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Hey all names TJ currently live in CT, married with 4 kids looking for a move.
My wife and I are currently looking for change and we are looking to open a Bed & Breakfast we located a few places that have potential in The Vernon Hill area.
I was wondering what if anything is there to do within an hours drive time. We are just trying to make sure that if we open there are things for our guests to do?? Maybe hiking, boating, antiquing, you know the normal relaxing type stuff that one would do if they went to a bed & breakfast.
Also is there anyhting in the area for kids or is it country rural?
What are the schools in the area like we have ages from newborn to 13.
Any information one can give would be greatly appreciated.
You can go on the website for the Va. Dept. of Education and check out SOL scores for Halifax County schools. You can also go on greatschools.org and see if anyone has submitted a review on schools in this county.
This is the website for tourism for Halifax County:
First of all let me say I started this post early this morning wrote a whole lot and then did something wrong in sending it so it did not go through. I am going to try to recall as much of it as possible now, and I hope it will help with your possible move here.
I moved to Halifax County from Boston, MA, in 1999, to be with my sister as we were not together much when we were growing up. She passed this last September and so this part of Virginia has lost much of its charm for me. I want to return to New England, and yet 5 months of winter gives me second thoughts.
You mentioned visiting here before you move. You absolutely need to do that. Consider it carved in stone. No matter where anyone moves to there is always some culture shock. Here in southside Virginia that culture shock is not immediately apparent, especially with just a short visit, but as time goes by the culture shock becomes very apparent.
The most obvious difference is the weather. When I first moved down here it stayed warm straight through November -- and by warm I mean warm for a Yankee. At Christmas I was still seeing green grass. The entire winter went by and I never once put on a winter coat. When it comes to clothing, less is more. Last winter, I only wore short boots on
two separate occasions.
The next surprise for me, culture-wise, consisted of the "No School" announcements. If snow is predicted, school is called off the night before (it doesn't actually have to snow)!
That's because the school buses cannot get into the many narrow rural unpaved roads since they are the last to be plowed, or not plowed at all, and often it is a local farmer with a tractor that does the plowing.
The first year I was down here, my Middle School nephew was out of school for two weeks because of two inches of snow. That's because, there is not the same level of snow plowing and sanding equipment here in southside Virginia as there is in CT and MA.
Unless you know someone who was raised here, you may have some trouble with the rural accent in these parts. I have been here 10 years now and I still don't always know what some folks are saying. Words are enunciated differently and sometimes not at all.
Schools are more laid-back down here, and some schools are still not accredited.
Housing is quite affordable, especially for someone coming from the north,
here is an example I thought would interest you: (from the local "Gazette Virginian" newspaper, September 21, 2011) 44 acres with waterfall for $94,990; 110 acres in Halifax County on River Road, timber 14 years old, creeks, streams, interior road and trails, stable, 2 barns, old farm house, and a well, $220,000).
Churches: there are many, mostly Baptist, Pentecostal, Holiness. There are at least two Methodist churches in South Boston, one Catholic, and I think a Presbyterian. Culture shock hit me hardest when I observed that most of the churches are either all black or all white, with extremely little integration.
I once took an informal survey in the parking lot of Wal*Mart. Ethnicity here is generally split 50/50 black/white. Among "other" smaller groups there are a few Asian, some Mexican, some Muslim, some Indian and so forth, but very few.
The largest hospital in this area is Halifax Regional Hospital which has a growing staff with a substantial number of doctors from various countries overseas.
I called to make an appointment with a dermatologist who said that he is not taking any new patients and that he is retiring. There are not as many specialists here as there are in Danville and Lynchburg, so choice is very limited.
There is not any dentist in town who is taking new patients, period.
A good portion of the population here desperately needs dental work. I found a dentist in Danville. She is new, quite good, and her name is Dr. Dunbar.
There are two other major hospitals, one in Danville, VA, 29 miles away, and one in Lynchburg, VA, 60 miles from here.
South Boston has two golf courses. Also NASCAR is very popular here and is only a short drive away (South Boston Speedway). High School football is big and there is a bowling alley (World of Sports).
Stores: The biggest enterprise here is Wal*Mart where one constantly runs into one's neighbors and friends. There are two groceries, one is Food Lion and the other is Farmer's. This is another side of culture shock.
Food choices here are very different from food choices up north, and you may not be able to find the items you most enjoy.
However, Food Lion has offered (at least in the past) to order whatever you want if they don't have it. It is possible, though rarely, to get a bit of lamb once in awhile. If you like natural casing frankfurters, you won't get them here, and there are countless other items you won't be able to get.
Pork is king, followed by chicken, then burgers and those small red-colored hot dogs which are kind of mushy. Also, folks down here cook their food a lot longer than we do up north. Most Southerners like their food very soft or fried. Church suppers, in most of the churches, tend to have a basically an unchanging menu consisting of greens (collard, kale, or mustard), fried chicken, corn, sweet potatoes, biscuits, gravy, and banana pudding.
Farmer's grocery store (more so than Food Lion) carries most varieties of Pork that we don't eat up north (or even see) which is to say that they make use of every single part of the pig, with those parts clearly on display if you shop at Farmer's.
As for fish, catfish is king, followed by whiting, followed by some sort of red pan fish that I don't know the name of. Fresh mackerel and cod
are not as obtainable. Imitation crabmeat and lobster are available as is salmon, both wild caught and farmed. The fish counter in Food Lion is miniscule, but they also carry frozen fish.
There are a lot of restaurants ranging from fast-food to upscale. There is a newly-opened Walgreens here and CVS is building a large complex right across the road from them.
The downtown section of South Boston is rather quaint with a scattering of interesting shops.
Gardening is a challenge, clay soil which has to be built up, and the local gardeners complain a lot about moles -- for me it is the slugs, hundreds of them. Ew!
The most important crop here other than tobacco and corn is cantaloupes, and every year there is a cantaloupe festival. $35.00 gets you a ticket, all you can eat, and all the beer you can drink.
I recently received nine good cantaloupes for free!
After cataloupes are cut up and put into containers, they freeze very well. So right now, I have a lot of frozen cantaloupe.
Regarding wildlife: turkeys, deer, possum, squirrels, skunks, foxes, snakes, rabbits, turkey vultures, hawks, bobcats, and a coyote pack (some claim its a wolf pack).
I've seen that pack and their eyes look like eskimo dog eyes, real slanty.
The pack when I saw it had about 8 members,some were puppies, various sizes and colors, and a large alpha male (that was the one that most looked like a wolf.)
Hunting: Here is another bit of culture shock. It is not at all unusual on rural roads to see pickup trucks with hunters standing in the bed of the truck, cell phone to ear, and guns at the ready, waiting for their dogs to flush out deer to the road where they can shoot them, That's not quite my idea of hunting. However, there is a bow season and a turkey season where the hunters actually do step into the woods.
With regard to the dogs that chase deer. Skeleton dogs would often show up on our property needing food and water which we would provide until we could contact the owner by tag or by telephone number painted on the dog. The usual response was "Don't feed that dog." And why not? Evidently it keeps them from good hunting. Another bit of culture shock!
Speaking of the woods, I personally no longer care to go into the woods, or even into 2-inch high grass, too many ticks, to big a danger of snakes. Most people use a product called "Snake Away" -- a chemical that is supposed to keep the snakes away from one's property.
As for the poisonous snakes, there are several. I've only seen one, the copperhead. The others are cottonmouths, water moccasins, coral snakes, rattlesnakes, and pythons (yes, pythons! but they're not poisonous, just dangerous).
Spiders: I found two dead black widow spiders in a lounge chair on my sister's porch one day. They however are easy to recognize as they are shiny black with an hourglass marking on their bodies.
The recluse spider is a bit too common. My nephew had a serious bite from one of those a couple of years ago. The poison in those spiders eats away at the flesh. Just this past summer my landlord was bitten and required hospitalization with intravenous antibiotics. After he was released home again he had to stay on antibiotics for a very long time.
Unemployment in this part of Virginia is high. I know that because I have been a food bank volunteer for these past ten years, and we have been giving out groceries to over a thousand people every month. That doesn't mean that there aren't any jobs. There are some. The problem is that many applicants cannot pass the drug test.
The trucking industry is always looking for truck drivers.
Before you decide to settle here, be sure to go on line to the sex offender registry and check out the listings for Halifax County. Of course, those people are everywhere unfortunately, but some people claim they are more prevalent here.
Another thing that can be a bit of a culture shock is the closeness of native families here. Everybody seems to be cousin to everybody else, and most families can be traced all the way back to just three families. It is not unusual, even in these times, for there to be seven or more children in a family, some of them half-brothers and sisters to other families.
The other thing to be aware of regarding this area is that there is a surprising number of ordinary folks who cannot read, and of those who can read, they read very little.
Of the natives who were born in this area, many have never been out of Virginia, some have never been out of Halifax County, and a few that have never been out of South Boston.
There is another type of resident here and that is the transplant, such as myself, but most of the transplants are either from NY or NJ.
This is all I can think of for now, but if there is something more I can help you with, feel free to ask. If I don't know the answer, I can ask those around me. --Yokie
Mercy me, what a limited picture of Halifax County's qualities and opportunities! My paternal family is from Halifax, and I spent many happy days there when growing up.
Don't worry about the snakes and spiders. Chiggers are a more likely threat.
As for food, yes, Southern homecooking is popular, since this is the South and families live there. In homes. There is a good farmer's market in Halifax, near the public library on Main Street (there's another library location in South Boston). And you can't talk about food in Halifax without a mention of Brunswick stew. There are many fundraisers featuring this delicious traditional dish, which is cooked all day in heavy iron pots over an open fire, if it's prepared the old-fashioned way. Yes, those festive canteloupes are delicious. So are locally grown sweet corn, tomatoes, peaches, apples, green beans, and other fruits and vegetables. Don't discount Southern cooking - traditional dishes show up in private homes on holidays and other special occasions: lemon chess pie, wine jelly, "rocks" (a spicey, dried fruit laden cookie), coconut cake, pound cake, pecan pie, watermelon pickles, Smithfield ham and beaten biscuits...you're unlikely to find these treats north of the Mason-Dixon line, unless hungry Southern exiles prepare them. Iced tea is ubiquitous and not too strong, so you can enjoy lots of glasses of it. Harder beverages are also popular in many social circles and their makings can be obtained at the local ABC shop.
Give Sally Lunn a try, too. No, Sally Lunn is not a lady.
Swimming is very popular during the summer months, with much social life revolving around the country club and pool club. Golf is extremely popular. Swimming, boating, and other water sports are available at Bugg's Island Lake, about half an hour or less east of South Boston. The Banister River forms Halifax's northern boundary; the Dan River is just south of South Boston. Both offer small boating opportunities. Gardening is a popular activity and there's an active garden club of many years' standing. Some residents keep horses and enjoy riding.
In addition to the churches named, there are historic Episcopal churches in both Halifax and South Boston.
There's a very nice local history museum in South Boston, along with The Prizery, a center for the arts, which includes an active little theatre group and offers gallery displays, concerts, lectures, and other cultural activities. Both Halifax and South Boston have attractive historic residential areas. There's a new creative arts center on Main Street, across from the courthouse in Halifax.
You do have to look a bit farther to find certain cultural activities in this area, and as noted, much social life occurs in private homes and clubs, but it's there.
So is that distinct accent. It's not "country" so much as it is traditional Southside Virginia, and it's a mistake to judge a speaker's education and intelligence by their speech patterns and pronunciation (with the exception of grammar). Tomatoes are tomahtoes, aunts are ahnts, houses are how-ooses, (you go ow-oot of the how-oose to pick tomahtoes for yoah ahnt), final "r"s are dropped most of the time, Daddy is Deddy, and the melody and rhythm are subtly different, too. You'll hear this sort of accent from older Halifax countians more frequently than from younger residents. It's not difficult to understand, once your ears adjust, which doesn't take long.
Do visit the area and spend a few days before committing to it, though. It's a very pleasant, pretty place, but is not noted for tourist activities other than the S. Boston Motor Speedway, and race fans may not be too interested in a B & B's charms but may prefer more generic accommocations.
Good luck with your decision.
Last edited by CraigCreek; 10-04-2011 at 08:34 PM..
Reason: past tense correction
I have about 700 pages of information about Halifax County on a Web site [URL="http://www.oldhalifax.com/"]Halifax County, Virginia[/URL]
A lot is historical but there are maps, attractions, business sites, and more.
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Vernon Hill / Halifax County
