a trip on a ferry

November 11, 2006

After spending a few hours this morning working on some odd jobs on Whisper, we took the scenic route that runs NW along the south side of the James River. We stopped for some top rate Reuben sandwiches and then continued on to the James River Ferry, a free car ferry that is run by the Virginia Department of Transportation. We missed the first ferry (by 3 cars--it runs every half hour and gets full pretty quickly on the weekends), so we caught the 3:30. Some people got out of their cars, but I was surprised at how many people stayed inside. It was 79 degrees, warm, sunny, and we were on a fast ferry across the river. Oh well, maybe they were all engrossed in page-turning novels. It only took about 15 minutes to cross the river. We planned to go to Historic Jamestown, one of the first settlements by Europeans, but by the time we got there it was closing in 30 minutes. We drove on the Colonial Parkway to Williamsburg where we got an ice cream. Colonial Williamsburg is very touristy, but the buildings are all authentic and very pretty as is the College of William & Mary. I talked to a friend in Wisconsin and it was surprising to hear it was 28 degrees there today, while I was in jeans and a t-shirt in 50 degree warmer weather.

Kristen on the Jamestown ferry

foliage

another ferry crossing the river in the opposite direction

cars on the ferry

cotton field

our ferry "Pocahontas"

Jamestown as seen from the ferry