Smithfield's Old Ham

    President Obama caused us to go in a different direction today.  Well, actually his visit to Virginia Beach changed our plans.  I knew that he had a visit planned in this area and then the morning news showed predicted road congestion just where we were planning to go in Virginia Beach.  So we looked at the map and decided to take a free ferry ride across the James River.  The ferries run frequently and take cars and trucks up to 12 tons.  It was a beautiful day out on the river and we enjoyed our 20 minute ride.  We got a great view of the historic Jamestowne landing from the water.

     The area across the river was visited frequently by the Jamestown colonists as they traded with the natives in the villages there.  About 30 miles from the ferry landing is a town on the Pagen River which is known for its ham, Smithfield.  The drive to Smithfield took us through a different side of Virginia - fields of soybeans, corn and COTTON.  It was pretty cool to see those white puffs growing in the field and ready for picking.  I am really in the South.
    Smithfield is a pretty little town with a large number of old, nicely restored homes.  We had lunch in a nice little Ice Cream Parlor - I had some Smithfield Country ham on rye - yum.   After lunch we headed for the Isle of Wight Museum to see the world's largest ham and the world's oldest ham (118 years old).  We strolled past quite a few painted pigs.  And then walked about a half a mile on the "historic walk" which took us past dozens of great 18th century homes.  Unlike Williamsburg these are places that everyday folks live in.  So many beautiful places that require so much upkeep.  Many of the homes had beautiful lowland along the river as their back yard and some wonderful views.
    On our way back to the ferry we had another first.  We were stopped by a road block and had to produce a driver's license.  No clue as to what was going on except that we knew that Obama had been in the area.  We must not have fit the profile and they let us old Midwest folks through and we went on our way.
   So to recap: Ferry ride, cotton, painted pigs, good ham, old hams, big hams, old houses, and finally old folks stopped by the police.  Quite a day.