Washington, DC

Days 257-259, April 16-18, 2011
Beltway Campground--$16 per night
No gas because we took the Metro every day

We have “done” Washington, DC! Our feet are tired, our backs are aching, our brains are bursting, our eyes are bleary but we sure did have an amazing time in town. We still can’t get over our good fortune at having found this gem of a campground so close to a Metro stop and just a short ride to all the free entertainment anyone could ever want. We even had free parking at the Metro over the weekend. A person could stay here for a month and still not see everything there is to see. Unfortunately we don’t have that kind of time.

I used to work for a company headquartered in DC so being back in town was a bit surreal for me. I had been here so many times but always with meetings to go to, presentations to give, company politics to navigate and never a whole lot of time to be a tourist. Jake had been here with his family when he graduated from boot camp, but had been here on their agenda, not his. This was our first time to just play and explore to our hearts’ content. I’ll condense the days since the only way to understand the greatness of the Smithsonian is to simply come and explore it yourself.

Here are the highlights:

Saturday—Natural History Museum. My favorite parts were:

· The dinosaur exhibits and remembering the scene from Night at the Museum when Ben Stiller plays fetch with Tyrannosaurus Rex
· Touching a piece of Mars
· Touching a meteorite
· The Hope Diamond

Jake’s favorite parts were:

· Touching a piece of Mars
· Dinosaurs
· Weird looking fish
· Earthquake and volcano exhibits and seeing where Seattle fits in

Sunday—National American History Museum. My favorite parts were:

· Michelle Obama’s inaugural ball gown
· Abe Lincoln’s top hat
· The original Jim Hensen Muppets
· “Canning” as something that used to be done
· Julia Child’s kitchen

Jake’s favorites parts were:

· Archie Bunker’s chair
· The original Jim Hensen Muppets
· Cheech and Chong’s album
· The Star Spangled Banner
· All of the Memorials

We took time out during both days to lunch at a Pub called the Castle and Elephant. The food was tasty and not terribly expensive for DC, considering, and we rationalized that we could afford to eat out since we weren’t paying for gas and the museums were free.

All day Saturday it rained so we confined ourselves to just the museum, along with thousands of other guests on spring break. It really got unbearable a few times but how great that so many kids were having fun in the museums. Sunday was a beautiful day so in the afternoon we hoofed it down the Mall to see the White House and visit the Washington Memorial, WWII Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and Korean Memorial. The Mall was full of people playing sports, having picnics, playing with their kids, and just enjoying the perfect spring weather. Most people visiting the Memorials were perhaps not as somber as they should have been given what the Memorials represent, but who can blame someone for having a springy countenance on a gorgeous spring day. Afterward paying our respects we turned around and walked all the way back down the Mall to the Capitol, two miles away. I’d say we logged a good 7 miles on Sunday.

Today we attacked the National Zoo and the Air and Space Museum. The zoo was…ummm…zoo-ey with so many strollers, children, teenagers, and exasperated parents. Jake and I aren’t real big on zoos, but we did enjoy watching the gorillas and could have stayed at that exhibit for hours if there hadn’t been so many people waiting for a good view. The funniest thing was when a female gorilla rushed the Plexiglas wall and slapped it 3 times before turning around and running back. You should have seen people jump! The cutest thing was watching a baby gorilla stand up ad beat its chest in an imitation of its elders.

We lunched at a Lebanese restaurant, great food, crappy service. I used to work at a Middle Eastern restaurant when I was in college so the food brought back good memories. I hope to stop at that restaurant when we’re in Boston. Our travels took us through Dupont Circle where I knew we’d have a good chance at finding Jake some new shoes. He had gotten a great pair of Merrells right before we left on this adventure and unfortunately they were not as rugged as we had hoped they’d be for costing over $100. But comfort is the main thing when you’re doing as much traipsing about as we’re doing so new shoes were in order. Luckily it was one stop shopping for us and now Jake has happy feet.

We had hoped to swing into the Archives Museum to see the Declaration of Independence but the line was around the corner so we decided to save it for “next time”. The Air and Space Museum was open until 7pm so we headed there. I was wearing my Tevas and my heels were feeling the abuse of walking all the way from Georgetown down to the Mall, so we half-heartedly explored the museum, probably not doing it justice at all. I was most interested in the Wright Brothers Exhibit but was let down since it was just a diluted version of what we had already seen at Kitty Hawk. I should have taken that into consideration.

We still have plenty of free firewood and both of us need a day to regroup after so much whirlwind sight seeing, so we have decided to stay here another night. It is strange that we need a break from our vacation and I can hear you groaning as you read this, but it is true that you have to just stop in one place and “be” at times. I think we are going to sleep very well tonight.

Civil War Battlefields and Arlington National Cemetary

Days 255-256, April 14-15, 2011
Beltway National Park Campground--$16 per night
Walmart—free
Gas $3.57

Jake and I are sitting in a campground that is smack dab in the middle of metropolitan life in Maryland. I can’t believe we were able to find a campground on the Metro line that costs only $16 per night, complete with hot showers and lots of firewood for the taking. We might just stay and tour DC longer than we had originally planned.

The day before last we decided to leave Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park and drop down into the valley on Hwy 213 out of Sperryville. It was the valley of dreams and songs and the lyrics of Oh Shenandoah played ‘round and ‘round in my head but the only part I could remember was: “Oh Shenandoah, I long to see you, Away you rolling river. Oh Shenandoah, I long to see you, Away, I'm bound away 'cross the wide Missouri”. I guess that’s not too bad since I hadn’t sung the song since grade school. Here was another place that Jake and I could easily call home but I fear we wouldn’t be able to afford the price tag. The places we did see for sale we being managed by Sotheby’s.

We stopped for gas in Orange and were delighted to find it for $3.57 a gallon. It makes me almost ill that I am relieved by that price tag but we had been listening to a DC radio station and they reported that the cheapest gas in town was $3.91. Jake figures that our trip will be about $5,000 more expensive now that gas prices have gotten so out of control but I am sure that everyone around the nation is just as incredulous as we are about the cost of fuel.

Our destination that day was the Civil War battlefields near Fredericksburg, VA, otherwise known as Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. A series of 4 major battles was fought in the area between the North and the South from December, 1862 to May, 1864. Under the leadership of Lee and Stonewall the South won twice, and under the leadership of Grant and Mead the North won twice. It was the last offensive by Grant and Mead that marked the beginning of the end of the confederacy.

As we approached on Hwy 20 we found our first marker for The Wilderness. The battle at The Wilderness was different from other battles because of the challenge of the terrain. The area was choked with dense thickets and undergrowth and soldiers from both sides became easily disoriented trying to find their way through. Many battles were instantaneous when soldiers of opposite sides stumbled upon each other; over 30,000 Union and Confederate soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing in only 2 days. For years afterwards skeletons and other evidence of war was found in the woods. We took the battlefield drive and in the serene calm of the afternoon tried to imagine how horrific it must have been for those involved. It was during this battle that Stonewall Jackson was shot by friendly fire, rushed away by ambulance to a southern plantation, and died shortly thereafter from his wound.

The battle that followed The Wilderness was the Battle of Spotsylvania. In 1864 Union and Confederate soldiers raced to Spotsylvania because its crossroads controlled the most direct route to Richmond. The Confederates arrived first and built a massive dirt wall called the “Mule Shoe” salient. Eventually Grant broke through the tip of the Mule Shoe and for 22 hours engaged Lee’s Confederates in the war’s most intense hand-to-hand combat. The most desperate fighting occurred at a bend in the earthworks now called the “Bloody Angle.” Reportedly soldiers stood on The Dead 5 deep while fighting, and the firing was so concentrated that bullets tore all the way through a large oak tree, leaving only a stump (that is now in the Smithsonian). We walked the path through the “Bloody Angle” and talked somberly about the ultimate price that so many people paid during the Civil War. It is a wonder there were any men at all left at the end of the war.

Last night we boondocked at Walmart in Fredericksburg, along with about 15 other rigs, and we talked about whether we wanted to see the Fredericksburg Battlefield the next day. It becomes overwhelming to try to process all the history and emotions that go along with really looking at the details of the Civil War. The Civil War we have been experiencing is a far cry from the stuff we learned in high school so many years ago, but perhaps teens are not old enough to grasp the immensity of that war or any war. But by this morning we were rejuvenated enough to tackle the battlefield. (It’s almost embarrassing to admit this when you think about the Union and Confederate soldiers who didn’t have a choice and who fought on even when they were hungry, exhausted and surely scared).

The Battle of Fredericksburg took place almost a year and ½ prior to The Wilderness and Spotsylvania. The Confederates held a fortified high ground in the town called Marye’s Heights through which ran Sunken Road. When the Union crossed the Rappahannock River and advanced, the Confederates used the Sunken Road as protection and were able to fire down on the waves of Union attackers as they approached. For two days Union soldiers advanced to no avail. It was a resounding victory for the Confederacy and left the remaining Union soldiers discouraged and humiliated. There are still 2 buildings standing on Marye’s Heights that saw the battle: a wooden shack that bears the scars of the bullets that ripped through it and an impressive brick house that now belongs to the College.



Each small square stone has 2-9 soldiers buried underneath.

We left the Fredericksburg National Cemetery and jumped onto I-95 N going toward Washington, DC. As if we hadn’t toured enough sacred ground already, we decided to make our next stop Arlington Cemetery. Being back on an east coast interstate was nerve-wracking and I was glad that I was navigating and Jake was driving. One of the things that we have discovered along the way is that Jake gets very frustrated reading intricate maps and I’m not very comfortable driving the camper in cities. The combination actually works to our advantage when we don’t try to switch it around to prove to the other that “I can do it!”
It was an easy get to find Arlington and the parking fee was reasonable. As we walked up toward the entrance we noticed that the place was teeming with kids; it dawned on us…oh…spring break! We wound our way through the throngs and made our way first to the Eternal Flame and the burial place of the Kennedy’s. Today was a beautiful, sunny day with trees loaded with blossoms and tulips fully open to the sun. The Cemetery is a lovely place to walk but emotions can spring up quickly as you look over the acres and acres of headstones and realize the commitment and sacrifice of so many. It is an overwhelming and heart-achingly real place.

I don’t think anyone can see all of Arlington National Cemetery and do it justice in a day, so Jake and I concentrated on a few areas: the Iran Rescue Mission, the Challenger, the USS Maine, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The Changing of the Guard was occurring just as we approached the Tomb so we stopped to pay our respects and watch the elaborate ceremony that accompanies the changing. Afterwards we meandered down the hill, away from other visitors, and admitted to each other that we had been near tears through much of our visit.

We are tucked away in the campground now, happy to be here. The trip from the cemetery to the campground was not without its challenges. I had Jake drive along the south side of the Mall on Constitution Ave toward the road to the campground, not ever thinking that we would be directed away from the Capitol since we have a camper on our back. We had no choice but to do what the officer in blue told us to do, ended up in a detour, got on a road heading south when we were supposed to go north, got turned around, and somehow ended up right where we were supposed to be. Thank you, Travel Gods. And now for grilling up that Costco tri-tip!

Jamestown, Yorktown, and Skyline Drive, VA

Days 254 and 255, April 12 and 13, 2011
Big Meadows Campground, Shenandoah Valley National Park--$17
Walmart—free
Gas $2.61 at Costco

We left Jim’s plantation and made our way back to the ferry, this time to tour Colonial Jamestown National Park. Four hundred years ago in 1607, 104 colonists—lead by John Smith—anchored in the James River and started Jamestown, the first English colony and capital of the Virginia Colony. The colonists went through trials and tribulations and in 1610 suffered through “the starving time” when only 90 of the then 300 or so colonists survived. Eventually supplies and more settlers arrived and the colony stabilized; burgesses were elected as a representative government of the people. It is this government that Bacon (from the previous post) eventually rose up against, burning Jamestown in the process.

There’s not much left of Jamestown, as you can imagine. There is a 1600’s church tower, the Memorial Church (built on the original church’s foundation), and several brick replicas marking the excavated foundations of the settlement. James Fort is also portrayed but what is most fascinating is the excavation that is currently being done. Numerous burial spots have been discovered inside the walls of the Fort, as the colonists had been ordered to keep the numbers of colonists that had died hidden from the Indians. Some of the bodies have been exhumed and examined to determine diet, reason for death, age, etc. The nearby museum displayed numerous artifacts found in and around the area; the strangest (for me) being an ear scraper…basically a 400-year-old Q-Tip that could also be used to clean under finger nails and scrape teeth. (There was also a pretty cool glassworks where glass is still being blown today.)



John Smith

While in the Jamestown gift shop, Jake asked the clerk for a restaurant recommendation and she emphatically told us we “had” to eat at 5 Forks, a local greasy spoon. The directions weren’t difficult so we decided to head that way. On the way out to our truck we overheard some folks that we had chatted with earlier discussing what they were going to do for lunch. We butted in and shared the recon we had done and don’t you know they followed up to the diner! Not too long after we were joined by yet another couple who had been listening to Jake’s and the clerk’s conversation. The recommendation was excellent: Jake= Rueben with chili fries, me= gyros with Greek fries. There’s no way I could even make much of a dent in the fries since the gyros was so big.

To keep from falling into a food coma, we headed out on Colonial Parkway to Yorktown. In 23 miles we traveled through 2 centuries. Yorktown was established in 1691 as a port town through which goods would come and customs paid. By the 1750’s it was a bustling community of around 1,800 and stately homes of men of money lined the main street. All of that changed in 1781 when the town was all but destroyed during the last major battle of the American Revolution. During that battle Lafayette and the French army joined George Washington and his troops to beat the British and end their control over the colony. Independence of the United States was secured.

By the time we walked through Yorktown Jake and I were both completely saturated with history and ready to just veg our brains for a while. We knew that a Walmart was in our future so we would be able to rent a movie or two and relax. When we got to the Walmart the reality that had been haunting us for weeks was driven home in the form of a Hewitt Jackson office…we had to do our taxes. Both Jake and I had been procrastinating since this year’s taxes were different from any other year we had filed. So much for relaxing. For the next hour and ½ we sat with Valerie as she worked her magic, crunching numbers and asking questions that we didn’t always have the answers to. But all’s well that ends well and we didn’t owe a dime.

Today we took Hwy 60 through Richmond, connected to Hwy 250 and worked our way toward Monticello. As we left Richmond we spotted a Costco so we had to stop. This was our first Costco since Austin, TX and Jake was craving a Costco dog and I wanted to buy feta…it’s so much cheaper at Costco than anywhere else. We almost had to physically restrain ourselves from loading up the cart with multiple jars of pepperoncinis, boxes of tomato soup, trays of tomatoes, and chunks of meat…there just isn’t room in the camper. We did, however, indulge in a tri-tip and are looking forward to cooking it over a campfire soon.

We ended up not stopping at Monticello since the admission fee was too steep for us. Instead we headed to Michie Tavern, ca. 1784. The tavern is listed in the 1,000 Things To Do Before You Die book, it was lunchtime, and we hadn’t had breakfast. The Ordinary serves a hearty Midday colonial fare of fried and baked chicken, biscuits and cornbread, mashed potatoes and gravy, BBQ pork, black-eyed peas, stewed tomatoes, coleslaw, and pickled beets. Jake and I sat in the original dining room surrounded by chinked walls that were centuries old and were served by wait staff in period attire. It was a fun experience and the food was great.

Our destination today was the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park, with camping about ½ through at Big Meadows. Skyline Drive is a continuation of the Blue Ridge Parkway…the one that we didn’t get to drive on since it was so foggy and miserable when we were in North Carolina. Today the weather was more cooperative and we could see for miles and miles across the Shenandoah Valley. While spring has sprung down below, it is still cold and wintery in the campground and Jake and I had to break out our warm camping clothes complete with stocking cap and scarf.

Chippokes Plantation and Williamsburg, VA

Days 252 and 253, April 10 and 11, 2011
Jim’s Plantation—free
Chippokes Plantation State Park, VA--$30

On Sunday we left our deluxe Walmart campground and headed down bumpy Interstate 664 to Hwys 17 and 10 to Chippokes Plantation State Park. We desperately needed showers after a couple of nights “dry camping” and Chippokes was the only campground on the map for miles and miles. We passed through Smithfield along the way and realized that it was “the Smithfield” of Smithfield hams. Suddenly we both had a craving for ham! More interesting than the ham, however, was the sign pointing to Bacon’s Castle.

Back in 1676 a 29-year-old planter named Nathaniel Bacon led an uprising against Virginia Governor William Berkley due to Berkley’s friendly policies toward the Native Americans even though they were attacking frontier settlements.  Bacon and other planters took matters into their own hands, attacking the Indians and chasing Berkley from Jamestown.  Bacon then sent a group of men across the James River to Surry County to create a stronghold; they took over Arthur Allen’s home and occupied it for 4 months.  The name “Bacon’s Castle” stuck even though I’m sure Mr. Allen would not have preferred it.

Chippokes turned out to be a pretty interesting place to camp for a night. The plantation lands were donated to the State of Virginia with the contingency that the State continue to farm the land and make a park for others to enjoy. The plantation home, River House, and all of the outbuildings and slave quarters remain, and a Museum of Farm and Forestry is open to the public. We enjoyed paying attention to the animals and walking back in time through the exhibits. There were even a few items on display that we couldn’t figure out the function of. If you’re going to pay $30 for camping at least having a museum and a potbelly pig make up for the pain. Back at camp we took hot showers and scrounged enough firewood from other sites to have a roaring fire.



A pig greaser to keep bugs off the pigs.

Today we caught the free ferry from Scotland over to Williamsburg to tour the colonial village. Tickets to the living history village cost $36 but the restored village covers many, many acres and buildings from the 1700’s abound. Actors in period dress roam the streets and lead tours through several buildings; one actor was simply sitting in “his” breezeway watching people walk by. Now that’s a tough job. We enjoyed touring a plantation, the Governor’s Palace, the blacksmith shop, the Capitol, the Goal, and the Magazine and Guardhouse. We lunched at The King’s Arms Tavern (Jake had a ye olde cheeseburger and I had a ye olde chicken salad) and watched Lafayette gallop into town and tell his side of the story of how he came to be involved in the American Revolution. Our last stop was the Decorative Arts Museum and Folk Art Museum and after that we were wiped out.

Just to bring you up to speed in case your History class didn’t cover it, Williamsburg, previously called Middle Plantation, became the capital of the Virginia Colony after the statehouse in Jamestown burned in 1698. Royal Governor Francis Nicholson named the town in honor of King William III since, as you know, the area was under British rule at that time. The Revolution was decades away. Eventually taxation issues caused the people of the area to rise up against the Crown and petition for independence and eventually Virginia Colony became the State of Virginia.

This evening on the way back to Chippokes on the ferry a gentleman by the name of Jim started talking with us. It turns out that his family history in the area goes back over 300 years and he still lives in the big plantation house on the family farm. One of his ancestors participated in Bacon’s Rebellion. We were amazed and flattered when he invited us back to his 600-acre farm to camp near his woods. He rode his quad out later this evening and sat and visited with us for a couple of hours. It was a fascinating conversation and added such a dimension to really “knowing” the area. By the end of the evening he invited us to extend our visit and help him restore an old slave cabin and fix up an old house on another of his pieces of property. If only we could. One of his parting comments was, “Well, now you know that there’s at least one good Confederate in the South.” Thanks so much, Jim.