Due to conflicting schedules yesterday , a few of us were unable to sign up for the Wednesday Wandering ride offered by Elaine Quick and John Taylor. Since the weather was going to be beautiful plus it would have been awful to miss an opportunity to ride, Julie Christiansen, Jessie, Arthur, and I decided to head over to Surry and explore a few roads less traveled with the idea of finding a new Wondering Wednesday Ride route for the future. When we cross the ferry with our bikes, there was a woman handing out donuts to all the workers on the ferry. I asked her why she was doing this, and she said with a smile and with joy in her heart that “today was the 100th anniversary of the ferry boat crossing of the mighty James”. It’s amazing to think that this ferry has been here 100 years and that February 26th marked that occasion.
There is current talks and studies being done to see if it would be cheaper and a cost benefit to building a bridge crossing in this area of the James. I certainly understand the need to get across the river quicker than by ferry, but I think we all feel the same when it comes to the ferry and how much fun it is to make the crossing of the James utilizing a dying mode of transportation.There aren’t too many ferries in-existence these days. It’s always a novel and romantic way to across the river. Below is a YouTube video that I found concerning the 90th year of the ferry crossing. Hopefully we will find a new video based on yesterday‘s 100 year celebration. We did note a few Model T’s on the ferry. It was explained to us that these were the cars that crossed the river 100 years ago.
Copy the link below and paste it to your browser and you can see some more information concerning the ferry.
Ps. How wonderful it was to ride the western side of the James and I think we have a new WW ride to explore and where we can enjoy lunch in a field absent of chiggers and over looking the James River.
The James River Ferry
