Raleigh-Durham, Greensboro and Charlotte

We have covered a bit of ground since our last post, all without internet access, so we have a bit of catching up to do.

We left the Lynchburg area, and Virginia (finally!) and went south to Greensboro, NC. Stacy's friend, Beth, lives in Durham, so we stayed close by to visit her and to see the sights.

Beth was a great tour guide! We drove through Chapel Hill and Durham and out through the countryside.  Even though it had been nearly 20 years since we last visited, it was just like it was yesterday.

Beth and Stacy, old buddies

Saturday is college football day, and in the south you know what that means! The three of us went for a glass of wine in the afternoon. On three screens there were -- you guessed it -- UNC, NCS and Duke, all playing live. You gotta love the South!

In Durham, there is a company called Organic Transit, which has developed something called the Elf.  It is classified as a bicycle, but it is so much more. There is a solar panel on the roof, and a small battery pack that fits inside. It is covered, has a windshield and head lights. It has a storage compartment for groceries or a briefcase. It can even pull a child trailer. Beth and I happened to wander by the showroom, just as one of the company guys showed up, and he let us in to see them. VERY COOL!  I want to be the West Coast distributor.

The Elf bike....you should get one!!!

Jack and I went into Greensboro on Sunday. We had hoped to visit the International Civil Rights Museum, which is in the old Woolworth store where four African Americans decided in 1960 that enough was enough...and went in to be served at the soda fountain. Unfortunately, new winter hours are in effect and it was closed on Sunday and Monday.

The International Civil Rights Museum

We did go to the Greensboro Historical Museum, which was really interesting.  They were hosting a pageant of some type, with dozens of young ladies all dressed in white. They looked like angels.

This is a pretty area. Below are just some random things we liked....

The Millennium Arch Sculpture...very intricate with provocative images

The lake on Duke's campus...very peaceful

The Blue Cross/Blue Shield Building in Durham, far more dramatic than this picture shows. I don't know how it stays up!

We are now in Charlotte...but have nothing to report yet.... we'll be back!

HAPPY APPALACHIAN BIRTHDAY!

Yesterday, Oct. 24, was Stacy's birthday (her 29th). We spent it in Virginia (still) driving about 75 miles from our campground near Lynchburg into the Blue Ridge Mountains along the Appalachian Trail. It was stunningly beautiful, as Virginia says goodbye to Fall and begins to welcome winter. It was 30 degrees last night, and a gorgeous sunny day today with the wind blowing leaves off the trees.

The Blue Ridge Parkway winds its way through the mountains, right at the top of the ridge,  crossing the Appalachian Trail in a few places along the way. There were spectacular views off both sides of the road.

After about 50 miles, the parkway enters Shenandoah National Park. Two weeks ago this road would have been closed due to the government shutdown.

Stacy's birthday right ON the famous Appalachian Trail. (That's the trail marker just behind her.)

"AT" trail marker

From here we are trying to go to Durham, NC to visit an old college friend of Stacy, and then to Charlotte, NC to visit my great friend from high school. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes not. This is one of the "nots". Turns out the CGs are full around Durham, and we are parked at Starbucks in Lynchburg trying to figure out the least inconvenient path. Oh well, all part of the journey. :)

Driving through the Shenandoah Valley

We are staying in a beautiful campground, north of Lynchburg, VA.

We took off west today, heading over the Blue Ridge Mountains, through the Shenandoah Valley, and up again into the Appalachians. We ended up in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

The terrain here is magnificent, with wide rivers and crooked creeks. The woods are almost through their colors, and lots of the trees are bare. The weather ranged from bright sun to hail. 

And White Sulphur Springs has the Greenbriar Resort, which, for the past 225+ years has been a destination for people escaping the stickiness and heat of the lower states. It was just magnificent, with huge rooms filled with overstuffed chairs, and verandas overlooking green gardens. Presidents have vacationed here. Golf was introduced in America near here, and Sam Snead was pro at that club for lots of years. During the Cold War, the "bunker" that would have housed Congress if they had to flee from Washington D.C. is also here.

The Greenbriar, White Sulphur Springs, West Virgini

On our way home, we took a little side road up to the Big Bear Winery.  

The tasting room was closed, but our new best friend, Robin, was more than happy to open up and let us taste their wines.  It was set on an old farm...

...and the tasting room opened onto an open-walled barn, furnished with random unmatched tables and chairs, and chandeliers, a big fireplace, and a piano. 

Oh, and Sam, the dog. 

And wine.

Appomattox Court House, VA

We left the Richmond area yesterday, to make our way west toward the Shenandoah Valley.

Along the way, we stopped to explore Appomattox Court House, which is both the full name of a town, and the place where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses Grant  to finally end the Civil War. It was another stirring moment on this trip of on-going stirring moments.

There is a clearing in the woods a few miles from town, which is actually billed as the last headquarters for the Confederate army. There are no buildings, and the sign says that General Lee and his advisors sat on horse blankets on the ground, finally coming to the realization that they had lost the war.  Richmond had fallen, and Union troops (under George Custer, curiously enough) had gotten to their supply train before they did.

This horribly, divisive, deadly war ended with two men meeting quietly in a small town in western Virginia. Grant sent food to Lee's troops because they had not eaten in several days, allowed each of them to keep their horses, "paroled" them (they were technically POW's) and let them go home.

Appomattox Court House

McLean House, where Lee and Grant met to sign the surrender

The room where the surrender was formalized...Lee on the left, Grant on the right

Amazing.

Fredericksburg, VA

Fredericksburg cemetery

We stopped at Fredericksburg yesterday on our way back down I-95 towards Richmond.

15,000 men died here, mostly Union Army, in just 2 days. Only 3,000 of them are identified. It was a real slaughter, one apparently driven by Gen. Burnside's ego and hubris. Wave after wave of union soldiers sent to their death at point blank rage. Subsequently, Lincoln relieved him of command.

After viewing a video presentation that is exceptionally well-done, we walked from the Visitor Center along the trail along the "Sunken Road. Here the Confederate soldiers, protected by a stone wall, fired down on the waves of Union soldiers that were trying to take this spot. The Union soldiers were trying to climb up this hill from the river, without any cover.

This home stands on Marye's Hill, where the Confederate troops had the high-ground advantage

The walk ends at the cemetery, where one sees acres and acres of markers.

The Union cemetery at Fredericksburg

The rows graves of Union soldiers who were identified by name

A soldier whose name was known

The rows of markers for unknown Union soldiers

A marker for unknowns...the two numbers are the grave site number (N44) and the number of bodies here (4)

Very sobering.  We were very quiet when we left.

Back to DC !!! (October 17-20)

As we hunkered down in Virginia Beach last week, and as the government ground its way to whatever the #&%*%$  they finally came up with, we decided to roll back up I-95, and try D.C. again. What the heck! We're retired!

We found a beautiful campground, this time a regional park south of Arlington in Virginia near Mount Vernon. A little farther out than before, but a much more peaceful setting.

We spent Friday and Saturday in Washington, D.C. We had planned to spend a few more days here, but circumstances (darn them!) conspired once again to keep us away. This time it wasn't the government. The campground's water system failed due to a power pole going down on the road leading into the park. No water. No toilets. We left.

BUT...before all that happened, we had a great time exploring our nation's capitol.  Our photos are limited though , since many of the sites restrict photography, and what we took didn't turn out very well. Here's a brief, abridged recap:

On Thursday, we drove to Mount Vernon, which was only about 20 minutes from our campsite.

Mt. Vernon, overlooking the Potomac River 

George and Martha, and their grandchildren (oh, and Stacy)

On Friday, we went through the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum, which was awesome! From Leonardo Da Vinci's conceptual sketches, to the Space Shuttle...wow! (No photos, sorry.)

Then we took a tour of the Capitol Building: interesting, but sort of frustrating because there were so many tours taking place at one time that we were sort of rushed from one very interesting place to the next. Still, we were impressed at how incredibly beautiful our Capitol Building is.

A gorgeous day, and a gorgeous Capitol Building

We walked over the the Library of Congress, and wandered through the various displays there.

Library of Congress

We ended our day with dinner at Old Ebbitts Grill, an historic establishment near the White House where the powerful hang out. (We had a great meal, but did not see anyone we knew.)

On Saturday, we started at the Lincoln Memorial, which gave us both chills.

We made our way down the mall to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and to the World War II Memorial. There were many veterans present from both wars. Jack and I both had tears in our eyes to think of the thousands of war dead over the course of our country's history.

Vietnam War Memorial bronze 

Vietnam Nurse's Memorial statue

WW II Memorial

We then went to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. What a collection of STUFF! It was great.

By this time, we had tuckered ourselves out, so we headed back to camp.

As much as we would have liked one more day in D.C., we feel so blessed to have been able to see what we did. Both of us agree that every American should be incredibly proud of how breathtakingly beautiful our nation's Capitol is.

Virginia Beach, Virginia

We finally gave up on Washington DC. When congress decides to behave more responsibly, we hope to be back.

Sunday, we drove south to Virginia Beach. The weather was grey and rainy, but the roads provided clear sailing, with only a little traffic. And here we are.

We chose to stay at First Landing State Park, which is right on the Chesapeake Bay.  This is where the Jamestown group landed in 1607, then went up river a bit to start their colony.

Sunday night we took a walk down to the Bay, and were almost blown away! The wind was intense! The beach is right along the shipping channels, and there were several immense freighters spaced along the bay.

Walkway out to the beach

Monday we thought we would outsmart a dysfunctional Congress and visit a STATE park a little south of here. However, because we would have to pass through a NATIONAL seashore in order to reach it, we were stymied, and facing another sign regarding the federal shut down. (Gnashing of teeth!!)

We walked out onto a fishing pier, and saw a couple of hardy souls surfing!  We tried to take a walk on the beach, but we felt like we were getting sand blasted, so gave up.

Pretty, huh?

Yesterday was quite a bit nicer, and we decided to drive the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel-Bridge. This is a 27 mile crossing of the Chesapeake Bay consisting of 2 mile-long tunnels, many miles of low slung causeway, two man-made islands, a national wildlife refuge, and a couple of miles of a high bridge. It was actually pretty cool!  It runs from Virginia Beach to the "Delmarva" Peninsula (made of of parts of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, thus the name!)

The Chesapeake Bay Tunnel-Bridge

Two lanes, each direction...for MILES!

 That side of the Bay is very rural, and beautiful. We went to a small town called Cape Charles

Cape Charles, Virginia

I guess during the summer it is CRAWLING with tourists, but our time there was quiet and wonderful.
And we discovered acres and acres of cotton fields.

Cotton!!!

We are not sure what is next on the agenda....but I'm betting it will be a 'venture!

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

Let me first say this was far heavier than either of us expected. Walking through the visitor center and into the gorgeous hallowed grounds, being among the tens of thousands who have given their lives in the name of liberty and freedom, it was hard to hold back tears.

In the distance, the Robert E. Lee Memorial.
The grave of JFK, RFK and the rest of the Kennedy's (not visible) is below it on that hillside.

Just a handful of the thousands of men and women buried here.

The gates through which JFK's casket -- and so very many others -- were carried.
(Significant to us because we watched the procession on black and white TV way back in 1963.)

Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers of WWII

Consistent with so much of our Washington visit, we were disappointed to discover that the Eternal Flame at JFK's gravesite was under construction. So we didn't actually get to see his grave, but they did have an "interim" Eternal Flame.

One little "Easter Egg" for me (Jack) was this: I remembered that my birth mother, Janie Lou Edwards (nee Grogaard) had an older brother who had been a Captain in the Coast Guard. I checked the kiosk and found him. He was, in fact, buried at Arlington, so we went to pay our respects. It's a little ironic, yet altogether appropriate in my mind, that Andrew Grogaard was the only member of my mother's family who she had ever told about me.

Andrew, I salute you. Wish I'd known you.

Washington, D.C. (on hiatus)

Jack and I have worked our entire lives, paying taxes, paying Social Security, Jack serving in the military, and FINALLY (sort of) retiring. We thought it would be so COOL to finally visit our nation's capital and spend some unhurried time visiting the monuments, museums and seat of government that we have heard and read about all our lives.

It was.

Despite the federal shut-down and lousy weather, we really enjoyed our day in D.C.

Jack & Stacy in front of the  Capital Building

We are staying in a lovely RV park in College Park, Maryland. It is rainy, grey and cold.  We took the train into D.C.. When we got off the train, we went to the Spy Museum which is privately operated and, thus, open. It had its corny spots, but overall it was very interesting, informative and cool.

On our way out through the gift soppy we were approached by a young man with recorder, microphone, etc. He said he was with NPR and asked if he could interview us about how the shutdown was affecting our lives (and our visit to Washington). We said sure, and expressed our disappointment, never thinking it would actually find airtime. But, on the train ride back to College Park Jack got a text from our friend Kar in Portland saying he had just heard us on the radio. At least someone listened!

We wandered around the Capital Mall area and took one of those "hop on/hop off" bus tours. But most of the buildings were closed due to the Federal government's inability to decide on a budget. We were, however, able to sit in the gallery of the House of Representatives, and visit the Supreme Court.

The Capital building through the fog

The Capital, the White House, the Smithsonian and all other museums and monuments were closed.  We talked with several security officers in the Capital and the Supreme Court who are on their 9th day without pay, hoping that they will receive retroactive pay when the government finally gets their act together. We were inconvenienced, but these people were worrying about paying their mortgage.

Barricades, barricades, barricades

Federal workers....these people are not getting paid

The White House (this is as close as we could get)

Down the mall...beautiful!!

The original Smithsonian..."Notes from the Castle"

We hope to be able to go into D.C. one more time before we leave this area to tour around (certainly not INTO) the Lincoln memorial, the Vietnam memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, and the Pentagon.

Although we haven't been able to view a large portion of what is available here, we both agree that our nation's capital is a magnificent city, and we will be back!