Get a Leash on History
Fun Fact: The Chickahominy Tribe lives primarily in Charles City County.
We spent a weekend in Charles City County and rated our experiences below.
We awarded 5 out of 5 stars to the Dining, History, Recreation, and Sightseeing categories. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Accommodations ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Dog Friendliness ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Dining ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- History ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Recreation ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Sightseeing ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Because the James River Plantations in Charles City County make for amazing (though not always dog friendly) road trip destinations:
We created the No Chihuahua Left Behind Guide for Visiting Charles City County, Virginia
Our guide covers a 3-day weekend and recommends 3 main things:
1. Dog friendly accommodations: At your temporary home base at this AirBnb rental you can safely leave Rover for a few hours.
Photo from AirBnb
If this place is booked, another pet friendly option includes River’s Rest Marina and Resort.
2. Collapsible dog kennels: We purchased inexpensive ones from Facebook Marketplace. The crates keep our dogs safe if we need to leave them alone in the rental for a bit and help prevent any damage from occurring due to separation anxiety.
Photo from Facebook Marketplace
3. Dog friendly sightseeing: We found some great spots for Spot, starting with the Virginia Capital Trail which runs the entire length of Charles City County.
Map from VirginiaCapitalTrail.org
The Virginia Capital Trail provides several fix-it stations equipped with bike repair supplies.
Trail etiquette from VirginiaCapitalTrail.org
If you enjoy biking with your dogs, the flat and impeccably maintained Virginia Capital Trail will be your happy place.
Friday
Dog friendly activities
Chickahominy Wildlife Management Area
Eagle’s Nest Road, Charles City
Map from https://dwr.virginia.gov/wma/chickahominy/
I liked visiting the Chickahominy Wildlife Management Area, named for the Chickahominy Tribe, because of its unusual habitat (a forest flanked by a creek and a tidal river).
But mostly I liked the fiddler crabs.
All visitors over 17 must have a valid fishing or hunting license, and if you visit during hunting season, be sure to wear blaze orange or pink.
Five Fields Brewing Company
9220 John Tyler Memorial Highway, Charles City
This place has a fun, friendly vibe, and makes really good pizza.
While Bruno gets his beauty rest, check out Berkeley Plantation, a humans only destination.
Berkeley Plantation
12602 Harrison Landing Road
It seems unreal that so much history is packed into one spot. Here’s a Berkeley Plantation timeline to keep it straight.
1619: The Company of England establishes the Berkeley 100 (just 12 years after English colonists arrived at Jamestown).
1622: Survivors abandon the Berkeley 100 after the Indian massacre.
1691: The Harrison family purchases the property.
1720: Benjamin Harrison IV starts construction of the brick mansion.
1726: Birth of Benjamin Harrison V, who becomes a Founding Father.
18th century portrait, Benjamin Harrison V
1773: Birth of William Henry Harrison, who becomes the nation’s 9th president.
Engraving of William Henry Harrison, age 27, circa 1800.
1781: The Harrisons flee prior to attack by Benedict Arnold and 1,600 British troops.
1784: The Harrisons return and begin restoring the ransacked property.
1862: Union troops occupy the property, including General Daniel Butterfield who composes Taps during his stay on the property. President Abraham Lincoln also visits a couple of times.
The Harrisons were unable to return to the property after the Civil War and the Berkeley Plantation fell into disrepair. In a strange turn of events, John Jamieson, a former Union drummer boy who stayed on the grounds in 1862 purchased the property in 1907. His son Malcolm inherited the property in 1925 and restored it with the help of his wife Grace. They eventually opened Berkeley Plantation to the public.
In 2018, filming for “Harriet,” based on the life of Harriet Tubman, took place on the property. The slave quarter replicas built for that film still stand today as a reminder of the many people who lived and died in bondage on the Berkeley Plantation.
Saturday
Dog Friendly Activities
Piney Grove at Southall’s Plantation
16920 Southall Plantation Lane, Charles City
Photo from Facebook: Piney Grove at Southall’s Plantation – Historic Site
The entire pack enjoyed touring the grounds of the historic Piney Grove at Southall’s Plantation which features a nature trail, exhibits on Native American history, slave quarters and folk architecture.
Cul’s Courthouse Grill
10801 Courthouse Road, Charles City
We learned that Cul’s Courthouse Grill is a fun, dog friendly hangout spot where we could listen to live music while dining on excellent food.
Charles City LOVEworks
10900 Courthouse Road
We found love and a Westover doorway!
While Spot snoozes, tour Sherwood Forest, a “humans only” site.
Sherwood Forest
14501 John Tyler Memorial Highway, Charles City
John Tyler, native of Charles City County, purchased this property during his presidency and retired here. Tyler named his home Sherwood Forest in jest, saying he had been branded as an outlaw by the opposing Whig party (which happened to include most of his neighbors).
Portrait of John Tyler, circa 1860-1861
Look who’s guarding the house!
Photo from Facebook – Sherwood Forest Plantation Foundation
According to Atlas Obscura, Sherwood Forest is the only presidential home in America to have a completely sectioned pet cemetery.
Sunday
Dog friendly
Historic Westover
7000 Westover Road, Charles City
Besides its dog friendly self-guided tours, here are 10 cool factoids about historic Westover:
1. Hollywood is calling. Westover appears in 3 TV series (The West Wing, Turn, and John Adams), and the film Field of Lost Shoes.
2. Architectural Digest is also calling. Westover provides a premier example of Georgian architecture, a style known for symmetrical proportions. Plus, Westover’s signature doorway has been trendy for centuries.
3. Location. Location. Location. With its location on the iconic and idyllic James River, the Westover property boasts the 3 things that matter most in real estate.
4. Get your 1750 on. Built in the mid-1700s, this place is older than our nation.
5. RVA connection. William Byrd II, founder of Richmond, called this place home.
Portrait of William Byrd, II, early 1700s
6. Eagle Eye. Westover’s noble gatepost eagles symbolize the Byrd family name.
7. A secret tunnel! I’m not making this up. For a virtual tour, see the VA Travels YouTube video about Westover Plantation beginning at 5:11.
8. Orthogonal Gardens. Intersecting paths create a grid of garden rooms.
Photos from Facebook: Historic Westover
9. Sightseeing for Taphophiles. The grounds include a cemetery and the tomb of William Byrd II, who died here in 1744.
Photo from Facebook: Historic Westover
10. Archaeological digs. Evidence shows that Native Americans lived at this site 1,000 years before the colonists arrived. What else will be uncovered?
Photo from Facebook: Historic Westover
The property also witnessed some of our nation’s shameful history. Records show that the Westover site served as a slave market in the 17th century. Research continues into the stories of the many enslaved people who lived and died at Westover.
Indian Fields Tavern
9220 John Tyler Memorial Highway, Charles City
This place was a winner. Not sure which was more amazing, the food or the live music.
Harrison Lake
The Harrison Lake fish hatchery provides a much needed population boost to imperiled fresh water mussels and migratory fish.
During our visit, we had the hiking trail and 99-acre lake completely to ourselves.
Check out these people-only places while Zippy gets some Zzzs.
Lawrence Lewis, Jr. Park
12400 Willcox Wharf Road, Charles City
Kayaking, fishing, and bird watching. There are worse ways to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Historic Shirley Plantation
501 Shirley Plantation Road, Charles City
If the timing is right, be sure to see Virginia’s oldest plantation, founded in 1613. The Historic Shirley opens for tours on select days each year.
Unfortunately, we missed our tour due to a sudden flat tire as we approached the Historic Shirley.
Perhaps Aunt Pratt, the ghost of Shirley Plantation, did not take kindly to our presence.
To learn more about Aunt Pratt, listen to this episode of the Virginia History podcast.
Upper Shirley Vineyards
600 Shirley Plantation Road, Charles City
Photo from Facebook – Upper Shirley Vineyards
We recommend a visit to the Upper Shirley Vineyards. This establishment served one of the best meals I ever ate.
If I merely think about their garlic butter shrimp, my mouth starts to water.
No Chihuahua Left Behind: Helping the Pack
The Gone to the Dogs Rescue website features the county’s dogs who await adoption by their forever families. (Maybe by your family!)
Photo from Facebook: Gone to the Dogs Rescue, Charles City, Virginia.
Donations can be made to the Gone to the Dogs Rescue through its Amazon Wishlist and its Chewy Wishlist.
Know before You Go
There are plenty more historical plantations to see in Charles City County.
- This tourism website helped us plan our trip.
- The county’s visitor center is located at 10760 Courthouse Road, Charles City.
Road Trip Reads
These books added context for our visit and can be found on Audible for easy road trip listening.
We remember William Henry Harrison as the first U.S. president to die in office after serving for only one month. However, what many people don’t know: as the first Governor of Indiana territory Harrison greatly contributed to our nation’s legacy of “rapid and ruthless acquisition of Indian lands.”
This romantic historical novel, set at Shirley Plantation during the Civil War, has a few surprises in store for the reader. In addition, the author includes a section at the end with the sources she used for her research.
This detailed biography does not mince words regarding Tyler’s faults, but also explains how Tyler established the precedent for the Vice President to take command when the President dies in office.
Roving through Virginia with Rover 
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