Cooperative Living March/April 2015 - 31

Dawson could produce a really clean
barley for making whiskey. Dawson
decided to give it a whirl, grateful to at
last have a market that would appreciate
his attention to the quality of his harvest.
Today Dawson raises grain for more than
one distillery and alehouse, serving customers
as far away as Asheville, N.C.
You won't find any brewers on the
Northern Neck using Dawson's grain ...
not yet. But the time might be coming.
" If independent malt houses keep
coming online, " Dawson says, " I'll ramp
up barley production even further. "
In the meantime, you might want to
stop in at a local feed or hardware store
and pick up some of Bay's Best Feed's
wonderfully weed-free sunflower seeds
for your birdfeeders.
SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY
IN MIDWEST STYLE
Dawson isn't the only progressive
entrepreneur along Route 360, however.
One can find a few more in Tappahannock,
a town on the banks of the Rappahannock
on Virginia's Middle Peninsula that, when
I visited it about 15 years ago, seemed to
have seen its best days. What a change a
couple of decades makes. Today,
Tappahannock's downtown historic district
is on a slow build to becoming a destination
for more than the kayakers who like
to ply the Rappahannock come spring.
High-end antique and art galleries as well
as a couple of trendy new restaurants now
have a place on the core streets of this old
port town that was a major center of river
commerce in the 17th and 18th centuries.
And now Ric Jefferson and Jeremy
Gassen have joined the ranks of local
businesspeople looking to capitalize on a
growing tourism industry, mostly from
the metro D.C. area. They purchased the
c.1850 Essex Inn on Duke Street, about
a block from the riverfront, less than a
year ago. Both are Midwesterners, so
they may seem unlikely stewards of this
sprawling southern Greek Revival mansion,
but somehow the shoe fits.
Perhaps it's Gassen's wonderfully outgoing
nature and the fact that he uses
words like " wonky " that delight me. Wiry
and energetic, he laughs easily as he gives
me the grand tour of the house and
grounds, remarking that guests' favorite
room is the " butler's pantry, " where complimentary
beer and wine are available to
cap off a day on the river.
March-April 2015/www.co-opliving.com
Billy Dawson (above and right) has
produced quality grains on the Northern
Neck for three decades.
Ric Jefferson and Jeremy Gassen (left)
purchased the c. 1850 Essex Inn on
Duke Street in Tappahannock less than
a year ago. Below are scenes from
around the Greek Revival mansion,
including the 350-year-old box elder
tree (bottom right) in the inn's gardens.
29

Cooperative Living March/April 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cooperative Living March/April 2015

Cooperative Living March/April 2015 - 1
Cooperative Living March/April 2015 - 2
Cooperative Living March/April 2015 - 3
Cooperative Living March/April 2015 - 4
Cooperative Living March/April 2015 - 5
Cooperative Living March/April 2015 - 6
Cooperative Living March/April 2015 - 7
Cooperative Living March/April 2015 - 8
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