February 14, 2022 Lunch - Jamestown, Va. Dinner - Williamsburg Winery Valentines Dinner
We dressed and arrived at the breakfast table just at 8:30. Breakfast was a few minutes late but it was plentiful and delicious, pancakes, a hot link style of sausage, fruit salad, orange juice, tea and coffee.
After breakfast we drove to the Williamsburg Antique Mall, which was huge with over 300 vendors’ display areas. Most of the stuff was forgettable but I found two items we bought. One was a copper ladle with a long handle with Cyrillic letters on it and a lovely small netsuke in the shape of a water buffalo lying down.
After the antique mall we drove to Jamestown, there is a fake one where they have replicas of the ships and an Indian village and the real one that they began excavating in 1994. We stopped at the fake one around 12:30 and discovered that they had a good restaurant. Suzette found her favorite soup Brunswick Stew with chicken and Lima beans plus corn and other ingredients. I bought a Rueben sandwich. There was an Oriental man on the grill and he made a great hot Reuben with slices of corn beef on both sides of a layer of sauerkraut sandwiched between two slices of toasted marbled rye bread spread with Russian dressing. We also bought a small Caesar salad, a cup of carrot and cucumber sticks with a small container of Ranch dressing, and a brownie, all for $24.00. I was impressed with the flavors and value.
After we ate we drove to the real Jamestown Settlement site that is shared by Preservation Virginia and the National Park Service. We walked the boardwalk to the site. Some of the original stockade is under water but most of the original stockade had been rebuilt by placing newly cut Timbers in the original holes. Many of the features, such as the kitchen, bakery, and blacksmith areas have been located and excavated. There is also a memorial church and a 300 year column erected in 1907 near the stockade site. There is a gravesite beside the church. Suzette read a sign that said that of 107 who arrived in 1607, only 38 survived the first winter.
After we walked the site we drove the island drive to see other areas associated with the original site and saw a flock of four wild turkeys crossing the road as we were reading one of the roadside historical markers.
At 3:45 we drove back to the B&B and rested until 5:30.
We dressed and drove to Williamsburg Winery at 7:00. We and several others were a little early for the 7:30 sitting. At 7:30 the doors opened and we were seated. Here is the menu.
Every dish was wonderful. The meal started with a bowl of Lobster Bisque that was perfect, tomato flavored but still smooth as silk, not like the awful crab soup at Water Street Grill two days ago.
We were then served a salad of baby greens like those you can buy at Costco, with Roasted strawberries, Lightly candied pecans, a round of goat cheese rolled in black pepper, dressed with an herb vinaigrette.
It was a really lovely and delicious salad. I asked for the goat cheese to be served on the side so I could cut off the ring of black pepper and added the cleaned goat cheese to the salad. I took my time eating and enjoying the salad.
Suzette ordered another glass of champagne and we tasted and ordered a glass each of the Sauvignon Blanc and the Petit Verdot that we shared as we shared the salmon entree and the beef tenderloin entree.
The Faroe Island salmon had been roasted in a manner that preserved its tenderness and juiciness and the two slices of tenderloin were cooked to rare to preserve their natural flavor also. We loved the entrees and enjoyed the presentation utilizing a stack of notched potatoes Dauphinois in which the meat and asparaguses were laid.
The couple at the adjoining table began a conversation and we soon found out that they were Marne biologists who worked in the oyster farming business. They explained the genetics of modern oyster aqua culture and that the shape of the shell is dependent more on clustering or crowding than on genetics.
We all agreed we liked oysters raised in brackish water, although the local oysters raised in the rivers than spill into the Chesapeake Bay are more buttery in flavor.
Finally, a 3 diameter shallow ramekin filled with strawberry pot au Creme with a bit of whipped cream was served.p to finish the meal.
Rom, the husband asked me about dry roses and after I told him that my first taste of dry rose was at Mondavi in 1969, he asked me the named of my favorites . I told him Chateau Ott and any Bandol rose, with Tempiers at the top of the list.
We finished the meal at 10:00 and drove home happy because the food and wine were both excellent.
Good food puts you in a good mood.
Bon Appetit
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