes (the large the size the more posts on that tag) I call the “Hermitage”. I also have set a half-dozen Categories, of which I usually only use one per post, such as “Farm Life”, “Travel”, etc. These also appear in the side colum, under “The Big Picture”. I have some readers who are mostly interested in specific topics. This allows them to back-read prior posts on that topic, without having to wade through dozens of other posts.
Most of the stuff I find out how to do on WordPress is either by trial and error, or other bloggers making suggestions. I guess I could go through the tutorials, but that would make this work rather than fun. 🙂
Oscar
We are heading out in a few minutes to head to the plantation, but once I return tomorrow, I will see if I can play around with it. Maybe I can make it work. Thanks again for the tips!
We are off to South Africa for a while. My internet time may be sparse. I plan to post blogs when we have internet access.
Have a great trip and we look forward to see your posts! I am trying to work on the tips you gave. Time just doesn’t see to be allowing me to get to it.
Congratulations on the second interview! That’s wonderful.
Thank you! We had a blast doing it. Can’t wait to see who asks next!
Wish I could be there someday!!
Don’t wish…plan on it 😉
I’m really happy to hear that you guys are doing well and getting support!
Thank you! Its readers like you that have made it all worth it! We have really enjoyed sharing this journey and can’t wait to share it in person!
It seems like you are settling in we’ll. keep the post coming.
It really has been a wonderful journey so far! We can’t wait to see what is around the next corner!
I love watching Belle Grove transform back her former glory. The whole plantation sounds amazing. I am happy to see how the stories are coming home for you to keep alive for such an amazing place. Your love for Belle Grove is growing beyond the business it will become. You are doing the history and the former people here great justice. Belle Grove is in great hands and paws. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Thank you so much! We are really loving all the research and can’t wait to show everyone that history when we open. Hurley says thank you for remembering he is in it too! 😉
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