Last Fall we got to keep Gabriel over night while Nicolette and Ryan went to a Rascal Flats concert at Virginia Beach. We drove to Virginia Beach the next day with Gabe. I love this picture of Grandpa driving and you can see Gabe in the mirror sleeping peacefully. He was such a good boy but was glad to see his Mom and Dad again.
We love visiting the Ocean. There is something romantic about it.
It was too cold to swim so we enjoyed getting our feet wet and watching the waves.
Nic and Ryan took Gabe and went on to visit some friends in North Carolina. We went on a loop drive to the Great Dismal Swamp. The water actually looks black and the land around it is like a big sponge. This 22 mile canal was built by slave labor. They worked in mud and water up to their wastes and sometimes necks trying to drain the swamp with buckets. They were motivated by being told that their labor would buy their freedom. However, few of those who lived through the ordeal were able to actually do so. The conditions of the swamp were very harsh. There are stories of alligators and wild beasts, torturous insects, copperheads and cottonmouths.
The orginal swap exceeded one million acres. It became a business venture for timber. Cypress and Atlantic white cedar trees grew well in the swamp and became very profitable. Not only was it a business venture but the dense forests provided refuge to runaway slaves. There were very few spots in the swamp that were not covered by water but the slaves would find them and plant corn and other crops and live off the land. They also survived on wild hogs and fowl. They built huts in back places hidden by bushes. Some of them lived there for 20-30 years. They would rather be free and suffer the harsh condtions of the swamp than the harsh conditions of slavery. Slave owners would hire men to go in to the swamp and find their slaves but few came back out alive.
The Great Dismal Swamp was certainly dismal! But oh how interesting! We hoped that the aligators would take to the bait but no takers. Today the swamp has a great Visitor Center and is open to canoes, kayaks, rowboats, and ferryboat tours of the wildlife refuge. Nature lovers and bird watchers come from all over the world. We had a great time.
Welcome to our new house, just kidding, but we did get to visit the Biltmore house in Asheville, North Carolina. It is America's largest home. It was built in 1895 by George W. Vanderbilt. He was a bachelor for the first three years that he lived in it. Yeah, one single man lived in a home with 250 rooms; There were 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. Do you think he had any women wanting to be his bride?
