In April of 2008, my best friend Jesse was here to present at a conference at the College of William & Mary. After the conference, we headed over to Food for Thought, a Williamsburg restaurant I had "discovered" fairly recently.
After perusing the menu, I ended up ordering the exact same thing I'd ordered the first time. And it was *just as good.* The only issue was that the squash casserole was a bit salty. The jerk chicken breast with mango salsa and the sweet potato fries were just as delectable.
Jesse ordered a creme brulee that he is *still* talking about. In fact, weekend before last, we were at Richmond's Strawberry Street cafe, and he ordered creme brulee, trying to get that Food For Thought experience. Umm, umm, umm.
We hung around on campus a bit, Michael and I taking pictures.
We headed over to the Jamestown ferry, which neither of the fellas had been on. I had been on it once, in 2006. I went one weekend with some buddies to the Williamsburg winery. Later, I reflected that I'd heard my aunt and uncle talk for years about riding that ferry, and I thought it was high time that I took a ferry ride, since I'd *never* taken one, though I've lived surrounded by water for much of my life. I went back the next weekend and took it. That 2006 ride was lovely. Here we are waiting in line to board the Pocahontas.
We watched some W&M students pose for pics in front of us.
We got off on the Surry County side of the James River, where you m
ay recall, in 2006, I encountered the "redneck hot tub" and turned back around to return to the more populated side of the river. Hampton Roads is a hodge-podge of medium to large cities, including the largest city in VA (VA Beach) as well as small towns like Poquoson, Smithfield/Surry, and Gloucester. As I spend 95% of my time in the more populated cities of Hampton, Newport News, & Norfolk, I will admit to holding some of the same preconceptions about the less populated areas than many "city folk." This visit to Surry, my first really, and the several jaunts across the James to Smithfield that I've taken since then, have changed that perception. I actually quite like it "over there."
This time, when we got to the long winding 2-lane road, my buddies and I kept going.
The redneck hot tub had been sold or withdrawn from the market - it was nowhere in sight. We arrived at the Surrey House in no time. This restaurant is the main tourist draw for traveling across the ferry. No nouvelle southern/international cuisine like Food for Thought, they serve down home non-pretentious food; that I expected. But I wasn't prepared for how good it would be or how friendly the people would be. I have written before about how "up south" hospitality is not quite the same as Deep South hospitality. I have heard complaints from Deep South, Northern, and International transplants who came to VA expecting small town deep south hospitality and got a rude (pun intended) awakening. It's normal to me, but I
never notice or think about it until I go to a place like the Surrey House.
Between the 3 of us, we ordered "from the barnyard," "from the waters surrounding Virginia," homemade soup, and from the gardens of Virginia.
Smithfield & Surry are the peanut and ham capital of the area. This is the only area that serves peanut soup, which I had never tasted. I heard that it was an acquired taste, and after tasting my sample, would agree. Totally didn't work for me. My meal, however, did.
I ordered chicken with mushrooms and onions, and tried the stewed tomatoes and apple fritter, the latter on the menu as both a side and a dessert. Oh. My. God. They were so sick of me going on about those tomatoes and that fritter. And the bread...
Oh this bread. Something between a roll and a biscuit, delectably light and flaky. The pictures don't do it justice.
Jesse ordered steak and Michael, ham. They enjoyed theirs as well.
Though I enjoyed Surry last spring, I had only been to Smithfield once since returning to Hampton Roads in 2002. Surry & Smithfield are on the same piece of land, Surry farther north up the James, across from Jamestown, Smithfield farther south, across the bridge from Hampton/Newport News.
I kept seeing Bloom grocery stores in VA Beach and Williamsburg, and was curious to see if this could be a substitute for Whole Foods. After reading online that there was a Bloom in Carrollton, 11 miles away from home, I drove over the James River Bridge (JRB) to check it out. Substitute for Whole Foods? Not. Farm Fresh is still tops locally. This trip did not make me comfortable with "that side" of the James. Driving across, the land looks much like the settlers must have seen it, like the land looks as you approach the Eastern Shore from Virginia Beach. Untrammeled. Unsettled. This was a little spooky for me in the evening, so I wasn't inspired to go back.
But in September, I headed over to show some land in Isle of Wight County. The first plot was not in close in Carrollton, nor was it a little farther out in Smithfield proper. It was out in Zuni. Took me a good 40, 45 minutes from the office.
As you can see, there is a lot of land out here.
*crickets*
I showed some more land closer in toward Smithfield proper, then headed down Smiths Neck Rd toward the intersection of Rescue Rd, where the small town of Rescue is located. You can see the James behind this house.
Here is the Rescue post office.
Rounding another corner, I crossed a sliver of water, and saw a restaurant on a marina in the near distance.
It was around the next bend where I received the shock of my life. To my left, zebras, mules, and ostriches, Oh My!
To my right, a field of cotton!
The only place I had ever seen cotton in Hampton Roads is a field deep in southern Virginia Beach, far from where the tourists go, going towards Pungo, which still holds much of the rural, agricultural flavor of what was Va Beach before development. Kind of ironic that the most populated local city was the only one I knew of with a cotton field. We also pass cotton fields on the Eastern Shore, which is kinda sort of part of Hampton Roads, but not really, as the toll to cross the CBBT is $12 each way, which does not encourage many folks to commute. All other Hampton Roads crossings are free, though there used to be a toll for the HRBT back in the day.
As you can see, I stopped and *picked some cotton*!
My grandmother, on every trip to her hometown in southern GA, used to bring home a cotton boll, a reminder of her agricultural heritage. We'd watch it wither in the house as the days passed. On trips to the nearby Eastern Shore and to 12 hours away Southern GA, we'd pass fields of crops. On one memorable trip to GA, all of us got out of our cars and walked down the rows of a huge field with my grandmother and great-aunt. They told us that those were the types of fields they used to work, as the children of sharecroppers. We touched living, edible food, and listened to Gramma and Irene reminisce. Driving across the Eastern Shore, Gramma would eye the fields of corn and lament, "They didn't get it all! There's still some left on the stalk!" Mom would point out the huge crop machines and the fact that since many crops are no longer picked by hand, there is much waste, as a machine cannot pick like a human hand. The wasted crops bothered my grandmother. Hands do not make this kind of waste.
Traveling down Battery Park Road and onto Church Road, I again crossed the Pagan River (yes, that's its name), where I passed Smithfield Station. While I stopped to take a picture, I was approached by a police officer. My heart began to thump and I steeled myself for a confrontation. The ruddy faced officer approached. "Are you alright?" He asked. "You know where you're going?" I assured him that I did; he smiled and went back to his car and I went on my way, pleased to be in Smithfield.
Church street takes you right onto Main Street & downtown Smithfield, where you can buy lunch and/or ice cream at this shop. I had a scoop of some delicious, german chocolate I think, ice cream. I know I had a sugar headache for hours and it was well worth it.
I passed the Schoolhouse Museum, which I'd only read about.
And St. Luke's church, which I'd also read about. (I've done a lot of reading and quite a bit of blogging about local history on my personal blog).
On the way home, I spotted folks fishing alongside the JRB. Couldn't tell you how I got such a level shot while driving.
The only time I had been to Smithfield other than these visits was back in the day when I'd ride over in pitch black darkness with my friend to pick her future husband up from his night shift at the pork processing plant.
I enjoyed myself so much, I went back the next day with a friend. We drove over to Smithfield, then up to Surry, where we ate at the Surrey House. On the way, we passed the plant, which brought back memories, as well as the Smithfield Little Theatre. I ordered the same side dishes as my first visit, and they were just as good. After dinner we took the ferry to Williamsburg and drove back down I-64 to Hampton.
View Larger Map
It's cool to now feel like I know Smithfield/Carrollton/Surry/Isle of Wight in the daytime, and it's a friendly place. Since September, I've been back three times: once for a meeting at the planned community of Eagle Harbor in Carrollton, on a weekend to check out the nature trail at Nike/Carrollton park, after which I stopped at a local store and purchased a lamp made from Himalayan salt crystals, and another time to show a house, after which I went back to Main Street, and this time visited the Peanut Shop/Smithfield Ham Shoppe, where I bought some delicious jalapeno flavored Hot Southern Nuts and some Wasabi Nuts. Really good stuff. The number of flavors was mind boggling. I really don't think they're all here on this site. I never thought I'd say it, but Smithfield has started to feel like home.
Want to buy or sell a home or land in the Smithfield/Carrollton/Surry/Isle of Wight area? Email me at athreatt@greggarrettrealty.com or call me at 757-879-5830.
After perusing the menu, I ended up ordering the exact same thing I'd ordered the first time. And it was *just as good.* The only issue was that the squash casserole was a bit salty. The jerk chicken breast with mango salsa and the sweet potato fries were just as delectable.
Jesse ordered a creme brulee that he is *still* talking about. In fact, weekend before last, we were at Richmond's Strawberry Street cafe, and he ordered creme brulee, trying to get that Food For Thought experience. Umm, umm, umm.
We hung around on campus a bit, Michael and I taking pictures.
We headed over to the Jamestown ferry, which neither of the fellas had been on. I had been on it once, in 2006. I went one weekend with some buddies to the Williamsburg winery. Later, I reflected that I'd heard my aunt and uncle talk for years about riding that ferry, and I thought it was high time that I took a ferry ride, since I'd *never* taken one, though I've lived surrounded by water for much of my life. I went back the next weekend and took it. That 2006 ride was lovely. Here we are waiting in line to board the Pocahontas.
We watched some W&M students pose for pics in front of us.
We got off on the Surry County side of the James River, where you m
ay recall, in 2006, I encountered the "redneck hot tub" and turned back around to return to the more populated side of the river. Hampton Roads is a hodge-podge of medium to large cities, including the largest city in VA (VA Beach) as well as small towns like Poquoson, Smithfield/Surry, and Gloucester. As I spend 95% of my time in the more populated cities of Hampton, Newport News, & Norfolk, I will admit to holding some of the same preconceptions about the less populated areas than many "city folk." This visit to Surry, my first really, and the several jaunts across the James to Smithfield that I've taken since then, have changed that perception. I actually quite like it "over there."This time, when we got to the long winding 2-lane road, my buddies and I kept going.
The redneck hot tub had been sold or withdrawn from the market - it was nowhere in sight. We arrived at the Surrey House in no time. This restaurant is the main tourist draw for traveling across the ferry. No nouvelle southern/international cuisine like Food for Thought, they serve down home non-pretentious food; that I expected. But I wasn't prepared for how good it would be or how friendly the people would be. I have written before about how "up south" hospitality is not quite the same as Deep South hospitality. I have heard complaints from Deep South, Northern, and International transplants who came to VA expecting small town deep south hospitality and got a rude (pun intended) awakening. It's normal to me, but I
never notice or think about it until I go to a place like the Surrey House.Between the 3 of us, we ordered "from the barnyard," "from the waters surrounding Virginia," homemade soup, and from the gardens of Virginia.
Smithfield & Surry are the peanut and ham capital of the area. This is the only area that serves peanut soup, which I had never tasted. I heard that it was an acquired taste, and after tasting my sample, would agree. Totally didn't work for me. My meal, however, did.
I ordered chicken with mushrooms and onions, and tried the stewed tomatoes and apple fritter, the latter on the menu as both a side and a dessert. Oh. My. God. They were so sick of me going on about those tomatoes and that fritter. And the bread...
Oh this bread. Something between a roll and a biscuit, delectably light and flaky. The pictures don't do it justice.
Jesse ordered steak and Michael, ham. They enjoyed theirs as well.
Though I enjoyed Surry last spring, I had only been to Smithfield once since returning to Hampton Roads in 2002. Surry & Smithfield are on the same piece of land, Surry farther north up the James, across from Jamestown, Smithfield farther south, across the bridge from Hampton/Newport News.
I kept seeing Bloom grocery stores in VA Beach and Williamsburg, and was curious to see if this could be a substitute for Whole Foods. After reading online that there was a Bloom in Carrollton, 11 miles away from home, I drove over the James River Bridge (JRB) to check it out. Substitute for Whole Foods? Not. Farm Fresh is still tops locally. This trip did not make me comfortable with "that side" of the James. Driving across, the land looks much like the settlers must have seen it, like the land looks as you approach the Eastern Shore from Virginia Beach. Untrammeled. Unsettled. This was a little spooky for me in the evening, so I wasn't inspired to go back.
But in September, I headed over to show some land in Isle of Wight County. The first plot was not in close in Carrollton, nor was it a little farther out in Smithfield proper. It was out in Zuni. Took me a good 40, 45 minutes from the office.
As you can see, there is a lot of land out here.
*crickets*
I showed some more land closer in toward Smithfield proper, then headed down Smiths Neck Rd toward the intersection of Rescue Rd, where the small town of Rescue is located. You can see the James behind this house.
Here is the Rescue post office.
Rounding another corner, I crossed a sliver of water, and saw a restaurant on a marina in the near distance.
It was around the next bend where I received the shock of my life. To my left, zebras, mules, and ostriches, Oh My!
To my right, a field of cotton!
The only place I had ever seen cotton in Hampton Roads is a field deep in southern Virginia Beach, far from where the tourists go, going towards Pungo, which still holds much of the rural, agricultural flavor of what was Va Beach before development. Kind of ironic that the most populated local city was the only one I knew of with a cotton field. We also pass cotton fields on the Eastern Shore, which is kinda sort of part of Hampton Roads, but not really, as the toll to cross the CBBT is $12 each way, which does not encourage many folks to commute. All other Hampton Roads crossings are free, though there used to be a toll for the HRBT back in the day.
As you can see, I stopped and *picked some cotton*!
My grandmother, on every trip to her hometown in southern GA, used to bring home a cotton boll, a reminder of her agricultural heritage. We'd watch it wither in the house as the days passed. On trips to the nearby Eastern Shore and to 12 hours away Southern GA, we'd pass fields of crops. On one memorable trip to GA, all of us got out of our cars and walked down the rows of a huge field with my grandmother and great-aunt. They told us that those were the types of fields they used to work, as the children of sharecroppers. We touched living, edible food, and listened to Gramma and Irene reminisce. Driving across the Eastern Shore, Gramma would eye the fields of corn and lament, "They didn't get it all! There's still some left on the stalk!" Mom would point out the huge crop machines and the fact that since many crops are no longer picked by hand, there is much waste, as a machine cannot pick like a human hand. The wasted crops bothered my grandmother. Hands do not make this kind of waste.
Traveling down Battery Park Road and onto Church Road, I again crossed the Pagan River (yes, that's its name), where I passed Smithfield Station. While I stopped to take a picture, I was approached by a police officer. My heart began to thump and I steeled myself for a confrontation. The ruddy faced officer approached. "Are you alright?" He asked. "You know where you're going?" I assured him that I did; he smiled and went back to his car and I went on my way, pleased to be in Smithfield.
Church street takes you right onto Main Street & downtown Smithfield, where you can buy lunch and/or ice cream at this shop. I had a scoop of some delicious, german chocolate I think, ice cream. I know I had a sugar headache for hours and it was well worth it.
I passed the Schoolhouse Museum, which I'd only read about.
And St. Luke's church, which I'd also read about. (I've done a lot of reading and quite a bit of blogging about local history on my personal blog).
On the way home, I spotted folks fishing alongside the JRB. Couldn't tell you how I got such a level shot while driving.
The only time I had been to Smithfield other than these visits was back in the day when I'd ride over in pitch black darkness with my friend to pick her future husband up from his night shift at the pork processing plant.
I enjoyed myself so much, I went back the next day with a friend. We drove over to Smithfield, then up to Surry, where we ate at the Surrey House. On the way, we passed the plant, which brought back memories, as well as the Smithfield Little Theatre. I ordered the same side dishes as my first visit, and they were just as good. After dinner we took the ferry to Williamsburg and drove back down I-64 to Hampton.
View Larger Map
It's cool to now feel like I know Smithfield/Carrollton/Surry/Isle of Wight in the daytime, and it's a friendly place. Since September, I've been back three times: once for a meeting at the planned community of Eagle Harbor in Carrollton, on a weekend to check out the nature trail at Nike/Carrollton park, after which I stopped at a local store and purchased a lamp made from Himalayan salt crystals, and another time to show a house, after which I went back to Main Street, and this time visited the Peanut Shop/Smithfield Ham Shoppe, where I bought some delicious jalapeno flavored Hot Southern Nuts and some Wasabi Nuts. Really good stuff. The number of flavors was mind boggling. I really don't think they're all here on this site. I never thought I'd say it, but Smithfield has started to feel like home.
Want to buy or sell a home or land in the Smithfield/Carrollton/Surry/Isle of Wight area? Email me at athreatt@greggarrettrealty.com or call me at 757-879-5830.
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