Urbanna ~ Atherston Hall

Atherston Hall B&B in Urbanna, Virginia 

 

 

 

 

 

Urbanna really is like Scottsville on the Rappahannock, even more than we imagined.

The old town of Urbanna is only a couple of blocks long in any direction. Resting on the bluff above the harbor, it’s easy to walk the whole thing in a few minutes. Several stately buildings pre-date the Revolutionary War: the old Custom House, a former Scottish general store, the original courthouse converted to a church in the 1850’s. Side streets are narrow and shaded by big trees.

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Urbanna ~ Pearl in the Sky

 

 

For me, a trip to the lower Rapphannock now entails a stop at Merroir. It’s a requisite ritual reward, a local Mecca for oyster worship, a station of the cross whereupon to leave an offering when I visit the Church of the Sea. This is the first time I’ve brought Terri, however – a duty I have neglected for several years, and of which she has reminded me repeatedly.

 

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Urbanna, Virginia

 Sailing into Urbanna Creek

 

Every year for our anniversary, T and I try to go somewhere new. We don’t need to go far – west is the mountains, east is the Bay. We can arrive within a few miles of a place we’ve been before and have it feel completely different. This year – just upriver from Deltaville, and Gwynn’s Island, within sight of the creek that leads to Irvington, and beyond that Windmill Point, all places we’ve been before – Urbanna gets the nod.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sailboat Swarm in Netherlands

 

direct Youtube link

This is kind of crazy. A timelapse of boats swarming into Amsterdam for a sail festival.

from Colossal

Billed as the largest free nautical event in the world, Sail Amsterdam is aquinquennial (every five years) gathering of 600+ boats and tall ships that sail in a circuit in the Netherland’s North Sea Canal before mooring in Amsterdam. The 2015 event was held just last week and according to the NL Times a record-breaking 2.7 million people arrived to watch the maritime spectable that included at least 50 tall ships and hundreds of smaller watercraft. This aerial photo and a timelapse filmed by Boyd Baptist really captures the enormity of the event. (via Jeroen Apers)

 

 

 

 

Freeport Landing

Eddie and his sons in the Sooty Tern Una

 

We first attempted to get together like three years ago. Maybe four. He said he wanted to build something, a boat, and wondered if I thought he could build a Melonseed. That’s a funny question, like someone asking if you think they can dance. When I learned he had built a kayak, I was like “Oh sure, no problem. If you can do that . . .” He lives in Richmond, only 90 minutes away, did a lot of sailing, and we said on several occasions by email we’d get together, it just never happened.

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Live Jazz in Richmond VA

 

A bunch of folks got together to make some noise for a totally amazing and totally illegal show in Richmond, Virginia last weekend. Two bands came down from DC, one from Richmond. Friends from way back, and some new.  Continue reading “Live Jazz in Richmond VA”