The Accomac Hotel

Show and Tell Friday, hosted by Kelli at There Is No Place Like Home, seems like the perfect opportunity to take you on a little visit to my cousin Mary’s home in Accomac, Virginia. When you’re through here, please visit Kelli to see what others are showing off.

Mary and Ron live in an old hotel that Ron bought in the mid-70’s in Accomac, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. When he purchased the hotel, the grounds were covered in stuff—vines, trash that neighbors had dumped over their fences, and probably a few varmints. Cleaning up the grounds and planting wonderful and colorful things has been a labor of love, especially for Mary.

This Revolutionary War cannon, partially covered in ivy, sits on the front lawn of the hotel and points toward the Accomac County courthouse across the street. Another Revolutionary War cannon sits on the courthouse lawn and points toward the hotel, so if there’s ever a battle, I guess it’ll be a standoff. Incidentally, the courthouse for Accomac County houses the second oldest records in the United States.

This is a picture of the back of the hotel with a wonderful porch where we enjoyed breakfast one morning as we watched the birds and squirrels playing. A pair of barn swallows had built a nest at the top of one of the columns, and they kept talking to us as they came and went.

Although Ronnie has put in some newer wells, this one, complete with storage tank, once supplied water for the hotel. This star, made from #4 rebar, hangs on the side of the water tower. I’m sure it must be beautiful when it’s covered in vines. The rebar came from Thomas Steel in Birmingham, which was owned by Ron’s family.

Mary has lots of daylilies planted on the grounds, but they were not blooming during our visit. However, I did get pictures of some of her wonderful varieties of iris. The dark purple one finally bloomed the morning we left, and I was happy to get a picture. Can you see all of that rich black dirt? I would kill to have that kind of dirt instead of the hard red chert that we have here in Alabama.

Near the back of the hotel grounds is this old cemetery. Mary said that she and Ron recently discovered another grave in a brick vault when they were trying to plant some hydrangeas.

Come back next week, and I’ll tell you a little about the history of the hotel.