The winter has not been terribly bad this year and we were teased in February and March with unseasonably warm weather. When the weather turned cold in early March and we had a late snow storm, there was some trepidation about scheduling Shenandoah’s first drive in March. I’m sure a lot of us kept looking at weather forecasts to make a decision about participating in this early Spring drive. We lucked out and Saturday, March 25 turned out to be an extraordinary, warm and sunny Spring day. It certainly was great to get the Porsches out of their winter hibernation and take a beautiful, scenic ride through the Civil War battlefields to Shirley Plantation.
Our tour leader, Katrina Stumpf, provided the participants with wonderful descriptions of the Civil War battles on the drive. The battles included the Cold Harbor and Gaines Mill, a two-week engagement that left more than 18,000 soldiers killed, captured or wounded. It was General Robert E. Lee’s last large-scale field victory.
Next on the tour were the Glendale and Malvern Hill battlefields. Glendale was the 5th of the Seven Days’ Battles on June 30, 1862 that resulted in the Union’s retreat. The outcome was inconclusive although there were 7,400 casualties. The lessons learned from these battles raised both the military and political stakes of war in profound ways.
The brisk drive from Mechanicsville to the Upper Shirley Winery was 28 1/2 miles of beautiful scenic Virginia countryside. There were some great twists and turns and the group of 12 Porsches had a blast navigating these country roads. Once at the winery, we crept slowly up the gravel drive to avoid rock chips and were directed to park on the side lawn of the winery overlooking the James River. What a great view!!!
We were led to our own reserved, private seating area on the back porch overlooking the scenic James River. We no sooner shook off the drive and sat down when the food started to make its way to our tables. What a great selection of food that included burger sliders, crab cakes, cheese plates, veggies, chips and dips, fried pork rinds and probably one of the greatest chocolate chip cookies I have ever had, and I have had a bunch over the years.
The wine tasting was first rate and we had the honor of the owners, Tayloe and Suzy Dameron, of the Upper Shirley Winery overseeing the tasting. Tayloe is also a Porschephile who has owned three 911s. He provided specific details on each of the wines we were tasting. It was a great opportunity to learn about the varieties of their wine offerings. Wine could be purchased by the glass once the tasting was completed. Some folks left soon after the tasting, but others hung around to enjoy the wine, the surroundings and to catch up on all things Porsche. A great time was had by all particularly for those who had the opportunity to drive a great country road with the top down.
