Something about October makes me melancholy. The waning light, the dropping leaves. Back-to-school schedules, and the looming pressure to make happy holidays happen.
All I really want to do is bask in the honeyed light of late afternoon—that golden hour—and do nothing. Look at the sky, watch for hawks, wish upon a pumpkin that my husband will have turkey chili simmering on the stove when I get home (a girl can dream).
My friend Deb snapped me out of my autumn ennui with an invitation (“You’re doing this! Come on!”) to head to Scottsville, jump on a batteau—an old-fashioned wooden barge propelled by a pole-wielding captain—and cruise up the James River at sunset.
I tried my lazy excuses (“It’ll be too dark!”; “I’ll be hungry!”; “Isn’t this supposed to be a romantic getaway for you and your husband?”), and Deb batted them away (“It will be light the whole time!”; “They serve charcuterie on the boat!”; [Eyeroll] “Yes, wildly romantic. Just come on!”)
Thank god for crackerjack friends like Deb and genius local businesses like the James River Batteau Company. Everything I ever wanted out of October—drifting along in the golden light, watching raptors soar overhead, having someone else make my dinner—I found in that dreamy two-hour cruise on a handmade wooden boat, in the candlelit company of lovely folks, on the sparkling James River.
And who can be melancholy when there’s cheese, salami, and figs?
What
A sunset excursion on the James River.
Why
Because it’s a one-of-a-kind experience, lovingly hosted by two friends devoted to the tradition of batteau on the James.
How it went
Underestimating the traffic between Charlottesville and Scottsville (which made for pleasant marital squabbles up front, while I pretended not to notice in the back), Deb barrelled down Route 20, and we arrived at Canal Basin Square shortly after 5pm. A ruggedly genial young man—Will Cash, one of two Wills who run the company—directed us to a parking spot along the river.
Domestic discord dissipated like mist in sunshine once we glimpsed the batteaux afloat on the glimmering water. Beaming at each other, Deb and her husband made their way up the little plank and onto the boat.
Will number one (Cash) manned the front of the boat, which was actually two boats conjoined—six guests on one, and five on the other—where he used a long pole to push the boat forward. In the back, Will number two (Smith) steered as he told the fascinating story of batteaux on the James: why and how they were used to haul tobacco; the industry’s reliance on the labor of enslaved and freed men; what life as “batteaumen” was like; and how the two Wills started their batteau venture.
We listened as we took in the views gliding by. An eagle flew directly overhead and perched on a rock upriver. Water bugs skimmed the surface, their ripples catching the light. A heron flapped past, settling with a croak high on a treetop. We didn’t see the bobcat chasing the fawn that escaped by swimming across the river, but an earlier group did, and Will number two told us all about it.
Aglow in the sunset, we anchored, and Will number one brought us sumptuous trays of meat, cheese, and fruit. Will number two played folk tunes (“James River Blues” never sounded so sweet), and we chatted with the Wills and other guests as if we were family on a picnic, only better (no family!).
Our time there felt suspended in the amber between day and night, present and past. When we pushed back downriver and docked in the dusk, I felt as calm and alive as the quiet current beneath us.
The Wills run their daytime, sunset, farm-to-table, and private cruises between April and October. Bookings for 2024 will open January 1. I could see getting married on a batteau (I’ll let my husband know), or celebrating special occasions out there. What a first date! What an anytime date (Just ask Deb and her husband).
Plus I’ve solved my “how to make happy holidays happen” problem: gift cards for James River cruises with the Wills.