Approaching The End

We left our lodging just a bit outside of Harper's Ferry and before heading to the Antietam Battlefield, we took a short stop in the little town of Burkittsville, MD. Burkittsville is supposedly the town involved in the movie "The Blair Witch Project" from years back, but that's not why we went there. We went there because of a weird little place called "Gravity Hill" or "Spook Hill". Take a look at this picture. If you pull your vehicle up to the Speed Limit sign and then stop it completely, you're looking at an uphill rise in front of you. If you put the vehicle in Neutral and take your foot off of the brakes, the vehicle begins to roll forward, UP THE HILL! We tested it out, three times and it worked every time! Before we crested the hill, we'd reached a speed of about 10 MPH. It was a unique experience. Local legend has it that ghosts of Union Soldiers from the Civil War are actually pushing your vehicle up the hill. Call me skeptical, but I'm pretty sure that what we're dealing with here is either an optical illusion or a weird trick of gravity.

After experiencing the weirdness of Gravity Hill, we moved on to Antietam. When we arrived, we watched a 26-minute orientation film and then took a driving tour of the battlefield. Seeing the places on the battlefield in person enhanced what we'd learned in the film. A very knowledgeable park ranger also filled us in on some of the finer points of the battle. Below is the Burnside Bridge, named for Union General Ambrose Burnside, a key landmark from the latter parts of the battle at Antietam.

Before leaving Antietam, we took a few moments to browse the Antietam bookstore. Erik took a few moments to imitate his favorite president...Abraham Lincoln.

After Antietam, we took a leisurely drive to our lodging for the night, just outside of Harrisburg, PA. We spent a relaxing couple of hours swimming and checking out the town we're in.

Tomorrow morning, we'll be up early to open the Visitor's Center at Valley Forge. We'll spend some time there before taking the long drive home. If all goes according to plan, we'll be sleeping in our own beds tomorrow night.

Reaching Old Heights

We got up this morning and headed for Harper's Ferry National Historic site. The first thing we did was to find a place to park on the Maryland side of the rivers. Then we hit the trail up to the heights...Maryland Heights to be specific. Here we enjoyed the magnificent view of the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers, as well as the town of Harper's Ferry. Many years ago, Steve had been up to this location and now we all experienced it together. It was a strenuous hike, but we made it, up and back.

On the way back down, Erik and Anne picked out walking sticks from the woods. Anne found hers to be very beneficial. Erik's? Not so much!

When we got back down to the car, we were able to see where we'd been off in the distance.

We then drove to the Visitor's Center for the park and took a shuttle bus to the Historic District of Harper's Ferry. Here, we learned about John Brown and his raid on the armory at Harper's Ferry. The building below is the reassembled fire station where John Brown and his surviving accomplices were captured. John Brown was ultimately hanged for his actions at Harper's Ferry.

Tomorrow, we're heading towards the Antietam battlefield in western Maryland.

From Mayberry to Luray

We left Mayberry on Thursday morning with a last view of the Mount Airy water tower...

...and the TV Land statue of Andy Griffith and Ron Howard as Opie in front of the Andy Griffith Playhouse.

After leaving Mount Airy, we hopped onto the Blue Ridge Parkway just over the border in Virginia.

We immediately ran into a ton of fog, to the point where it was very difficult to see to drive. An early stop at the Mabry Mill was clear...

...but soon we were back in the fog and couldn't see anything. We know that there were things out there, but as was the case with this mountain, everything was "lost".

Finding the Blue Ridge Parkway hard to navigate, we took a detour into Roanoke, VA. We went to a marketplace in town and saw from a distance the famed "Roanoke Star", a large star on a hillside over the city of Roanoke. Later, we drove up the mountain and stood at the base of the star to enjoy the view of Roanoke.

From Roanoke, we went back to the Blue Ridge Parkway and spent the night at a lodge on the parkway. Friday morning, Steve and Anne woke up early and took a one-mile walk around the lake outside of our lodge. Everything was clear. By the time everyone had their showers and we got back out on the parkway, everything was as soupy as it had been the day before. Thankfully, this didn't last forever and eventually things cleared up. We got off of the parkway after a short distance and visited the "Natural Bridge". This land was once owned by Thomas Jefferson and surveyed by George Washington. Now, even though it's quite a sight, it's more of a tourist trap. Still, it was a nice hike and visit.

After the Natural Bridge, we went down the road a short distance and for the third year in a row, we saw a tribute to Stonehenge. This one was made out of polystyrene blocks that were painted. It's called "Foamhenge".

After Foamhenge, we drove the remainder of the Blue Ridge Parkway and onto Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. We got off in the town of Luray and visited Luray Caverns, which is known for its underground organ that plays with the assistance of hammers connected to stalactites. Here's the organ...

...and here's what one of the hammers looks like.

We ended the day with a quick dinner at the Luray Tastee Freez, known in some quarters as "Tastee Frizzle Frazzle", before enjoying a little dessert at the same establishment.

Tomorrow morning, we're off to the Harper's Ferry area.

Greetings From Mayberry!

Here we are, in Mayberry USA! We left the Charleston, SC area this morning and took a just under 300 mile drive to Mount Airy, NC, the town where Andy Griffith grew up and the inspiration for the town of Mayberry in the "Andy Griffith Show". We arrived midday and the first thing that the kids did was get into trouble. Sure...there's no one in that car at the moment, but you just know that Barney Fife must be lurking somewhere around here!

We walked down to Main Street and dropped into the Snappy Lunch restaurant, mentioned more than once on the "Andy Griffith Show", for a bite to eat. Steve and Anne both had the famous Pork Chop Sandwich, which was good indeed!

After Snappy Lunch, we walked nextdoor to Floyd's Barber Shop. The gentleman doing work in the background has been cutting hair at this place for over 50 years. He was on his way out though, having to go to a funeral, so Steve got his trim from the woman working on him below. She trimmed around the ears and the neck, leaving his vacation beard alone at his request. She even trimmed his eyebrows! Talk about pampering! The best part of the visit though was the conversation. There were men just hanging out in the shop, doing nothing but chatting. We talked about everything from sports to politics and had a great time doing it. Sometimes you forget how nice and polite people in small southern towns can be. This was a real treat!

Later, we worked our way to Wally's Service station...

...where we hopped into an old Mayberry styled patrol car and received a tour of the city. It was a hoot! The tour guide even ran the siren for us!

As I sit now, I'm in a room at the Mayberry Motor Inn where I was very surprised to find out that they had wireless internet. Who knew? Apparently, at least in certain places, Mayberry has gone modern.

Tomorrow, after seeing a couple more Mayberry landmarks in the morning, we'll be heading for the Blue Ridge Parkway. We'll be spending the night in a lodge on the Parkway, so we may not have the same modern convenience of the internet that we have here. We'll write again when we're able.

Of Palmettos and Charleston

The day got off on a disappointing note. "South of the Border", a cheesy tourist trap kind of place that we were looking forward to visiting, wasn't open to us when we arrived at 7:30 AM. In spite of the fact that they claim to be 24 hours, all that's really 24 hours is a restaurant. Everything else fails to open until 9:00 AM or so. We took this picture (before I doctored it) and then left unhappy.

We moved on to Charleston, SC to a warm, but beautiful day. We bought our tickets and took a boat into Charleston Harbor to visit Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were shot...which in this case were cannon shots.

Fort Sumter was originally a much taller fort, at least until the Union Army battered it years into the Civil War. While the actions of the Confederecy caused the initial surrender at the start of the war, it was mostly fire in the soldiers quarters and lack of supplies that actually caused the surrender. The Confederate bombardment itself did little damage to the fort.

Here is a shell that's still embedded in one of the walls of the fort.

After our boat ride back from the fort, we visited the South Carolina Aquarium, which was located right next to the docks where out boat returned to. It was a smallish aquarium, but nicely done. Here was a presentation in their large tank that involved divers feeding the fish.

We enjoyed our visit at the aquarium, which ended up being nicer than its understated exterior suggested it might be.

After the aquarium, we headed into the city of Charleston and went to a marketplace where we visited a lot of small shops. After the shops and dinner, we headed to our hotel for the evening.

First Flight

We began the day today, after a 100-minute or so drive, at Kitty Hawk. After checking in at the ranger station, we walked around the grounds a while, checking out the monuments.

We learned that on the day of first flight, December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright took turns flying their plane. Orville was the pilot on the first successful flight, which only went 120 feet and lasted 12 seconds. Each successive flight went further, with Orville and Wilbur alternating. While the first three flights of 120, 175 and 200 feet were certainly successful, the Smithsonian had set guidelines for successful powered flight that stipulated that it must go over 300 feet and finish at equal or higher ground. On the fourth flight, Wilbur took a little more of a chance, going to a higher altitude and managed 852 feet, well over the required distance. Below, you see the takeoff point and the three near flights in the foreground. The last flight is well off in the distance.

This is a sculpture, dedicated in 2003 for the 100th anniversary of the flight. This sculpture shows the positioning of all in attendance during the first flight, including the person who took the famous picture of the first flight.

After Kitty Hawk, we took the short drive to Roanoke Island and visited the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. Here, we learned about the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island and about efforts to colonize the U.S. in this area. The kids also learned to make clay pots in the style of the Algonquin Indians.

After Fort Raleigh, we hit the road for a couple hundred miles to our end of the day destination, Fayetteville, NC.

Tomorrow, we'll head towards our southernmost point, visiting Fort Sumter in Charleston, SC. This will complete the Civil Warf trifecta of Fort Sumter (Beginning), Manassas (First major battle) and Appomattox Court House (Essentially the end).

Colonial Times

Today, we stepped back to Colonial times by spending most of the day at Colonial Williamsburg. It was an entertaining and informative day, where we visited a number of buildings and listened to people somewhat in character tell their stories.

We began our visit with a tour of the Governor's Palace.

The kids though couldn't help but get themselves into a bit of trouble, which they paid for in the stocks.

We also got to visit a couple of original jail ("Gaol") cells that date back to the 1700's.

Erik wasn't all that sure about the jail cell "throne".

Towards the end of the day, Rebecca and Erik paid a little visit to Thomas Jefferson.

We finished the day with another brief visit to Jamestown, to see the multimedia presentation in their Visitor's Center that we'd missed the day before. After that, we hit the road and are now safely resting for the evening in Virginia Beach, VA.

Tomorrow, we expect to visit Kitty Hawk and the town of Manteo in eastern North Carolina.

Endings and Beginnings

Today was a day of both endings and beginnings, with the endings coming first. We began the day at Appomattox Court House, the site of Robert E. Lee's surrender to Ulysses S. Grant, for all intents and purposes ending the Civil War. The photo below is of the McLean house. It was in the parlor of this house that the surrender was signed. Wilmer McLean himself is an odd story. He lived very near Manassas, to the point where action in this first major battle of the Civil War took place around his home. Because of this, he moved away from the Manassas area and the action of the war to keep his family safe. With the surrender taking place at his new home, he was around the beginning of major fighting at Manassas and the essential end of the war at Appomattox.

Here, on the steps of the McLean house, Rebecca surrenders to Erik, or is it really vice versa?

From Appomattox Court House, we drove to the Colonial Williamsburg area. We went first to a place called Jamestown Settlement, which is a kind of living museum of Jamestown. Here was saw a film and a lot of information in the forms of replicas and dioramas. Below is a replica of one of the ships that brought settlers to Jamestown.

Erik tried on some armour.

We also saw a musket firing demostration.

From the Jamestown Settlement location, we moved on to the actual Jamestown location, where we saw a glass blowing demostration.

Rebecca also took the time to pose with a statue of Pocahontas, who oddly enough took the name of "Rebecca" after being baptized.

We left Jamestown and checked into our hotel. After walking to a couple of local restaurants and finding them jammed with people, to the extent where we'd have to wait a long time just to get seated, we opted for dinner at the restaurant right next to our hotel. To the absolute horror of Rebecca, who complained a lot about the location, the restaurant next to our hotel where we ended up eating was a...

Really...I couldn't make this up. For what it was, the food was actually pretty good too. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

So that was it for the day...begun at the place where the Civil War ended and ended at the place where our American civilization essentially began.

Virginia is for Battlefields

We began the day at the National Park that includes the Civil War battlefields named Fredricksburg, Spotsylvania, Chancelorsville and the Wilderness. We spent most of our time at Fredericksburg, the site of a slaughter of Union troops...a very sad story. There were moments that celebrated the positive though, as was the case with this statue, dedicated to a Confederate soldier who gave water to wounded Confederate and Union soldiers at the risk of his own life.

Below is the "Sunken Road", where Confederate soldiers took up an almost inpenetrable position as part of the Union slaughter.

At the park for the Wilderness battlefield, we saw the burial plot for Stonewall Jackson's amputated arm. The rest of Stonewall Jackson, who died soon after he lost his arm, is buried elsewhere.

After the battlefields, we headed towards the Charlottesville area to visit Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. It was an interesting place, not only in the buildings, but also in the elaborate gardens.

Here are Anne, Erik and Rebecca on the back steps, which was the entry point for our tour.

Before leaving the property, we paid a visit to Jefferson's grave.

After Monticello, we took a short drive to our hotel and after checking in, went out for a quick dinner. Erik is splashing around in the pool at this very moment. We'll be heading off to bed soon and then we'll get up early to head towards Appomattox Court House.

We're at the 1025 mile mark of the trip, low because we spent so much time in the Baltimore/D.C. area, riding trains and such. The mileage will be picking up from this point on.