New Market Plantation

Just beyond the field of golden soybeans stands a very special house. Or perhaps it isn't the house itself that is special but the memories that saturate it. Monday was spent in much thought, walking and talking over memories, and soaking in the beauty of the plantation where Simon and I were born. The place where a three and four year old Max and Daniel spent many happy days growing and playing till they were exhausted with the effort. Where stood the old, creaky, fixer-uper plantation house which had housed three generations of "Sally's" before yours truly. Where grew a circle of ancient oak tree's planted in the eighteenth century. These were the woods that heard the cries and chatter of two little imaginative boys as they swung from the vines, exploring and having adventures of the sort rarely experienced today. The thick forest, ancient outbuildings, and superb climbing tree's on the plantation were easily transformed into whatever the fancy of a child could dream up.


Here stands the chicken house which was home to the most robust and unkillable roosters I have ever come in contact with. This was also the favorite resturant of Virginia's enormous black snakes, with eggs as the special every day. :-) Ah, the memories!

"The Fields of Home." New Market Plantation was a racetrack for horses in the eighteenth century, so was once dotted with horse barns and outbuildings of all kinds.

The old oaks were still standing! Thirteen of them were planted hundreds of years ago by the plantation owners, the Baylor family, to represent the thirteen colonies. George Washington, who was good friends with the Baylors, enjoyed the refreshment these tree's provided. Only eight remain standing, stretching their mighty branches out toward each other over the grave stone standing in the middle of the circle. The grave stone memorializes the members of the famous Baylor family who are buried there.

The memorial stone~


Okay, so maybe I am a tree hugger, but if you had a chance to hug something which was centurys old, would you?

Thinking back over twelve years . . .

Sittin' on the front porch.


If you look closely you can see the figures of four boys in what was the best climbing tree around.

Taking a stroll down Memory Lane

One of the highlights of our visit to New Market Plantation was seeing our dear friend Janet Carter. The Carters, ending with Janet and her late husband Jim, have been caretakers of the Plantation for generations. Janet, who is a real Southern Belle, is a member of the Daughters of the Confederacy. She would call us all out to the flag-pole when we lived there and string up the confederate flag to sing southern songs around. Once Mom gained her friendship, they would sit sipping tea on her front porch and talk about all sorts of things. Janet was like a Grandma to us kids and we were all excited to see her again.

Riding around the Plantation with Janet. :-)

This is the tabacco rods in an old tabacco barn that still stands on the plantation. The tabacco leaves were drapped over these rods to dry after harvest.

The boys had a blast visiting their old haunts and remembering their boyhood days here. We kids were all struck with the beauty of the place and dreamed of what it would be like to live on a Plantation like this as a family again.

Jaelynn, enjoying the grass. :-) She was such a little trooper the entire trip. Such a precious trip