Virginia Beach was pretty crowded for Memorial Day weekend, but it was a great amount of fun. I especially liked this mural that was just before getting to the beach.
I got lucky with this shot. All of the others had people in them - lots of people. We weren't on the part of the beach that made the news for all the garbage that was left behind, and we did our part by picking up our trash (and some of other people's). From the water, it appeared the fishing was pretty good, too. One day, we'll come back and do some fishing up there, too.
We spent some time checking out the Yorktown Battlefield, where General Cornwallis' army surrendered to end the Revolutionary War. Inside the Visitor's Center, they had a museum that was designed so you could walk through replicas of parts of the battleships that were used in the bay
see command tents that were pitched in the campaign grounds
and look at dioramas of various themes, such as the ceremonial surrender of the British troops.
After leaving the visitor's center, we stopped by the cemetery where many people had paid their respects by leaving ribbons, badges, and lapel pins on the wall outside the cemetery gates.
We saw some fortified positions
and Moore House, where the terms of surrender were negotiated
But most of the park was just empty fields or groomed forested areas with signs stuck in the ground identifying what that piece of land was used for during the final campaigns at Yorktown.
We did catch some animal sights, though, so that helped.
Going into downtown Yorktown, we saw the Victory Monument and some other neat things in town. The tall ships had dropped their sails, though, so I didn't take pictures. The plan was to take a sail on one, but the day we had planned to go, my foot swelled up - yet again. Besides, they ended up sold out for that day, too. Apparently, there was a school function that day.
We also went to Historic Jamestown, the site of the first successful English settlement in the New World. We started at Jamestown Settlement, a private living history museum, that was a couple of miles away from the actual settlement site. We learned the error of our way at the admission gate, and they gave us directions to the actual settlement site. They have a lovely monument at the entrance, though.
When we got to Historic Jamestown (the actual site) instead of Jamestown Settlement (the private museum), we saw some wildlife there, too.
Archeologists are still digging and finding relics, which are being housed in the museum on site, and they are recreating/restoring structures that were present at the time. For instance, this church is being rebuilt over the site (and preserving the remaining brickwork) that were originally built in the settlement.
There are also statues of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith. The guide who was taking a group around pointed out that Disney did get it wrong. Pocahontas did save Captain John Smith, but she married John Rolfe, not Captain Smith.
The museum sits behind the footprint of the original statehouse, where many of the foundation stones remain.
Inside the museum, there were loads of pieces that had been recovered from the grounds of the original settlement. In some cases, the missing pieces were drawn in to make it easier to see how each piece was used.
There was also the burial grounds for settlers who died during the first year.
Not all of the buildings were being rebuilt, but their footprints were well preserved.
There were multiple opportunities to see how things were done in the original Jamestown settlement, and it was a wonderful morning.
After Jamestown, we went to Historical Williamsburg. Williamsburg is the home of William and Mary University, and Colonial Williamsburg is no less groomed. It was a lovely place, with many of the streets paved in oyster shell. Over the years, though, we have seen many people in period dress and witnessed many of the artisans. I've seen blacksmiths working forges, leather smiths tanning and working leather, wool being spun, and many different things. It was also exceptionally hot, and we were tired after walking around Jamestown. Bruce had been having difficulty dealing with the heat. So, we decided to go back to the hotel. The plan was to ride a tall ship the next day and maybe return to Williamsburg if we felt up to it after the sail.
As it turned out, the tall ships had a special program they were doing for the schools that day, so we didn't get to sail. Plus, I woke up to my right foot the size of a football from the peroneal tendon swelling up, and I wasn't able to walk. So, I just spent the day laying around with my foot elevated and iced. Bruce took the opportunity to just lay around and rest.
We had a wonderful time in the Newport News/Yorktown/Williamsburg area of Virginia, both with the sights to see and the family we visited there! I'll leave you with some of the pictures of Colonial Williamsburg.
