Headed Home: History Day

+/-300 miles

We stayed in Fredericksburg last night and then headed home via Crozet, Piney River, Amherst and Lynchburg, Virginia.  Each of those Virginia towns has some historic family significance.  But first we began with a scenic ride through Virginia horse country.  Beautifully groomed farms with classic white and brown fences.  Some were also vineyards with tasting rooms advertised.   

In Crozet we visited the home where Burgma's mother was born.  We also saw the historic school house where her mother and mother's brothers attended grammar school.  The old home place is now part of a private farm.  We ignored the no trespassing signs and rode on back were we found the home. It is very well maintained.

On our way out we passed several very large barns and a full size horse race track.  There was a small starting gate and a rider was apparently training a horse to enter the gate.  I suppose the former orchard (its use when owned by Burgma's grandparents) is now a race horse farm and training facility. 

 
Piney River was the ancestral home of "Mama", Burgma's great grandmother who lived from 1863 to 1963.  The narrow road out of Crozet on the way to Piney River was tree shaded and twisty: a real treat but barely two lanes.  The bridges were single lane.  At one point traffic coming toward us was stopped because a tractor trailer appeared too tall to fit under a railroad overpass.  It did not look like there was room to turn around either.  We did not stop to see how the dilemma was resolved.  On our side of the road was a large turtle just as big but less lucky than the one we saw at Denton.  This big boy had been crushed be a vehicle.  At another point the road widened but imitated the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Actually it one-upped the Blue Ridge.  There was an uphill corkscrew curve that was pitched so steeply I wondered for moment if I would be able to negotiate it upright.  Soon we crossed over the Blue Ridge Trail.  A sign directed hikers to dedicated parking areas.

Mama's home is little changed from its post WWII remodeling which included the addition of plumbing and electricity.  The small cemetery where she is buried on the property is overgrown but protected from the livestock by an electric fence that surrounds the low rusted iron fence.  The inscription on her stone was not fully legible because of the tall grass and we did not want to breach the electric fence, unsure if it was live.  (We had come here maybe 15 or 20 years earlier and the cemetery then had been guarded by a menacing looking bull.  This time we did not actually see any livestock, but the chicken coop Burgma remembered from her childhood still stands on the other side of the house.)

Next we motored over to Amherst and the grave site of Burgma's father.  We did not know the name or location of the cemetery so we stopped in at the Historical Society and museum.  The woman there was very helpful and located the cemetery and the section were his marker is located.  Armed with directions we walked through town and enjoyed a tasty lunch before riding over to the cemetery.  Once there I recognized it and the general area where his marker was located.  Burgma and I came here before, probably in the late 70s.  She recently found an Internet site where one may post gravestone photos and pictures of the cemeteries as well.  We took a picture of his marker and the cemetery entrance for posting later.

 
 Our last historical stop was Lynchburg where Burgma's maternal grandmother and grandfather and another great grandmother and great grandfather of hers are buried.  This cemetery was the scene of a civil war battle and one of the generals who fought here was also buried here many years later.

 
 Tonight at dinner we reviewed genealogy and resolved to look up more ancestral information in the comprehensive books compiled by Burgma's uncle.  Meanwhile we are now winding down on our way home looking forward to soaking our tired muscles and sleeping in our comfortable and familiar beds.