A long lunch break, plantations and the James river

[EGAlvarez_imp]

Recently, I found myself in the very rare situation where I finished seeing all of my morning patients by 10:00 am and my first afternoon patient wasn't until 1:30 pm. It was 80 degrees (26C), sunny, breezy and I just happened to ride my CB to work that day! Considering that I have owned this bike for six months and had only ridden her around 750 miles since purchasing her, I thought, "there's no way am I sitting here doing paperwork!"
I headed out of Richmond meandering along one of my favorite rides that follows the southern side of the James River towards Surry, passing historic plantations and beautiful farms along the way. It's called the "nickel and dime" by locals as it follows routes 5 and 10. Upon my arrival in Surry, I headed towards the ferry to cross the James. Unfortunately, as I pulled up, I could see the ferry a mere 50 yards away from the pier heading over to Jamestown! Grrrr! At first I was frustrated but then thought to myself, "it's gorgeous out, the breeze is blowing, I am not at work and another ferry that is crossing from the other side will be here in 10 minutes! Relax! I was approached by three tourists in the car behind me who were also waiting for the next ferry; they wanted a better look at my bike. They rode Harleys but complimented my bike and stated that "we didn't know that Honda still made CB's!" "I hear that a lot" I told them. LOL!






Shortly thereafter, I rode onto the next ferry and was on my way. While we made the crossing, I looked over at Jamestown, I could see the statue of John Smith and the replicas of the three ships that arrived here in 1607 and recalled how fortunate I am to have been born and raised in an area with so much rich history.

Jamestown:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamestown,_Virginia

A bit about John Smith:
http://apva.org/rediscovery//page.php?page_id=385

Jamestown ships:
http://www.historyisfun.org/jamestown-se...own-ships/

After crossing the James, I made my way towards Williamsburg to ride back to Richmond on one of my favorite streches of road, route 5 west. On weekdays, this road is lightly travelled and it too meanders along the James, passing many famous homes including the homes of Benjamin Harrison, President Tyler and President Harrison.

Plantations along the James between Richmond and Williamsburg:
http://www.jamesriverplantations.org/

After a quick stop for fuel, I made it back into town, the first views of Richmond come after cresting a hill and it offers an eclectic view of the old tobacco warehouses which is now the cool and chic place to live if you are single and have money, the skyline of the financial district, and several road and train bridges and tressles crossing north to south over the river. It really is a beautiful city!

I made it back to work just in time, refreshed, relaxed (except for my sore bottom) and with a new found fondness for my CB.

Eddy