Just an average weekend night in Ghent

Recently, on a Friday evening, we hopped on our bikes and

rode to Ghent for a casual dinner.

On this particular night we stopped at Dog-N-Burger on Manteo where they have outdoor picnic tables. The sign says they have been open since 1969? Wow! They have really good cheeseburgers and hot dogs! At last count we are up to trying 25 of 55 restaurants on our "to go" list.

 

Then back on our bikes to burn off some of those cheeseburger calories! South through Ghent and around Mowbray Arch to the foot bridge over the Hague.

 

 

 

Then into downtown Norfolk on the Elizabeth River Trail that runs past Nauticus and through Town Point Park.

 

Back to Ghent and Colley Avenue for some froyo at The SkinnyDip.

 

Then back home. This is what I love about living here!

 

 

 



I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!

MR FENTRESS IS MY COUSIN! Sort of? 

 

 

I should start at the beginning but where is the beginning?

The Fentress' in front of our house, well ... their house.

In my blog post on March 31st, The Original Owners, part 2, I had started a Fentress Family Tree on ancestry.com. William Kilby Fentress and his wife had our new/old house built between 1919 and 1922 when they moved in. I was curious about the family and I hoped to make contact with some of their descendants. Which I did.

In that post I wrote:

Before I go further I should mention that at this point it occurred to me that I have Fentress' in my own family tree but I don't remember any details.  I do know that Fentress was a common name in Princess Anne County, Virginia which today is the city of Virginia Beach.

So, that was the beginning. At least, the beginning for me.

Starting the Fentress family tree and checking on my own Fentress families on ancestry.com didn't yield much. Then I had a light bulb moment! A few years ago I purchased some family histories researched by a local genealogist, Melinda Jones Lukei. She has specialized in the original families of Princess Anne County, Virginia (today Virginia Beach). Bingo! Why didn't think of her before ... ?

So I trotted down to the main Virginia Beach Library because I already knew they have a copy of everything Mrs. Lukei has published. Sure enough, there is a The Fentress Family edition.

My disclaimer to what I'm about to tell you is this:

• I didn't do most of this research myself and I have not seen all the primary documents
• No matter how thorough a researcher is, sometimes they get it wrong
• On the other hand, most of this is probably bankable research!

I say all that because what I found at the library was different than what was posted on ancestry so somebody is wrong. Anyway ...


My Bowden grandparents in the back with my Capps great-grandparents in front at their
50th Wedding Anniversary party. Mr. Capps looks disinterested, doesn't he?
He was probably wondering when he could get his next smoke?

My grandmother on my Dad's side was Edna Estelle Capps Bowden. Her father was Stewart Henry Capps. Stewart died in 1963, before I had turned 3 years old, and I don't remember him ... at all.

But, as an aside, Stewart Capps was a railroad man. Interesting because our neighborhood is adjacent to the rail yard where it meets the port in Norfolk. My great grandfather supervised a crew that operated a "puddle jumper" and family lore has it that they were instrumental in laying the first railroad tracks from Norfolk to Virginia Beach, that reached it's terminus in the state park. I think that is where part of a nice running trail is now?


Stewart Capps, front right, with the puddle jumper

A puddle jumper was a rail car that propelled itself - didn't need an engine.

Back to the Fentress part of the story. Stewart Capps' grandfather was William Newton Capps. William married a woman named Jacamine Ann Fentress or "Jakey". Jakey's 2nd great grandfather was John T. Fentress, Sr. born 1706 and died 1784 in Princess Anne County.

As it turns out, our Mr. William Kilby Fentress, the first owner of our house, is also the descendant of John T. Fentress, Sr. John T. Fentress, Sr. is Mr. Fentress' 5th great grandfather! Yes way!

Okay, I'm done celebrating and I gotta come clean ...

I have since figured out that Jakey Fentress was William Newton Capps third wife and not my ancestor afterall. She was my great great grandfather's step mother. But, my enthusiasm is not dampened - I have other Fentresses in my family tree to pursue!

So close ...

Before and Afters - Creating Curb Appeal for our Foursquare

At last! Everything is finished! What do you think of the center column???

And the exposed rafter tails?

 The additional white vertical trim pieces really accentuate the details too.

(Got that idea from the East Beach houses!)

 

 

To me the house looks finished with that additional column built by Phil at Sound Pointe. We are fairly certain that there never has been a center column. There was no evidence on the pier or the fascia board. Also, there are other houses, particularly smaller houses that do not have the center column. We think because it wasn't needed, structurally, it was omitted.

 

 

In addition to the new column and the new siding, we:

•  removed the brass kick plate from the door
• painted the door
• painted the porch floor
• polished the brass door handle and lock
• scraped the windows
• purchased a new light fixture (Woodcliffe outdoor pendant by Northeast Lantern )
• purchased new house numbers
• and painted the mailbox.

 

We have been working on cleaning the cement tops on the brick piers and cleaning the old bricks and mortar.

So far, we have tried muriatic acid and gentle power washing - we got nothin'!

I've got one other possibility up my sleeve but I would love your suggestions?

 

 

See the difference between the windows with the old storm windows and without them?

What a difference editing can make!

 

 

Personally, I think the red brick looks better with the blue gray siding and the gray porch floor?

 

 

Oh my gosh! Who stole the column? Right?

After-the-fact, that is how it looks ... the column was just supposed to be there.

Phil, with Sound Pointe, is a rock star! He apparently has a massive wood working shop with everything needed for building cabinets and furniture, etc. But, guess what? He had to make all the trim on that column and he had to buy at least one new whatchamacallit - router blade, I think?

 

 

Welcome!

 

Now for the yard ...

Bloomin' Surprises

We inherited, and by that I mean purchased, a very thoughtful and creative landscape plan in the little yard of our new/old house! But since we made an offer on the house in January, we first saw a rather bleak yard in the winter.

As spring came and now summer, we have been so pleased and surprised as shrub blooms and perennials keep popping open and popping up!

We have multiple hydrangeas

 and three different varieties. This one has variegated leaves.

We have a Japanese maple.

We have a fig tree.

We have several hostas.

We have some daisy chrysanthemums.

We had the most beautiful camellias you ever saw in the early spring.

 

 We also had daffodils and hyacinths that smelled heavenly! (this is before weeding!)

 

We have a gardenia 

 

Ferns

 

A rose ... 

 

Lots of work to make this yard shine after all the construction traffic! But the amazing thing is, it is mostly just maintenance. Well done former owners!

 

Wonder what fall will bring?

 







The Great Norfolk Bicycle Adventure

 

One of my friends, TJ, asked me awhile back if I planned to incorporate biking into my new lifestyle?

My answer is, yes! After my knee surgery, my husband (he's already had surgery on both knees) and I both decided to get new bikes. We went to East Coast Bicycles on Colley Avenue where we got some great advice and great service. That place is crazy busy! I have been in a half a dozen times now and every single time there are multiple employees - all either working on bikes or helping customers. I have to admit, I thought it might be the kind of place that caters to super-bikers and not plain ole sightseer-bikers, like us. But, with confidence I can tell you they do it all - and they're super nice too!

 

During my first visit, Mike, the owner, suggested I try a bike called the Townie by Electra. It's a cruiser type bike with the pedal location forward instead of directly under the seat. That bit of ergonomics is great - it allows you to sit closer to the ground so both feet touch comfortably when you're sitting on the seat (super safe). That, together with the handlebars, that are high and wide, allow you to sit in an upright position. All this makes riding easier on your knees. Awesome! Just what the doctor ordered, so to speak. My particular model is the Townie 7D (seven speeds) in Coral! Woo Hoo!

 

We liked my bike so much that we bought my husband one too. That's his parked next to mine. His is a men's 7D in Moss Metallic. No black bikes for us, no sir!

 

 

While buying bikes we found out about Cindy Lou's Coffee Shop Community Ride. We were in! We met Saturday morning at 9:00am at the bike shop and proceeded to pedal around town at a normal person's speed and we stopped at several points of interest along the way.

 

 First stop, Howlett's Granby Trading Post (thrift store)

future community center on Church Street

St. Mary's Cemetery on Church Street

through some neighborhoods

alongside the zoo

final destination Café M for breakfast

 

That's Cindy Lou in the red shirt on the right. She leads this ride every Saturday at 9:00am from East Coast Bicycles on Colley Avenue - for free! The route is different each time and the group changes too. Today we had thirteen people and we clocked about 9 miles.

 

Biking as part of our new lifestyle? Priceless!

 



 

 



The First on the First

The First Room on the First Floor

 

In our new/old American Foursquare, the living room is the first room you see. It is just to the left of the foyer with a large opening so that you see it from the front door. You can also see it through the front windows when the lights are on at night.

So, therefore, this is the room I want to keep neat and clean all the time (you can do that when all the kids have flown the coop!). It will be the room where I host Book Club when it's my turn and other such events. And, it has a fireplace with gas logs so it will be a cozy hang-out in the winter.

I have been thinking about this room for a long time. It was the room where we first connected the TV and cable. But, as I've mentioned before, every room was in a state of temporary - it was like those old tile puzzles.

You move the squares around until the numbers are in order? That has been our house! Moving all the boxes and furniture around while we worked on one room or one project. We are just now beginning to put things in order.

In addition to all the things I've mentioned, I really hope to create continuity between the exterior and interior of the house. The easiest way to do that is with color. So, as soon as we picked the blue gray siding I knew I wanted blue gray walls.

Continuity is also why I picked green for the front door (the other dominant color we have on the inside). And you thought I was being bold! It has been suggested that I might be a little obsessive? What can I say? I learned this stuff in interior design school - I can't unlearn it!

So, we're not finished but here is what we've done:

 

We ended up getting Wes at our Sherwin Williams store to mix us a custom color. It is a very light blue with some gray in it. We don't have two matching lamps for the two matching console tables but these will do, for now.



 

I spent a good bit of time accessorizing the built-in shelves (they were already here). I guess that's called "styling" now. I styled the shelving.

 

 

I used mostly stuff we already had and a few things I had in my staging inventory. Being a stager has some perks when you're decorating your own house!

 

Things I still want to do:

• Add a rug
• Add a coffee table
• Paint or wallpaper the backs of the shelves
• Get a better chair to replace the gray one (maybe the chair in the family room?)
• Get a great painting for over the fireplace
• Tile over the red brick on the fireplace???
• Do something with the tile hearth???
• Replace some of the accessories on the shelves with better ones
• Hang art on the large walls on either side of the opening to the foyer
• Get a new, brass floor lamp

Enough projects to last a ...