Visiting the Hermitage Museum in Norfolk (Virginia) with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Visiting the Hermitage Museum in Norfolk (Virginia) with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Laurent and I were able to think about a little history as we dropped Florence off at school one day and went out on a date.

The two of us went to visit the Hermitage Museum House in a 1908 Tudor-style home built by William and Florence Sloane in Norfolk.

Florence’s nickname was Jack, which was slang for “money” at the time of the First World War.  In the carving inside the doorway, there is a motto that says, “The house that jack built.” Mr. Sloane made his fortune selling long johns (loose thermal underwear that fits under pants and shirts) to the Navy.

My favorite piece in the Hermitage’s Chinese collection was a Chinese Kuan Yin statue carved in lindenwood from the Sung Dynasty (960 – 1279).  Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, was originally a male deity that the Chinese transformed into a female deity.

There were several figurines of horses and camels used to transverse the Silk Road and attendants in green ceramic and brown clay that were buried with the deceased.

The figurines took the place of living people and animals that used to be buried with their lords.  (Human burial with the pharaohs was also practiced in ancient Egypt.)

The Hermitage Museum had several Shang Dynasty (1523 – 1027 BC) bronze vessels with the characteristic symmetrical design on them called a taotie.  A statue of a Hindu goddess riding on the flayed skin of her ex-husband made me feel a little creepy.

Our tour guide did not like the exhibit with the three-inch shoes for Chinese ladies.  Doing away with binding women’s feet was one of the achievements of the Chinese Revolution of 1949 as far as I am concerned.

I liked the two Chinese cinnabar lacqueur boxes that the Sloanes owned as well.  Each box depicted fifty sons playing.

Families in China would give the fifty sons boxes to bridal couples and wish them to have 100 sons.  The lacqueur on these boxes was so deep that the artist was able to carve into the lacqueur and not into the wood.

Tobacco snuff bottles were all the rage in China and among collectors like the Sloanes.  To use the snuff, you would inhale it through your nose.

The more refined snuff boxes had little spoons, so you would not have to stick a bottleneck up your nostrils for the snuff.

One snuff bottle showed a reclining woman.  Her upturned, removable foot was the bottle opener.

I was impressed by this museum that reminded me of the Cernushi Museum in Paris (France) with its gem collection of Chinese artwork.

By Ruth Pennington Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Visiting the Colonial Frances Land House in Virginia Beach with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Visiting the Colonial Frances Land House in Virginia Beach with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

The eighteenth century Frances Land House in Virginia Beach (Virginia) provides another trip back in time for young visitors.

Before I could even purchase our admission tickets, my little daughter Florence found a colonial toy called a Jacob’s Ladder whose three pieces constantly climbed towards the ceiling in the gift shop by turning over and over.

I bought Florence the Jacob’s Ladder and let her play with it during our visit and a wooden bear on two strings that climbs up on two strings that you attach to the wall.

The Frances Land House has the best display in the Hampton Roads area about the stages that flax goes through to become linen.  Our guide encouraged us to crush a flax bud between our fingers and feel what the flax feels like after it has been combed out.

The most interesting display upstairs was a puddin’ cap, a sort of cloth helmet, which children wore in colonial times when they were learning to walk.

Children can also smell rosemary and lavender used to freshen up clothes and touch a leaf of lamb’s ear that was used as a bandage in colonial times.

After visiting a colonial house, it is always interesting to hear what your child has to say about it.

I liked to ask my little Florence, “What is the same and different about this house and our apartment?” to train her to be observant.

Florence and I agreed that indoor plumbing, air-conditioning, and TV were good things about modern houses.

By Ruth Pennington Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Visiting the Berkeley Plantation on the James River in Virginia with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget and Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Visiting the Berkeley Plantation on the James River in Virginia with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget and Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

The trees around our Norfolk (Virginia) apartment began to change color.  The golden leaves glistened in the sun.  The red and yellow leaves looked like grapes on a vine.

The crisp, fall air felt good to breathe and made you want to snuggle up in your house.  The fall colors made my commute to work in Virginia Beach especially pleasant.

Laurent, Florence, and I admired the fall colors on our drive to Berkeley Plantation on the James River. 

Berkeley Plantation, built in the Georgian style of the 18^th century, boasts an illustrious history like many small châteaux along the Loire River Valley outside Paris.

Our guide, who resembled all the Jamiesons in the portraits throughout the house, told us that:

-bourbon was first distilled at Berkeley

-military taps were invented at Berkeley during the Civil War

-of the Plantation’s original owners, one Harrison president was born at Berkeley – Henry Harrison (elected in 1841)

The Harrisons loved parties and used the whole hallway downstairs as a ballroom. 

None of the furniture we saw downstairs, though, was original to the house.

The Harrisons best friend, who was Benedict Arnold, had the house’s furniture dragged out and burned during the Revolutionary War.

The gardens at Berkeley Plantation extend down to the James River, where the Plantation’s goods would be loaded onto boats for transport throughout Hampton Roads and out to ports on the ocean. 

There was a monument on the edge of the James River commemorating the first Thanksgiving in 1619.

The Virginia Thanksgiving Festival Group promotes public recognition of Berkeley’s Thanksgiving as the first one, because English settlement in Virginia is older than that of English settlement in New England.

When Berkeley Plantation became the property of the Jamieson family, the first Jamieson family member used Berkeley as a hospital during the Civil War (first floor).

Our guide said that people “with powers” felt many vibrations on the first floor.  I was thinking to myself, “Toss the Spanish Moss around and sell séance tickets for midnight gatherings.”

Laurent, Florence, and I made a second trip down to the river’s edge with our picnic hamper.  The sun shone on us without being too hot.

Laurent and I ate cheese sandwiches while Florence ate a chocolate sandwich.  I also packed yogurt, apples, and cheese.  Florence liked making red wax balls from the mini Gouda cheese I packed for lunch.

Satisfied with a beautiful outing, I drove back to Norfolk and spent the evening writing up comments made by the tour guides in my family journal.

By Ruth Pennington Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Living with Winter Hurricanes by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Living with Winter Hurricanes by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

The damp weather in Norfolk certainly reminded me of Paris (France).  The weather was perfect for staying inside and writing.  Florence came out of her bedroom and told me stories from time to time.

Finally, she took out her colored pencils and worked on the Bellerophon Sleeping Beauty coloring book Laurent and I gave her.  I liked these books, because they gave the biography of Tchaikovsky as well as the storyline of the ballet.

I put on a CD of music from Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty ballet that my mom’s friend and one of my childhood mentors gave me for Christmas.

Florence liked the sinister witch’s music from Sleeping Beauty.  I also played the Nutcracker and Swan Lake for her, but Florence did not care for them as much.

I began looking through some French etiquette books that I owned.  One must know how to stir one’s coffee after all.

I read etiquette books as shortcuts to understanding foreign cultures.  Seating order is different in many cultures and reflects different interior design and social structure.

I did a lot more cleaning in February, a good month for nesting in Norfolk due to winter storms called “Nor’easters.”  A big Nor’Easter hit in the middle of the first week of February.

Tides were expected to be four to five feet above normal.  Florence told me when I picked her up, “School might close for rain.”

Children in Norfolk look forward to “flood days” like the kids in the Midwest look forward to “snow days.”  We lived right on the ocean, but were on high ground in a brick apartment building.

I could already see cars driving by that shot five-foot waves of water behind them.  Laurent had duty, so we did have to go out in foul weather on that day at least to pick him up at the port.

The deluge struck the next afternoon.  I felt like I was walking through a never-ending waterfall as I went to pick up Florence from school.

I could not understand why they just did not call off school in the morning.  Rivers of water ran in the street by Florence’s school.

I was waterlogged by the time I saw her.  Laurent was due to leave the ship that evening.  I wondered if he would stay on the ship or not.  I was afraid of flooding at the docks.

I put on Handel’s Water Music, which seemed appropriate for the weather.  Florence wrote out her Valentines.  She put a check next to the name of each person in her class. 

Every person in the class got a Valentine or the student could not pass out Valentines.  The teacher checked the Valentine bags.  I liked Florence’s school’s “No Child Left Behind” practices.

Florence finished and examined her cards and said, “The boys are not going to like the Anastasia cards.”

“No one will care about what’s on the card as long as they get one,” I said.

The rain continued to pour, making me want to cuddle up with a pot of hot tea beside me.  Laurent called at 1 p.m. and asked me to come and get him.

The rain soaked Florence and me just going out to the car.  Our umbrellas flew back in the wind, leaving us exposed to the elements.  The freeways drained well, but the surface streets resembled lakes.

Laurent was soaked when we got him.  I asked him to drive, since I was pretty frazzled by the blurred drive to the port.

“I predict flood day tomorrow,” I said to Florence, who was shivering.

She put her arms around me and smiled.  We stopped at the video store on the way home and we all felt great to walk inside our little apartment warm up.

By Ruth Pennington Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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