We were fortunate to have a spectacularly beautiful fall day, blue sky, sunshine, and delightful temperatures. The ride out was over an hour, but with the 5 of us chatting it passed quickly. Mary drove and with the help of GPS we arrived without getting lost at all. This day was the season ending event for the farmers market. The glorious weather made it a fitting end. Though the farmers market has ended for this year, the Guild Center inside the tavern is open year round.
Heathsville is a quiet little town, whose courthouse area is still old-fashion quaint. We found plenty of parking in front of the fire station/police station when we arrive. Folks had set up tables of homemade and handcrafted items to sell under a covered area behind the courthouse. The peanut stand was offering samples and we all indulged, then came back before leaving to shop! Under some nearby tents we found more vendors and even some farm produce, where yellow beans were available. Finally! All summer I've been looking for those!
The hotel/tavern is a 250 year old historic building that had been used as a courthouse, back in the day when judges rode in circuits. It had fallen into disrepair in the 20th century until in recent decades a dedicated group of historic society members decided to restore it and turn it into a crafts guild hall. The long, winding, lower floor has vendor selling crafted items from the different guilds represented: wood crafting, weaving, spinning, cooking, blacksmithing, and quilting. There is also a cafe selling delicious lunch option on one end of the first floor with table spilling into an adjoining room. The Montecristo sandwich is highly recommended, as is the pumpkin soup! Upstairs 3 rooms are furnished to demonstrate how they would have looked in the 1700's, and the remaining space is filled with looms and spinning wheels of several different sizes. There were guild members demonstrating weaving and spinning. Downstairs a member was demonstrating bobbin lace making and tatting, while another was hand-spinning using a small spinning wheel.
This crafts center offers classes year-round in different of the "heritage crafts." Non-guild members are invited to sign up from their web page to participate in any of the classes. [click link above] Though the long ride would make it highly impractical for any of our members to enjoy a class, the option none-the-less exists, which is very nice to know! We arrived back in Mechanicsville very satisfied having enjoyed great company and a rewarding excursion.
While we were away, the church was open for our members to come in to sit n' knit. I'll update this page with info from that group when I get some news.
Coming next month: For our November meeting we will make a Christmas gnome or snowman from store-bought socks. See prototype below. Corky will provide a list of materials needed, to be emailed soon. Since this project may require more than our usual 2 hour meeting time, please come prepared with a sandwich for lunch. Bottle water will be provided, as will some snacks. We will also be discussing our guild charities for 2020 and for the end of this year.