A special supplement to
The Smithfield Times March 31
2021
Hamming it up with Homegrown Hospitality
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Hamming it up with Homegrown Hospitality
Hamming it up with Homegrown Hospitality Isle of Wight and Surry have a love of homegrown hospitality, and our goal with this special edition was to show it off as much as possible. Tourism, both from local folks and from those who have traveled from far and wide to visit the Tidewater area, is a big draw in Isle of Wight and Surry. Whether someone is looking for historic sites, recreational opportunities, culture and cuisine, great small businesses to support, or any other aspect of tourism, they can find it all right here in Isle of Wight and Surry. With the COVID-19 pandemic hitting the tourism and hospitality industries hard, we wanted to feature some of these sites and show off the resilience of this sensational sector here. The area is prepared for a rebound as the recovery from the pandemic continues, and we can’t wait to see what happens next.
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Hamming it up with Homegrown Hospitality
Chippokes Plantation State Park. . . 4 Isle of Wight County Museum. . . . . 5 Fort Boykin and Fort Huger. . . . . . 6-7 1750 Courthouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Windsor Castle Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Hampton Roads Winery. . . . . . . 10-11 Bacon’s Castle & Smith’s Fort. . . 12-13 Schoolhouse Museum. . . . . . . . . . . 14 Smithfield Station and Surry Seafood Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Smithfield & Isle of Wight Convention & Visitor’s Bureau . . . 16 Cre8tive Works Gallery & Café. . . . . 17 Jamestown-Scotland Ferry . . . . 18-19
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Chippokes Plantation State Park
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IF YOU GO Chippokes Plantation State Park 695 Chippokes Park Road Surry, VA 23883 Phone: 757-294-3728 Web: dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/chippokes-plantation Email: chippokes@dcr.virginia.gov The park grounds are open daily from dawn to dusk daily. The park office, visitor center and gift shop are open daily 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Some interpretive programs are being offered. Check the online program schedule for information and note that reservations may be required.
Acres of riverfront beauty and fun By Nate Delesline III Staff Writer
For more than 50 years, Chippokes Plantation State Park has offered visitors nearly 2,000 acres of fun. The Surry County-based park actually saw attendance on par with previous years despite months of quarantine and social distancing. In 2020, more than 156,000 people visited the park — 25,989 for camping, 3,368 stayed in a cabin and 127,019 visited just for the day. Park manager Ben Richard said months of mandatory quarantines and social distancing likely inspired people to come out and play in a place where they can enjoy fresh air, waterfront fun and open space. Last spring, when the pandemic took hold, state parks didn’t close. “The governor was encouraging folks to try and get outdoors for their health and wellness and we really saw a large influx of day use visitors,” Richard said. “So even though our cabins were closed for a couple months and our campground was closed for a few months, our day use visitation really skyrocketed.” And when the campgrounds opened, it “pretty much stayed full the rest of the season, because people maybe weren’t able to go and travel to other places,” Richard continued. “And what we realized was we were getting a lot of folks here, in Surry County, that maybe typically would have gone to Williamsburg and gone to Busch Gardens or maybe some other venues that weren’t open.” In addition to camping, the park offers 12 miles of trails, fishing and boating, picnic facilities and horse-
back areas and historic sites just across the James River from Historic Jamestown and Williamsburg and about a 20-minute drive from downtown Smithfield. The history of the land that is now the park goes back more than 400 years. It was private property until being gifted to the state in 1967. It’s been a working farm since 1619 and the park’s historic area, featuring an antebellum mansion and farm outbuildings, are open to the public, as is the Chippokes Farm and Forestry Museum. “We’re trying to look forward and plan some events as though we’re going to be able to hold them like usual,” Richard said. “Time will tell whether we’ll be able to bring those to fruition.” Some recurring annual events include an Easter egg hunt, a steam and gas engine show, a harvest festival and a holiday open house. Even if the park isn’t able to bring back a full schedule of events and formal programs, “there’s still a lot to do here. People can come out to the park and lead their own adventure and explore on their own.” The park grounds are open daily from dawn to dusk. The park office, visitor center and gift shop are also open daily 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Check online for the latest information on park facilities and programs.
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A repository of history By Nate Delesline III Staff Writer
The Isle of Wight County Museum, a place one might associate with old things, makes major use of modern technology to connect with people through video and social media. Museum leaders plan to continue doing so yet have their fingers crossed that the pandemic will ease up, perhaps facilitating a return to being able to enjoy experiences in a way that perhaps more resembles the pre-COVID era. In 2020, “obviously there were a lot of challenges for museums everywhere and certainly for everybody in tourism here in Smithfield, but I think at least for us, I wanted to find ways where we could still connect to folks if they weren’t coming to see us,” said Jennifer England, the museum’s director. Established in 1976, the museum, which is located on Main Street in historic downtown, includes interactive exhibits, such as a turn-ofthe-century country store, interprets colonial history, the Civil War, the Cold War and the area’s connection to agriculture. One of the museum’s marquee attractions is the world’s oldest ham. According to the museum, the ham was cured in 1902 but overlooked for 20 years. By 1924, it had become an attraction. Today, the historic ham has its own 24/7 webcam. If there’s a silver lining to how the pandemic has reshaped tourism,
travel and recreation, “it’s really given people a lot deeper understanding of what, literally, is right in their own backyard,” England said. “What’s interesting to me is that you hear all the time that people who live in New York City don’t go see the Statue of Liberty because it’s right there. But I think that COVID has allowed us — and probably everyone everywhere — to be able to say, ‘We’ve not been to this town, this city that is right nearby our home but we’re able to go there and just take a day trip.’” “We’ve noticed a lot of our visitors that came to us, especially on weekends, were announcing that they had been traveling from not that far away,” England continued. “A lot of folks were coming to us from Norfolk and Virginia Beach and saying ‘Hey — this is a cool day trip destination.’” England said they had been doing live social media segments before the pandemic surged. When those videos generated lots of positive feedback, she decided to lean in to that approach as a way to connect with a broader audience during a time when many people were in the midst of quarantines and social distancing. The segments included a recently debuted video series, “Behind These Walls.” Produced by the museum and hosted by Kathy Mountjoy of the Smithfield and Isle of Wight Convention & Visitors Bureau, the series focuses on some of the county’s interesting and significant structures. England has a positive outlook and full slate of events planned for the rest of this year. “We’ve focused a lot, especially in the early part of the year, on walking tours — things that are outside,” England said.
Isle of Wight County Museum
IF YOU GO Isle of Wight County Museum 103 Main Street Smithfield, VA 23430 Phone: (757) 356-1223 Web: historicisleofwight.com Hours Monday-Saturday: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday: Noon-4 p.m. The museum is closed on New Year’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day. Admission $2 admission for adults Free for ages 17 and under
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Fort Boykin and Fort Huger
IF YOU GO Fort Boykin 1740 Fort Boykin Trail Smithfield, VA 23430 757-357-0115 Open seven days a week 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. March through October, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. November through February Admission: free
Historic forts in Isle of Wight By Stephen Faleski Staff Writer
A capped-off brick well and a few other fragments are all that remain of Fort Boykin’s past. Were it not for replica cannons and signs telling of its history, the former fort’s appearance today would present as a simple park with nature trails and beach access. Isle of Wight County owns and operates two former forts as public parks: Fort Boykin and Fort Huger, both located along the banks of the James River. While named for Maj. Francis Boykin, an Isle of Wight local who served with Gen. George Washington, Fort Boykin’s military history dates beyond the Revolutionary War to the time of the Warraskoyack tribe. In 1608, Capt. John Smith went in search of food for his fellow colonists at Jamestown, states a sign at the entrance to the fort. The Warraskoyack were a friendly tribe and provided 30 bushels of corn for the settlers, but as the Virginia colony grew both north and south of the James River, Warraskoyack lands were encroached upon and relations grew fragile. By 1621, there were two English settlements on the southern bank of the James River in what would eventually become known as Isle of Wight County. On March 22,1622, a Native American attack on the colony claimed the lives of hundreds of settlers, including 32 at these two sites. The construction of Fort Boykin began shortly after as a triangular-shaped earthen structure known as The Castle. In 1775, The Castle was refortified and renamed for Maj. Boykin. During the War of 1812, Fort Boykin was enlarged into an irregular five-pointed star shape, during which time local militia foiled an at-
tempt by the British to land near the fort. The fort is also home to a black walnut tree thought to be more than 200 years old and the second largest in Virginia. Between June 1861 and May 1862 during the Civil War, the Confederate Army refortified Fort Boykin under the supervision of Capt. T.M.R. Talcott and Lt. W.G. Turpin. Under their command were “a force of at least 1,000 hands” of enslaved and free Blacks. Slave and free Black labor was also used to construct Fort Huger in 1861, which is named for Confederate Gen. Benjamin Huger. Payment records show the freed men worked for 50 cents a day (roughly $14.80 in 2021 dollars). A sign at Fort Huger further states that in December 1861, Isle of Wight County Commissioner of the Revenue B.J. Gray sent a letter to Richmond on behalf of the free Black laborers who had not yet been paid, indicating he would travel to Richmond on their behalf to collect payment if necessary. On May 8, 1862, the USS Galena, USS Port Royal and USS Aroostook bombarded forts Boykin and Huger. On May 17 and 18 that year, U.S. Marines landed and occupied both forts to find most of the guns spiked and many of the forts’ structures intentionally destroyed by the retreating Confederates.
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IF YOU GO Fort Huger 15080 Talcott Terrace Smithfield, VA 23430 757-357-2291 Open dawn until dusk Admission: free
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IF YOU GO 1750 Isle of Wight Courthouse 130 Main St. Smithfield, VA 23430 757-356-9016 Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, 1-4 p.m. Friday and Sunday Admission: free, but donations accepted
Courthouse stands the test of time By Stephen Faleski
1750 Courthouse
Staff Writer
The circa-1750 courthouse in downtown Smithfield hasn’t been used for judicial purposes since the turn of the 19th century. But every year — save for 2020 — on the second Saturday in October, visitors can still hear the cries for “order in the court” as denizens of the county, dressed in 18th-century garb, bicker about nonpayment of debts, sick cows and property line disputes. Since 2010, a semi-independent group within Historic Smithfield Preservation LLC known as the 1750 Courthouse Committee, which is tasked with raising funds for the historic building’s upkeep, has been reenacting trials based on actual court cases that were tried in the building during colonial times. The county’s modern-day courthouse at 17000 Josiah Parker Circle is home to some of the oldest and most complete court records in the state and nation thanks to the efforts of Elizabeth Bennett Young during the Revolutionary War and Randall Booth during the Civil War. The performances at the 1750 courthouse are free of charge, but donations are accepted. Prior to 2009, the Courthouse Committee would pay professional re-enactors to come to Smithfield and demonstrate court procedures of the colonial era, but for the past several years has recruited unpaid volunteers from within the local community. The plays themselves are written by local authors Doris Gwaltney and Nicole Ballance. Gwaltney wrote five and Ballance, another three. “It’s a true gift to the community to be able to involve so many people who are local,” said Courthouse Com-
mittee Director Lanny Hinson. “We also drew upon our own membership … many of whom have gone through the expense of having their period clothing made.” The group typically starts rehearsing after Labor Day to be ready by the second Saturday in October — a date also known as “Souper Saturday,” named for a community soup lunch sponsored by the Isle of Wight Christian Outreach Program as a fundraiser to help those in need of financial assistance with wintertime heating. In 2019, the group recycled the first of Gwaltney’s original plays, and had planned to recycle another in 2020 before Court Day itself was canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. While Hinson isn’t actively looking for a new playwright, “I certainly wouldn’t mind if somebody stepped up to the plate,” he said. “What I’m fully expecting,” Hinson said of 2021, “is that we’ll be able to have Court Day by the second Saturday in October, and presumably we will be able to have our antiques show and sale and homes tour in December,” referring to two fundraisers the group holds annually.
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Windsor Castle offers fresh air, fun By Nate Delesline III Staff Writer
Visitors from near and far flock to Windsor Castle Park, making it a top spot for fresh air and fun activities. When the pandemic surged last spring, outdoor recreation experiences got a big boost. “We don’t have any counting devices or anything out at the park, but we definitely saw increased traffic into the park, and all the parking areas were full all the time,” said Amy Novak, who leads Smithfield’s parks and recreation department. “And also our kayak rentals had the best sales it ever had in its nine seasons. People were looking for anything to do outdoors.” Windsor Castle Park opened in 2010. It’s the vision of Joseph W. Luter III, the former chief executive officer of Smithfield Foods. In his business travels, Luter came to appreciate New York City’s Central Park and wanted to create a park in his hometown, according to the attraction’s website. Luter donated $7.2 million toward the development of the 208acre park. In response to the pandemic, “we
put signage up to make sure people knew to do social distancing,” Novak said. “The signs said something along the lines ‘Help us keep the park open,’ because a lot of parks in our area had to close.” Officials also ask people to self-monitor how many people are on the fishing pier. Windsor Castle Park was part of a 1,450-acre parcel of land that has nearly 400 years of history. A manor house, dating to around 1725, is the centerpiece of the park’s historic attractions, which include about a dozen vintage outbuildings that were commonly part of estates of the era — a kitchen, stables and farm manager’s office. The Isle of Wight County Museum is taking the lead in pursuing the historic interpretation of the house and associated outbuildings. The museum does public tours monthly for people to see the historical areas and to learn about the house and grounds “and those are well attended,” Novak said. The park’s trails are a top attraction for walking and running followed closely by the children’s natural playscape, which includes a 30-foot slide and a rock climbing area, as well as a dog park. “Our locals love it and they use it, but we have a lot of visitors that pass many other parks to come to Windsor Castle. They come from Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, so I think that speaks volumes of how wonderful our park is,” Novak said.
Windsor Castle Park
IF YOU GO Windsor Castle Park 705 Cedar Street Smithfield, VA 23430 Phone: 757-542-3109 wcinfo@windsorcastlepark.com windsorcastlepark.com
Hampton Roads Winery
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Wine, grapes and goats By Tracy Agnew
Editor
In the early 1900s, what was then known as White Oak Stock Farm was known for hosting some of the best parties in Tidewater. It was the country home of Harry Spratley, who raised carriage horses to sell to his wealthy New York friends. But now, it is the home of Hampton Roads Winery, a family-owned winery, vineyard and farm in Elberon. Dave and Diane Sheldon married right out of college and spent more than three decades trying to decide what they would do when they retired. He was an engineer and owned his own plastics business, and she was a chemist working for Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, doing research on Alzheimer’s disease. “I came home one day and gave her an ultimatum,” Dave tells the story. “The ultimatum was either sell everything and buy a sailboat and sail around the world the rest of our lives, or run a vineyard. Her response was that she wasn’t sailing around the world the rest of her life.” The choice was vineyard, but where to start the vineyard? After a long and exhaustive search that started in North Carolina, the Sheldons finally found the land in Surry County. They have one piece of land where many of their grapes are grown, and another piece nearby — the main attraction on New Design Road — that includes more vines, a gift shop, tasting room and event space, a goat tower, the original farmhouse with additions, and more. The grapes grown include muscadines and scuppernongs, which are a variety of muscadine. The wine is made right on the premises. A herd of red Angus cattle grazes on alfalfa grown especially for them. The goat tower is perhaps the biggest outlier on the premises. Dave Sheldon
said he was reading a book on the great wineries of the world and reading about great grapes and great wine, but not finding a lot that set some apart from the rest. Finally, he read about a vineyard in South Africa that had a goat tower. He immediately set about having his tower built and made sure it was world record height. A group of seven Nigerian dwarf goats now occupies the tower and a surrounding field. The Sheldons often welcome tourists who come over on the ferry from Williamsburg after vacationing in that area for a few days and looking for new things to do. They have made sure their brochures are distributed at the Williamsburg resorts and timeshare properties. Some people like to take their own self-guided walking tour, which they can do with descriptive signs. Some people like to enjoy the wine, which Dave describes as “fruit forward” like Diane likes it. Some people like to admire the architecture of the buildings, which have been designed to incorporate similar features. Once pandemic restrictions are lifted, they will be able to return to having events again, including weddings. “People want to come here, visit and stay and relax,” Diane Sheldon said.
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IF YOU GO Hampton Roads Winery 6074 New Design Road, Elberon, VA 23846 757-899-0203 Open from noon to 6 p.m. (6:30 on Friday and Saturday) seven days a week April through December Open noon to 6 p.m. Thursday through Monday January through March
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Bacon’s Castle & Smith’s Fort
IF YOU GO Bacon’s Castle 465 Bacons Castle Trail Surry, VA 23883 757-357-5976 African American History at Bacon’s Castle exterior walking tours at 11 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and every hour Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. Interior tours resume spring 2021: Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday noon to 5 p.m. Memorial Day through Labor Day hours: Monday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. $9 for AAA members, seniors 60+ and military $8 for students Free for children under 6 and Preservation Virginia members
Historic sites in Surry By Stephen Faleski Staff Writer
In Surry County, just a few miles from the county’s border with Isle of Wight, sits the oldest brick dwelling in North America. Bacon’s Castle, as the circa 1665 house is now known, is a “rare example of High Jacobean architecture” according to the website for Preservation Virginia, a privately-funded statewide organization that maintains nearly 500 historic sites across the state. Built as the homestead of Arthur Allen and his family, the house earned the moniker “Bacon’s Castle” in 1676 when several of Nathaniel Bacon’s men occupied the home for four months during an uprising against Gov. Sir William Berkeley that became known as Bacon’s Rebellion. According to the National Park Service website, Bacon’s Rebellion can be attributed to economic problems, such as declining tobacco prices and growing commercial competition from Maryland and the Carolinas, which prompted the colonists to scapegoat local Native Americans for their misfortunes. Bacon, resentful of Berkeley’s denying him a commission as leader of the local militia, became elected “general” of a group of volunteer fighters and led unauthorized raids against several tribes. Despite his unlawful actions, Bacon’s support among the colonists grew, resulting in his election to Virginia’s House of Burgesses and his subsequent attendance at the 1676 legislative session. When Berkeley granted Bacon’s previously requested volunteer commission, Bacon refused it and demanded he be made general of all forces against Native Americans, which Berkeley “emphatically refused and
walked away,” the NPS website states. “Tensions ran high as the screaming Bacon and his men surrounded the statehouse, threatening to shoot several onlooking Burgesses if Bacon was not given his commission.” Berkeley ultimately gave in to Bacon’s demands to continue his raids without government interference. Bacon later burned Jamestown to the ground on Sept. 19, 1676, but began having trouble controlling his men’s conduct and keeping popular support after this extreme measure. Bacon died of “Bloodie Flux” and “Lousey Disease” (bloody lice) on Oct. 26, 1676. According to Preservation Virginia’s website, Bacon’s Castle features a reconstructed 17th-century English formal garden restored by the Garden Club of Virginia and several outbuildings, including an 1830 slave dwelling. A quotation from African American historian and genealogist Peighton Young, included on the website, states the Black history connected to Bacon’s Castle is “filled with stories of the families that were built under enslavement, the experiences of those who risked their lives to fight against the institution of slavery, and the people who created new lives and tight family units, which few during the Reconstruction era and into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.” Several miles west is another Preservation Virginia site: Smith’s Fort. Named for the site of Capt. John Smith’s proposed “new fort” located directly across the James River from Jamestown, the manor house was built in 1761 for Jacob Faulcon. In 1886, Smith’s Fort was purchased by a collective group of Black families, including Bolling Morris, John and Carter Hardy and Robertson Simmons.
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March 31, 2021 | 13 IF YOU GO Smith’s Fort 217 Smith Fort Lane Surry, VA 23883 757-294-3872 Guided exterior walking tours Friday through Sunday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Interior tours resume April 2021: Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday noon to 5 p.m. Memorial Day through Labor Day hours: Monday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission: $10 $9 for AAA members, seniors 60+ and military $8 for students Free for children under 6 and Preservation Virginia members
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IF YOU GO
Schoolhouse museum
The Schoolhouse Museum 516 Main St. Smithfield, VA 23431 Phone: 757-365-4789 Web: theschoolhousemuseum.org Email: theschoolhousemuseum@verizon.net Call or email for updated hours of operation
Museum highlights Black history By Nate Delesline III Staff Writer
As an attraction that highlights recent history, the Schoolhouse Museum is “a perfect fit” for the region. “The other attractions around in the county cover everything from early settlers and their growth in the county in the 1700s and 1800s,” said Sandra Lowe, the museum’s interim president. “And the Schoolhouse Museum carries on after the Civil War with the education of Blacks that were no longer slaves and it has information up to 1962, which was the last time we had one-, two- or threeroom schools in the county.” Lowe has a firsthand connection to the museum, which is at 516 Main St. in downtown Smithfield. “My father was a well known educator in Isle of Wight,” she said. “He was there from 1936 and was a teacher at the Christian Home School, which is now the museum building, and he went on to be a teacher and educator until 1972.” In 2002, she became director of the Schoolhouse Foundation. For the last 10 months, she’s been the interim president following the death of the person who previously held that role. The one-room schoolhouse-turnedmuseum didn’t start its life on Main Street. It actually stood near Chuckatuck and dates to 1932. It began its life as an addition to the Christian Home School, a Rosenwald school that dated to 1924. Julius Rosenwald, a former president of Sears, the department store company, partnered with Booker T. Washington, a renowned Black educator and writer, to build thousands of school buildings throughout the South for Black students. Isle of Wight community members petitioned the county for money to expand the Christian Home School. This addition is what was moved from Chuck-
atuck to Main Street in 2005 and it opened as a museum in 2007. The original Rosenwald building was too dilapidated to save. In spite of the pandemic, they’ve continued to keep the doors open three days a week. She lauded docent Phyllis Wellons for maintaining a welcoming, safe atmosphere for visitors during unprecedented times. “I think the most unique attraction for visitors would be the outhouse and the water pump, which of course are not used today,” Lowe said. “Those are features that the students had to deal with back during that period of time.” Wellons has said visitors are often surprised to learn how basic the building was and how students, families and teachers were responsible for nearly all aspects of creating a comfortable learning environment. The museum’s model teacher is based on a real person, Ruby Thompson, who held that role in real life. Student books, the games that they played, and everyday items from academic life and recess are part of the exhibits, Lowe said. Perhaps the most unique draw, Lowe said, is that there are still plenty of people alive now who had a one-room schoolhouse experience or know someone personally who did. She’s among them. “I’ve been a teacher in the county, I was a teacher for 33 years. I taught at Hardy after it was opened in 1966, so most of the information that we have at the museum is information that I lived with and through,” Lowe said.
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Surry Seafood Co. 633 Marina Drive Surry, VA 23883 757-294-3700 Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday
Come for the water, stay for the food By Stephen Faleski Staff Writer
Crossing the bridge into downtown Smithfield, motorists will see an exact replica of a working Chesapeake Baystyle lighthouse. The exterior of this particular one has been modeled after the Hooper Strait Light in Maryland. Inside are two suite-style hotel hotel rooms with panoramic views of the Pagan River. The structure is connected by a boardwalk to three standalone cottages, which also contain hotel rooms, and to the original Smithfield Station built in 1986 as a restaurant, hotel and marina. The original station is modeled after old Coast Guard lifesaving stations that once proliferated along the coast of Virginia and the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and includes 15 hotel rooms, a 150-seat dining room and a 100-slip marina. According to the station’s website, its story began in 1983 when Ron and Tina Pack were on a boat cruise with friends in the upper Chesapeake Bay. During that cruise, they decided their adopted town of Smithfield was every bit as nice as the popular destination points of the upper bay communities and took it upon themselves to establish
Smithfield as a historic destination. The restaurant, in particular, is “designed to provide a dining experience that takes advantage of Smithfield’s two most well known culinary commodities, Smithfield ham and fresh local seafood.” The Packs added the lighthouse in 1994 and another structure known as The Lodge in 2007, which includes 22 rooms featuring king-size beds, fireplaces, granite counters, flat-screen TVs and bathrooms with walk-in showers. Now, the facility is run by the next generation of Packs: brothers Randy and Brian. In 2018, the Pack brothers purchased a similar restaurant, hotel and marina in nearby Surry County known as the Surry Seafood Co., which features a 100-seat dining room and bar, 54-seat outdoor deck, 45-slip marina and four hotel suites. “While the virus remains a concern to all, people still need to get out occasionally and spread their social wings,” Randy said. “We want to be able to be that place and be able to do so safely. Outdoor dining continues to play a major role in our guests’ preferences, and our heated decks and patios have been well received.” “The leisure travel industry has changed a good bit in the last months as well,” he added. “We are reaching out to a more regional market than previous and focusing our attention on guests within drive distance of the properties … A non-chain hotel’s biggest challenge is convincing guests that you are every bit as nice as a branded property … We have to do more work to convince them that our property has the amenities and are as nice, or nicer than, those with a nationally recognized brand.”
Smithfield Station and Surry Seafood Co.
IF YOU GO Smithfield Station 415 S. Church St. Smithfield, VA 23430 757-357-7700
Smithfield & Isle of Wight Convention & Visitor’s Bureau
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Hamming it up with Homegrown Hospitality
IF YOU GO 319 Main St. Smithfield, VA 23430 Visitor’s Center: 757-357-5182 Arts Center: 757-357-7707 Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Sunday Admission: free
Making a home for visitors By Stephen Faleski Staff Writer
Smithfield has a population of just over 8,000 but sees visitors from all across the country and world — many of whom, at some point during their visit, will wander through the door of the town’s Convention & Visitor’s Bureau at 319 Main St. Some are staying at timeshare properties in the Williamsburg area, and decided to make a day trip to the other side of the James River. Others are traveling on business. Some are looking for information on where to eat and shop, and local events. Others just want to use the bathroom. According to Manager Deb Frank, the visitor’s center averaged roughly 29 visitors a day in 2020, having been closed from March 18 through May 25 that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s a slight drop from the 37 a day it averaged in 2019. “Pennsylvania, New Jersey and North Carolina are our top three states [for visitors],” Frank said. The center also functions as an information hub for local residents who may want to know more about the area in which they live and work, or about what’s going on in the town or in Isle of Wight County. “Remarkably, although business travel is at a virtual standstill, leisure business has continued to be strong — especially on weekends, with visitation primarily from a much closer proximity than we usually experience,” said Judy Winslow, director of tourism for Smithfield and Isle of Wight County. “Locals have come to the rescue of local businesses, and sales and visitation numbers remain amazingly stable.” In November and December 2020, Smithfield and Isle of Wight Tourism partnered with the county’s Economic
Development Department and Chamber of Commerce on the #IsleShopSmall gift certificate program, which matched local dollars with CARES Act funds to allow residents to buy up to five $40 gift certificates to participating local businesses for $20 apiece. Eighty-three of the 98 participating businesses had at least one certificate purchased for their establishment, with the most popular receiving $17,000 from the program. “The gift certificate program reinvested over $800,000 back into small business coffers at a time when they needed it most,” Winslow said. While the town’s annual festivals and parades, which ordinarily are among the highest visitor- and revenue-generating staples of Isle of Wight tourism, had to be canceled due to restrictions on gathering size, “our staff was still able to dedicate their time and energy to the Smithfield and Carrollton Farmer’s Markets; Picker’s Markets; and creating, supporting and promoting boutique events like the Autumn Art Show,” Winslow said. “Although we are highly hopeful that we will be heading into a post-COVID timeframe, we are looking for a slow return to more normal travel patterns,” she added. “We will continue to plan smaller, more boutique-style events in early 2021 before bringing back festivals, parades and large markets.” The visitor’s center shares space in a converted hardware store with the Arts Center @ 319, a facility that hosts eight resident artists and various art exhibits throughout the year.
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A passion for good art and good food By Tracy Agnew Editor
One location in Surry allows people to feed their bellies and their artistic appetites in the same place. Cre8tive Works Gallery & Café is the project of Everett and Sarah Mayo. She’s a native of Surry, while he grew up in Roanoke. The couple met in Richmond, married and had six children before ultimately deciding to move back to Surry a few years ago to be closer to most of their children and the grandchildren. The two have combined their passions for good art and good food in two little spots right in the town of Surry on Colonial Trail East. The two commercial spaces, one formerly a pharmacy and the other a doctor’s office, among other uses, are now connected by a hole in the wall — with the permission of the owner, of course. “I’ve been working on the place for three years,” Everett Mayo said. “We started with the idea that this was going to be a gallery. And we said, ‘Well, when we have shows, people are going to want something to eat.’ So we said, ‘Well, let’s get in next door.’” The doorway connecting the two came later, when they decided people would not want to go outside to
go between the two. For the most part, he runs the gallery with his artwork, and she runs the café. Mayo specializes in driftwood art, which has him constantly on the hunt for new pieces of wood he can paint to become an object or a creature. He rarely modifies the shape of the wood from the state in which he finds it — he merely looks for the eye and then goes from there. Birds, sea creatures and more peer out from the walls of the gallery. Over on the café side of things, Sarah Mayo serves up food including a pineapple bacon bleu cheeseburger, potato salad (her secret ingredients are pimentos and sour cream) and her famous sweet potato pies. “They come and get it,” she said. “That’s what’s keeping those doors open. We originally planned only to have a sandwich shop, and then it turned out to be much more than a sandwich shop.” The gallery and café opened last May, as soon as they could after the initial shutdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite that inauspicious start, the Mayos see a bright future at their location, catering to locals and tourists alike. He envisions people being able to eat lunch, see the gallery and then take a van tour to see local trees that he has embellished the same way he does the driftwood. “We do know that this can work, and it can be very successful because of the tourism when the tourists start coming back through here,” she said. “It’s going to be a cool place to hang out.”
Cre8tive Works Gallery & Café
IF YOU GO Cre8tive Works Gallery & Café 79 Colonial Trail East, Surry, VA 23883 757-503-3209 Sunday: 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday and Saturday: Closed
Jamestown-Scotland Ferry
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Hamming it up with Homegrown Hospitality
Ferry boosts area tourism By Nate Delesline III Staff Writer
The Jamestown-Scotland Ferry has linked Surry County and Jamestown for nearly a century. It’s become more than just a vital transportation link. The ferry is a destination itself. “We’re the No. 1 attraction for Surry on TripAdvisor,” said Capt. Wes Ripley, manager of the ferry system, which is operated by the Virginia Department of Transportation. If somebody comes to Jamestown and takes the ferry, “they’re getting the water view that John Smith got, basically, because so much of that has been protected.” Thanks to carefully managed, limited development, “you can kind of get a feel for what the guys in the 1600s saw when they came here,” Ripley said. In 2019, the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry carried more than 900,000 vehicles. VDOT doesn’t track individual passengers but at an estimated 2.5 passengers per car, that equals approximately 2.2 million passengers for 2019. The numbers declined somewhat in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Last year, the ferry carried 703,546 vehicles, equaling approximately 1.7 million passengers. Hampton Roads natives might take our waterfront views and access for granted. Visitors don’t. “Go and load up the car with your family. Relax. Smell the fresh air,” one person wrote on TripAdvisor. “Being a Californian that is not used to so many real bodies of water (other than the ocean) and just about anything free, this was a truly great service,” another person wrote. “Whether you’re a tourist or a local, this ferry just rocks!” On board, Capt. George Williamson might be at the controls, guiding the boat across
the James River. He’s worked on the ferry almost 25 years. If you need to get between Surry County and Jamestown or points adjacent, the ferry trip isn’t the fastest route, “but I’ve been told quite a bit it’s more relaxing to go this way,” said Williamson. His family has worked in the maritime industry for generations. Unlike his previous work as a tugboat captain, he’s not away from home overnight. “I’ve always been involved in boats. My grandfather was on tugboats, my dad was on tugboats, I was on tugboats. I had tugboated for 17 years and this came open.” Williamson and Ripley, who has been with the ferry system for 33 years, are among the approximately 100 full- and parttime employees who operate the ferry 24/7. The fleet is made up of four vessels and the trip typically takes 15 to 20 minutes. Summertime is the busiest season. If you’re coming aboard for fun rather than work, he recommends the months just outside the core summer season — May and October. The ferry is the only vehicle link on the river between the James River Bridge in Newport News and the Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge upriver near Hopewell. Ripley acknowledged that the ferry is part and parcel of the region’s unique character, which would be totally different if there were no vehicle link over the river — or if there was a bridge. Smaller cable and pole-guided ferries in the Northern Neck and near Charlottesville carry vehicles over the river but in terms of size and traffic, the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry stands alone. “We’re the last big ferry left,” Ripley said.
Hamming it up with Homegrown Hospitality
March 31, 2021 | 19 IF YOU GO Jamestown-Scotland Ferry Boarding Locations From Surry 16289 Rolfe Highway Surry, Virginia 23883-3102 Phone: 1-800-823-3779 Web: virginiadot.org/travel/ferry-jamestown.asp From Jamestown 2110 Jamestown Road Williamsburg, Virginia 23185 The Jamestown-Scotland Ferry, which is operated by the VDOT, is free to ride and runs 24 hours a day.
IN SMITHFIELD & ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY Tourism has a direct impact on nearly all local businesses and residents with visitor-generated tax revenue, 430+ jobs (up 5.9%*), inceased services and experiences that add vibrancy to this community.
$45,146,911 $2,165,025 $1,005,455 $9,289,318
4.4% Increase*
Visitor Spending
5.4% Increase*
State Tax Revenue
4.3% Increase*
Local Tax Revenue
7.8% Increase*
Payroll Tax Revenue
& ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY
GenuineSmithfieldVa.com Visitor Center: 319 Main Street, 757.357.5182
*Figures provided by Virginia Tourism Corporation for the year 2019 (the most current year available).
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