Sunday, 4 May 2014

Smithfield Plantation

This weekend Cissi and I finally managed to get to Smithfield plantation which is just outside the VT campus. We started out a little late as I was feeling a bit tender. (Serves me right for drinking too much and eating too little Friday night at the Monkey House concert.)
Smithfield is an historic house near the duck pond on campus and very pretty.

Smithfield
We got given a tour around the house by a lovely lady. The plantation was built in 1774 by William Preston (and yes the irony of the name didn't escape me - seems I can't escape that place!).
Drawing room

View from the girls bedroom
Our guide demonstrating how the mattresses work 
Additional pocket - very useful 
Main bedroom
Showing off an apple peeler
She knew a lot of things about the house and where some saying come from. For example, when a gentleman came to visit a lady, he would bring a gift. The most popular gift was a looking glass. Then when he was about to leave, the lady would leave the looking glass out. If it was face up, it meant she wanted to see him again. If it was face down, it was a no and she had "turn him down flat", which is where the saying comes from.

That's a yes.
The house was a lot bigger than I realized and the tour took over an hour. I also found out the Draper Meadows Massacre, where Mary Draper Ingles was kidnapped by Indians and hold hostage for a long time with her son before a very dramatic escape down the river, is very near by, which is cool. (And I brought a good book about it along with an apple recipe book which I am looking forward to testing out.)
The gardens were also very pretty. There used to be a village and lots of housing, including those for slaves but there are only a few left and there is no evidence of where the slave houses even were. (Thought they certainly existed.)

Starting the hops vines
Miller's cottage
After the house, we went shopping. I needed some final clothes and some walking shoes for my summer trips. I managed to get everything I needed and most of it was in the sales, which made me very happy! I am pretty much set now for the summer. And super excited for my trips! :-)
I spent the evening still recovering from the Friday night hangover and the rest of today is going to working! Boring, but at least I had some fun this weekend. 

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