When you visit Maymont Park, be sure to sign up for a tour of the mansion. Seriously, take the tour of the mansion!!! While many historical homes are open to the public, quite often, they are furnished with replicas or pieces from the time period-sometimes just a few to supplement the collection and other times, the majority of the furnishings fall into this catergory. This is where Maymont Mansion shines; nearly everything in the house actually belonged to James and Sallie Dooley. From the painted walls to the light fixtures and table ware and furniture. Because they did not have any children, they made the decision to leave the mansion and its contents as well as the land around it to the city of Richmond.
The front parlor is set up to receive guests just as Mrs. Dooley might have. So much of this room glittered with gold; on the walls, on the light fixtures and the room itself was glowing and pink.
The thing that caught my eyes-the ceiling. All hand painted and all original to the house.
The depth of the details, all hand applied and beautiful.
Throughout the house, not a detail was spared. In the parlor next to the front parlor, the details were mostly silver in color. While this light fixture is actually sterling silver, the rest of the details in this room were actually aluminum, a metal which was more precious than platinum in that era.
Of course, my favorite room was the dining room. The table was set for a formal dinner with the best furnishings they had.
The glasses, the china and the flowers…overly ornate, perhaps but I would love to set a table like this!
To preserve the quality of the furnishings, the lighting is low and it was a challenge to take photos with a hand held camera.
Coveting the glasses is not a sin…
And while my camera was challenged, my cell phone was not!
Standing just outside the dining room, this was the overall view of the table as my camera saw it.
and this is what my cellphone saw. Same room, same lighting-cell phone cameras are pretty sophisticated!
One of the main features of the house are the Tiffany stained glass windows in the stair well leading to the second floor. They are 15 feet tall and some of the most beautifully detailed windows I have ever seen.
It was a bright sunny day and the windows glowed with the light.
A visit to the estate just to see the windows is well worth the time!
Some of the few things that did not actually belong to Sallie Dooley are actually clothing such as this dress. While it is from the time period, it was not hers but it is still a stunning example of the era.
In her bedroom, a trunk of ladies gloves and lingerie was on display.
And then there is her bed. She had a love of swans and this is the actual bed she slept in.
Obviously hand carved and painted, it is the thing of fairy tales…
Her bedroom was just one of the many rooms in the house that gave you a real sense of who they were. Please take a trip to Maymont Park and visit the mansion and gardens, you will not regret it!
To read about our walk through the gardens, click here
If you have been visiting this blog, you know that I frequently post photos about the places I visit, especially if they have a garden. In our quest to explore Virginia, my husband and I came across 
Pardon me, I have a thing for reflections and I take photos of them all the time…
As we walked the trail, there was so much to see. The pond, the plants, the trees and the structures. The Dooleys spared nothing and built a beautiful landscape.
We ventured out onto this raised walkway over the pond and quickly saw that the pond is full of fish.
Beautiful Koi to be exact and many of them were well over a foot long.
Dragonflies are abundant here as well, and they came in many colors.
Water lilies; how I wish I had a pond or a water feature in my garden that I could fill with water lilies!
Turtles were also abundant. This is an Eastern Painted Turtle.
So many of the decorations and structures were added by the Dooleys and have managed to stay in tact nearly 90 years after they passed away.
If you take the mansion tour, you will see a photo of this bridge and sculpture in the house. Do yourself a favor, go to the Japanese garden and walk over the bridge, it is beautiful.
The park itself is huge and I suggest you spend the entire day exploring it. We took a quick walk through the wildlife area and I spied this little waterfall in an enclosure with Bald Eagles.
At the top of the hill above the Japanese Garden is 
And an Italian Garden is not complete without a pergola and this one is a welcomed relief from the heat of the sun!
This garden was so colorful and I wanted to walk through it more but the heat…
Another feature, the Italian Gazebo. There is so much to see and it must all be done by walking. Be prepared for that, bring water and wear the right shoes. We will go back, we want to see the seasons and visit some of 
This summer, we are visiting as many farmers markets in our region as we can. After living here for nearly two years, it was time to get out and see what the area has to offer. On a lovely summer morning, we drove up to Richmond to visit the 
The folks at Drumheller’s get around! They sell in Williamsburg at the market too and I love their apple cider but it’s peach season and they were selling them by the bag.
When in the Chesapeake area, expect to find crab cakes-we have seen them at several markets and they always look so tempting but I am not a big fan of crab cakes for breakfast.
The stems of swiss chard are so beautiful-I know, I take pictures of chard at every market. What’s not to love about peppermint chard? Those stripes…
Local cheeses are abundant in the markets.
Finding Kombucha at the market is pretty easy here, we have seen it at the Charlottesville market too.
Gotta love the trailer, too bad some jerk stole their generator!
Fresh coffee anyone? Another great little trailer that was equipped with an espresso machine for that morning fix.
Summer has arrived; berries anyone???
Or maybe some fresh picked beans?
Although they always taste the same, I always reach for the yellow ones and the purple ones first.
Not sure what variety this cauliflower is but when ours looked fuzzy like this, I thought something was wrong with it. Apparently, this variety is a bit fuzzy.
Also available was everyone’s favorite fractal; Romanesco along with cheddar.
Carrots by the bunch
And goats too! These goats weren’t for sale but they were very friendly and optimistic.
They assumed that any edibles were there for the taking as this little guy found out when the goat reached over and cleaned up his snack tray!
There were plenty of options for food and we had noodles for lunch.
Freshly stir-fried and served with shrimp.
As we walked out of the market, we saw this odd pack on a man’s back.
Apparently, they test products and this was a carrying case for a cat! What a cute cat he was too!
Get out there and explore the markets! Learn about the real offerings of the season and not what the grocery store carries, it’s fresher, it tastes better and it’s a great way to spend a couple hours! My only other suggestion, skip the restrooms up at the top of the hill in the parking area-one of the worst rest room experiences we have had!!!
Last weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting with a group of ladies who also happen to be fellow members of the Virginia Bloggers. It was a rainy and somewhat dreary Saturday morning but it was perfect for drinking coffee and eating freshly baked sweets. 
Most of these ladies knew each other, or at least were familiar with each other, but there were a few that were new to the group, myself being one of them. The bakery is a bit small but we pulled a few tables together and spent our time chatting, trading business cards and getting to know each other.
Of course, there were a few cameras out on the table and a bunch of cell phones so that we could all take photos.
It was great to meet such a friendly bunch of ladies and trade information.
My hope is to attend more of these meet-ups but it is a bit of a drive from Williamsburg, however, if the destination is another place like this, I will take one for the team!
Before leaving, I picked a small selection of sweets to take home to Darry. These two were all but glued to the showcase-can you blame them?
Most of the ladies that came out despite the rainy weather. If you are a blogger and live in Virginia, join the group and if you are interested in what is going on, 
will garden for cake 