Milepost 4,346 (Newport News)

Today was our last full day in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia before heading up to northern Virginia and into Pennsylvania. 

Yesterday, we went to Colonial Williamsburg.  I know this is a popular tourist attraction and a favorite of many, but it's not on our list of favorite places visited on our trip.  That said, there were some interesting sites.  One of our favorites was the Magazine, which is where gun powder and weapons were stored.  We were not aware of the key role it played in the beginnings of the Revolutionary War.  To learn more about that role, click here and scroll down a bit.  

After Williamsburg, we returned to Jamestown for a second visit.  Because the weather was nicer than the day before, the excavation site was open, though no actual excavating was going on.

Sorry for the poor quality of the photos from yesterday.  Unfortunately, instead having the camera set on "Auto," I apparently had it on the "Bad Photo" setting.

Today, we went to Yorktown, which was the site of a decisive victory for the Americans in the Revolutionary War.  The photo on the left shows several cannons.  While some, including the large cannon in the foreground, are replicas, several are originals. 

The lower photo shows a British earthen defensive position at the battlefield site.  While many of these earthworks were removed after the war, this one wasn't.

For more photos from the Yorktown Battlefield, click here.  Yorktown also played a role in the Civil War, which is why there's a Civil War graveyard located there.

Tomorrow, we're going Manassas/Bull Run.  After that Civil War site, we're going to visit Dennis Haarsager (my former boss) and his wife.  After that, it's on to Antietam and then Gettysburg.  Just one week from tomorrow, we leave Baltimore for a nine-day cruise up into New England and Canada.

Lastly, tomorrow morning, we'll be vacating our unit at the TownPlace Suites.  It's been our home for the past five nights, and I think we're actually going to miss it.  I suppose that's because we don't actually have a home right now.  But we will when we return to Tacoma.  We will be renting a unit at the Pine Street Townhomes.  And we'll have room for visitors!!

Roger

Milepost 4,253 (Newport News)

During our four days in what is known as the Hampton Roads region, we've been trying to limit ourselves to one place per day.  Yesterday, we went on a cruise of the Hampton Roads Harbor.  Well, that, and we got the oil changed on our car, but I figure you're not that interested in our Jiffy Lube visit.

Our cruise on the Miss Hampton II was mostly in the Hampton Roads Harbor though we were also briefly in the Chesapeake Bay.  The cruise took us past Naval Station Norfolk, which is the largest naval station in the world.  We cruised past dozens of naval ships, including the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier (top photo).

While there was nothing to actually see, we heard a lot about The Battle of Hampton Roads, also known as The Battle of the Ironclads, which took place in this harbor.  And we made a stop at Fort Wool, which was built on a man-made island in the early 1800's to protect the harbor.  This cannon was one of the weapons utilized at the fort.

Today, we went to Jamestown, which was the first permanent English settlement in North America.  The photo at the left is of the area where James Fort was built.  For decades, it was believe the fort had been eroded away by the James River.  However, excavations that began in the 1990's proved that was not the case.  Unfortunately, it was somewhat rainy the day we visited Jamestown, so the excavation site was covered.

Over the next two days, we plan to go to Williamsburg and to Yorktown.

Lastly, to see some additional photos from the Great Smokey Mountains and the Blue Ridge Parkway, click here.

More Photos from Monticello

If you're interested in seeing more photos from Monticello, click here.

Roger

Milepost 4,154 (Newport News, VA)

Just one stop today, but it was an amazing one.  We visited Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson.  There is a lot I could share in both the description and photos, but I'm a little tired so I'll keep it rather brief.

Monticello is pictured in the photo on the left.  If you think it looks familiar, take a look at the "tails" side of a nickel.  The lower photo overlooks the estate's vegetable garden and the surrounding countryside. 

We spent about 3 1/2 hours at Monticello today.  We got a break from the weather.  The humidity was much lower today, and it was quite comfortable when we arrived a little before 9:00 AM.

For the next five nights, we'll be staying at the TownPlace Suites in Newport News.  We'll be doing day trips to attractions in SE Virginia, but no long drives and no packing/unpacking.  We're thinking of this as sort of a vacation from our vacation.

Milepost 3,947 (Appomattox)

Our Civil War tour is kind of like a movie in which the scenes are filmed out-of-sequence.  Even though we have several more battlefields to visit, today we saw the site where the war ended on April 9, 1865.  Of course, that's Appomattox Court House.  And that's where I learned something new today. 

Being the Civil War buff that she is, Steph knew better, but I always thought Lee surrendered in a courthouse building.  Not so.  It was actually in a private home, the McLean House.  The reason for my confusion is that the village was named Appomattox Court House.  Since this was the county seat, there is also an actual courthouse, but nothing historically significant happened there.  It's now the Visitor's Center.  The actual McLean House is long gone.  The photo above is a replica built in the 1940's on the foundation of the original building.

Yesterday, we had a very scenic drive through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and on the Blue Ridge Parkway on our way to Asheville, NC.  It was a spectacular drive.  While the park is probably better known and has more visitors, I thought the drive on the parkway was more scenic.

The Appalachian Trail goes right through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  We actually walked a part -- a very SMALL part -- of the 2,175-mile trail, which is shown on the bottom photo.

Tomorrow, we're driving first to Charlottesville to see Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson.  From there, we drive to Newport News.  We're going to stay there for five days and take short day trips to the many attractions in that area of Virginia (Williamsburg, Yorktown, etc.)

Roger

Milepost 3,515 (Gatlinburg, TN)

We started off the day with a visit to the Stones River National Battlefield at Murfreesboro, TN.  The battle that took place there is described as one of the bloodiest of the Civil War.  This photo is of an area of the battlefield known as "the slaughter pen."  That alone probably tells you all you need to know about the brutality of this battle.

From there, we drove through eastern Tennessee (very beautiful!) to Gatlinburg and its nearby fellow tourist trap, Pigeon Falls.  Not much of interest to us here.  Tomorrow, we drive through the Great Smoky National Park to Asheville, NC.

Lastly, a note to any restaurant servers in this part of the country who might happen to come upon this blog (hey, it could happen!):  Despite what you apparently think, I have never been, nor will I ever be, your "honey" or your "sweetie."  Just thought you'd want to know.

Milepost 3,247 (Nashville-Day 2)

Today was our one full day in Nashville.  In the morning, we went to the Ryman Auditorium, which was the long-time home of the Grand Ole Opry.  As you can see in the photo, we were invited on-stage to perform.  This was taken after our fifth or sixth standing ovation (you lose track after awhile).  Seriously, the place was amazing.  My only regret is that our schedule did not permit us to see a live musical performance at the Ryman.

This afternoon, we went to The Hermitage, which is the plantation home of President Andrew Jackson.  Another very interesting historical site.  And we saw it on another hot, humid day.  If it was cooler today, the difference from yesterday was not discernible to us.  Tomorrow, we go to Gatlinburg and the Great Smoky Mountains.  We're hoping that a little elevation will provide at least some relief from the heat.

 

Milepost 3,209 (Nashville)

We arrived in Nashville early this evening.  This was our fifth straight day with temperatures hovering around 100 and high humidity.  Sounds as though it'll be slightly cooler tomorrow.  We wish we could import some cool, dry air from back home.

Today marked the beginning of the Great Civil War Battlefield Tour of 2010 with the Shiloh battlefield in Tennessee.  Actually, the story includes Corinth, Mississippi, which was a critical rail transportation center.  We began our trip at the Civil War Interpretive Center in Corinth and then drove across the border into Tennessee to see the Shiloh National Military Park.  It was a very interesting place.  This photo is of an area of the battlefield called the "hornet's nest."  It's where union troops held off confederate troops for much of the first day of the battle before surrendering.  But they were able to buy enough time for union reinforcements to arrive and turn the battle around the next day.

We spent a good part of the afternoon on about a 75-mile stretch of the Natchez Trace Parkway.  It's a very beautiful drive with minimal traffic and a 50 mph speed limit.  No truck traffic is permitted.

It's hard to believe that we've now traveled more than 3,000 miles!

Milepost 2,928 (Memphis)

One of the stops I was most looking forward to on this trip was Memphis.  And I can definitely say that Memphis lived up to expectations!  We had a great couple of days.

First, we need to thank our old friends, Shelley and Kevin Bennett, for their hospitality this weekend.  For those of you who don't know the Bennetts, Shelley and I worked together for several years at Washington State University.  They moved to Memphis about a year and a half ago.  Thank you so much, Shelley and Kevin!  You helped make our trip so enjoyable.

We arrived in Memphis early yesterday (Friday) afternoon.  Our first stop was the National Civil Rights Museum, which is at the site of the Lorraine Hotel where Martin Luther King was killed in 1968.  Like everyone else, we had seen the picture of the site of the shooting many times, but to see it in person is much more powerful.  If you look at the above photo, the wreath marks the spot where Dr. King was shot.

That evening, we joined Kevin and Shelley for a great dinner at Corky's, a well-know barbeque restaurant in Memphis.  That's the four of us at Corky's in the photo to the right.  Afterward, we had some amazing cupcakes at Muddy's Bake Shop.  They won't be soon forgotten.  If you ever have the chance to stop there, I recommend the Prozac flavor.

Today was a day filled with music.  We started -- where else? -- by going to Graceland.  All I can say is that it was quite an experience.  Yes, it's over-priced and over-commercialized.  But at the same time, few musicians of the 20th century had as much influence on pop culture as Elvis did.  That's the front of the mansion in the photo above.  It isn't quite as big as I had imagined, though we only could see the first floor and the basement.  The second floor is off limits.

After Graceland, we ventured to the Rock and Soul Museum in downtown Memphis.  From there, we went to Sun Studio, one of the spots I was particularly interested in seeing.  This is where Sam Phillips recorded artists like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison.  It was quite amazing to be in the actual studio where songs like Great Balls of Fire, That's Alright Mama, and Blue Suede Shoes were recorded.  That microphone we're standing by is the actual microphone Phillips used to record those musicians in the 1950's.

Tonight, Shelley and Kevin joined us and we went first to the Peabody Hotel for the Duck March.  What's a Duck March, you ask?  It's a tradition that began at the Peabody many decades ago.  In the morning, five ducks are taken from their home on the top of the hotel to a small pond in the lobby.  And at 5:00 PM, they march back to the elevator and back up to their home.  And it's a really big deal here.  There were few hundred people in the lobby to watch.  The pictures I took didn't turn out, but here's a YouTube video if you're interested in finding out what all the excitement is about.

From the Peabody, we made the short walk to Beale Street.  We had a great dinner at B.B. King's Blues Club and listened to live blues from the Will Tucker Band.  This photo was taken from our table just above the stage.

After dinner, we walked up and down Beale Street, and Shelley snapped one last picture before we went back to our hotel to get some rest after a long but fun day.

Tomorrow, it's on to Nashville.

Roger

Milepost 2,612 (St. Louis-Day 2)

Those of us who live in the Pacific Northwest don't have to worry much about what's called the heat index.  It's a calculation that factors in humidity in how hot it feels.  Since we don't have much humidity in our part of the world, it's happily not much of a factor for us.  I wish that were true in the midwest.

In St. Louis today, the heat index was 105.  The actual temperature was in the upper 90's.  And the humidity...I think I could see actual water hanging in the air.  Words can't adequately describe how hot it was.  Granted, we're a couple of weather wimps, but still, did I mention the heat index was 105???

We spent most of the morning at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, best known as the location of the Gateway Arch.  We went the St. Louis Historical Old Courthouse, visible in the top picture in the middle of the arch.  It's best known as the site of the Dred Scott trial.  We also went to the Museum of Westward Expansion, which is underground beneath the Arch.  It was very interesting, though we didn't spend as much time there as we'd like as we had reservations for a riverboat cruise.  The picture of the Arch was taken during that cruise.

The bottom photo was shot just after we got off the boat.  It shows you a couple of things.  First, there's a reason it's called the "muddy" Mississippi.  And second, due to heavy rain in recent days, the river is at flood stage.  Hopefully, the rains will stay away for awhile.

We ended the day with dinner at Pappy's, a barbecue restaurant west of downtown.  It's supposed to be really good, but we weren't that impressed.

Tomorrow morning, we leave for Memphis.  Where it will probably be even hotter!