Not being permitted to do anything strenuous today, I thought I'd drive over to Red Hill and stroll among its famous buildings and pastures. This was the last home Patrick Henry owned. It was, in fact, the last of 12 different homes he had lived in since his birth in 1736. He called it "one of the garden spots of the world." (I've often called my own farm, Rosewood, the same thing.) The plantation's 2,900 acres straddled the line between Charlotte and Campbell countries. From his house you could see the Staunton River (the site of a famous Civil War battle) and the wooded hills of Halifax County, just adjacent to my own county of Mecklenburg. From the window of the small building where he spent the last hours of his life, Patrick Henry could see a century-old osage tree, which has since grown into the giant that has won "champion" status for its species in North America. Visible to his right would have been the walkway that linked Henry's house to a two-room structure that served as his law office.
Here are a few photos of this historic site in Charlotte County. It was a great place to get in a 2 mile walk and just sit and soak in some of the history of the great Commonwealth of Virginia.
Have a fantastic day!