Thursday
27 December, 2018
This
is a continuation of of our fall trip to Williamsburg, Virginia from
the last blog post.
Sunday
7 October, 2018
We
left the cruise ship after an early breakfast and Gary eventually got
a LYFT car to take us to the car rental agency in Newark, NJ. The
first car wasn’t big enough to carry all our luggage so Gary had to
do the paperwork for another one which did hold everything.
Our
plan was to drive to Rockville, Maryland, stay at a motel, and drive
to Williamsburg the next day. The I-95 corridor South of New York is
partially toll roads and partially freeways. As a driver, it is
sometimes difficult to tell which part you are going to end up on as
they are side-by-side. We drove for many miles on the toll road
before getting on the freeway portion. We stopped in one of the
center toll plaza’s for a rest stop and food and then continued on.
Our
motel was a Red Roof Inn which was not up to our normal motel
standards to say the lest. In late afternoon we drove to Washington
D. C., drove around the mall and parked at the Jefferson Memorial. It
was just prior to sunset as we walked along the Tidal Basin as the
lights came on. Pretty cool!
The
next day we drove on to Williamsburg and to the Powhatan Resort (Pow
ha tan), a Diamond Resorts time share. It is a very large property
and we had a 2 bedroom suite with an indoor hot tub. Pretty nice.
After
lunch and grocery buying, we crashed for the day.
Day
One.
We
explored the Jamestown Settlement and then drove the Colonial Parkway
to Williamsburg and had lunch at the “Mellow Mushroom” which had
just opened, Later, we drove the “Colonial Parkway” to Yorktown
and toured the visitor center. We followed this up by driving part of
the battlefield route and reading the roadside signs which told how
the different forces were deployed.
Day
Two
We
drove to the Norfolk Naval Base (largest US Naval base) for a bus
tour. The tour was 1:15 minutes long but ours got extended by an hour
as the bus broke down and we had to wait for a replacement. We passed
the time by asking the driver “Sea Stories” about his 32 year
Naval service.
Day
Three
Saw
the movie “Simple Favor”.
Day
Four
The
tail end of Hurricane Michael came through overnight and took down
some trees on the property. Lots of branches down and some damage to
property and cars. No electricity all day. Went to another movie
theater which had electricity and saw “First Man”.
Powhatan Resort with trees down on the right.
Day
Five
Drove
to Montpelier and toured President James Madison’s home which sits
on a hill with rolling fields below it.
View from the front of James Madison's house.
Next we drove to James
Monroe’s home, Highland, which the GPS took us over “Chicken
Mountain Road” to get to it, unfortunately, that was to the back
gate of the property. Never fully trust your GPS.
Monroe’s house
has a recent history update. A few years ago a local newspaper from
the period was discovered which mentioned a fire at the Monroe
property but it did not say what burned. Further investigation
showed a foundation which was not part of the present day dwelling
and it is believed to be for the original house. It hasn’t been
determined how or if to proceed from here as there are no known
original drawings on which to base the house design.
Huge tree in front of Monroe's house. Can you see Clyda?
We
next drove to nearby Monticello, to see Jefferson’s home. It was
late in the day but there were still large crowds around. We got one
of the last tours of the day. All very impressive.
For
dinner, Gary found a local restaurant on-line called the Moose Inn.
However, as we drove up, there was only one car and it was in a
“sketchy” part of town We decided there had to be a better place
to eat. Gary stopped for gas at a local station and had to go inside
to pay. For his 10 gallons of gas he also got a free piece of fried
chicken. He said it was very good. We eventually found a local
restaurant off the beaten path called “The Crescent Inn” and
according to the menu was “All home made”. It turns out that the
cook was Vietnamese. All in all, the food was quit good. Another
adventure while traveling.
Day
Six
This
being a Sunday I went to Mass only a short distance from Powhatan at
St Bede. It is an huge awesome church built completely in the round.
The pipe organ was humongous and had pipes both up front from floor
to ceiling as well as pipes in the back which had 6 foot trumpets
projecting out. The sound was incredible, especially when the
trumpets were played.
We
later again drove the “Colonial Parkway” back to Yorktown and
toured the remaining part of the Civil War battlefield we had not
seen previously including the site where Cornwall surrendered to
Washington.
Day
Seven
Drove
back to Washington D. C. area and stayed at a local motel. Later,
drove to Mt Vernon and toured Washington’s home. What a beautiful
view of the Potomac River from the front of the house. From the back
at a distance, the house looks to be made of large white stone blocks
but in reality it is wood siding shaped to look like blocks. At the
back of the house was a very large lawn which was unheard of for that
time period. Lawns were not in vogue.
Day
Eight
We
packed up for our return home later in the day and drove to the
Steven F Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum at Dulles International
Airport. The first order of business was lunch. Unfortunately, the
only choice was McDonald's. They could of at least had a food court
as there is plenty of space.
The
displays were incredible as so many large aircraft are displayed. I
found lots of old Navy stuff on display that I had worked with so
that made my day.
We
eventually went to Dulles International Airport for our respective
flights back home. We flew nonstop on Alaska Airlines to Los Angeles
while Cindy and Gary flew to San Francisco. We then had to wait for
the 8 PM Airbus which got us home about 10:30 PM. Son Tim had arrived
a day earlier so he picked us up from the Airbus.
We
were gone for 28 days and covered a lot of ground. We thank Cindy and
Gary for taking us along on a Grand Adventure.
To
be continued: The next post will be about Tim and my fall trip to
death Valley.
