We sure eat good on the road

On the road again April 9, 2010 – April 23, 2010 Time to hit the road again, or at least try to. When we hooked the car up to the motor home the lights would not work and we had just had everything taken care of for the new car. So, our first stop was at the shop that had installed the wiring for the car. It turned out that the connection this time is not as tight as it was on the old car and we had pushed the connection in to tight. When we finally arrived at our campground near St. Augustine the battery on the car was dead, luckily a man at the campsite behind us had a battery booster. The mileage from being towed had also been added to the odometer, which is not supposed to happen. Turned out that there is a very definite order that things have to be done in getting the car ready to be towed after doing things right we have had no more problems. The first day we went into St. Augustine and Castillo de San Marcos the fort that protected the city. Our main purpose was to replace some photos we lost from the last time we were here. The second day we headed north towards the Georgia border to Amelia Island and Fort Clinch. In 1842 the U.S. government bought the land on the tip of Amelia Island on which to build a military installation to guard the mouth of the St. Mary’s River. Construction began in 1847 and by 1860 was only partially completed with not a single cannon placed in position. The Confederates quickly took control, as no federal garrison was present and established batteries but did no other work. In 1862 the Confederates withdrew as union troops advanced the Union then began to quickly complete the fort and was near completion when in 1867 work was halted and the post deactivated. The fort was maintained on caretaker status until early 1898 when repairs were started after the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana harbor, but by Sept. 1989 all troops were removed. The last time the fort was put into service was during World War II when the Coast Guard, in joint operation with the army and Navy established and maintained surveillance and communications system within the fort. In viewing the fort it is easy to see the difference in the beginning work and then the later work, as the bricks are two different colors. On our last day we headed towards Jacksonville and Fort Caroline National Memorial near the mouth of the St. John’s River. The French tried to establish a settlement and claim in North America in 1564, but starvation, soured relations with the Indians and attacks by the Spanish ended this attempt. The French attacked the Spanish in 1568 and burned the fort. The Spanish rebuilt it but later abandoned the fort in 1569. We then headed to Kingsley Plantation; unfortunately it was only opened on the weekend and today was Monday. The plantation was established in 1814 by Zephaniah Kingsley and is the oldest standing plantation house in Florida. By the time we left St. Augustine Delilah was able to run up and down the steps to the motor home by her self. She is really getting to be a big girl. Our next stop was at Fort McAllister State Historic Park in Georgia. We spent two days exploring the earthwork fortifications. The fort was the southernmost fortification in Savannah’s defense and also the most active. As well as the end of Sherman’s march to the Sea. The advantage of an earthen ort compared to a brick one is that overnight any damage could be quickly repaired and by morning the fort was whole again. Henry Ford bought the site and began restoration during the late 1930’s. In 1958 the International Paper Company bought the property from the Ford estate and gave the site to the State of Georgia. Delilah has discovered that walks are fun and there is a lot to investigate, but she still thinks they are also a good time to jump on Sampson and try to get him to chase her, so she usually walks/runs two or three times farther than we walk. It is now onto Williamsburg and the beginning of our summer long stay in Virginia. Our first stop in the area was at Shirley Plantation, which we had been by before but never taken the time to go through and hear the history. The plantation was first settled in 1613 by Sir Thomas west and named West Sherley Hundred, then in 1638 a portion of the land was granted to Edward Hill, beginning the Hill/Carter occupation and through time the name shortened to Shirley Plantation. The property has been in the same family, now the eleventh generation, since the 1638 grant and is the oldest working plantation in the nation. In 1723 the only remaining Hill, Elizabeth married John Carter, who soon started the current house. It was here that Ann Hill Carter was born and later married Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee, the parents of General Robert E. Lee. The house is largely in its original state. On the way home we stopped at Sherwood Forest Plantation, home of John Tyler the 10th President, the house was closed but we did walk up and get a picture of it. The next day we went to Norfolk to see the General Douglas MacArthur Museum and to take a cruise tour of the Norfolk Naval Base. We were able to see USS New York, which was made from salvage of the World Trade Center, what an impressive sight. We took a day and traveled through history from the beginning of a country to the freedom of a nation, in other words we went from Jamestown to Yorktown. In 1607 the English settled at Jamestown which then became the capitol of a new colony, later the capitol was moved to Williamsburg and Jamestown was basically abandoned. Now it is only a reminder of the beginning of this country. Yorktown was the site of the battle that for the most part ended the Revolutionary War and gave this country its freedom. Another day we spent in Williamsburg and had dinner at King’s Arms Tavern. This was a return visit so we just went to see what we had enjoyed the first time. We did do the Governor’s Palace again as well as other of the homes open to the public. We did find out that the private homes have no satellite television because there can nothing that doesn’t fit into the colonial period, also the kitchens are very small as the room for them was taken out of another room because colonial kitchens were outside. The old kitchen buildings have been made into small apartment size homes. April 24, 2010 – May 11, 2010 Continued on our trip around Virginia and the next stop was in Manassas. At this stop we had to spend a couple of days at the nearest library to take care of the internet items like banking, e-mail, catching up on sports and any surfing that had to be done. We took a day and toured the Manassas/Bull run battlefield and the “children” went with us. July 21, 1861 saw the first battle of the Civil War on this battlefield; by the end of the day both sides realized that there would be no short decision to the conflict. Near the end of August 1862 the two armies again met in the same area and this time it took three days before the battle ended. Both battles were decisive victories for the Confederate army and the 2nd battle opened the way for Lee’s invasion of the north. The reason for two names for the same battlefield is that the north referred to physical features, Bull Run, the name of the near by river, while the south referred to near by towns or cities, Manassas. We decided to go into Washington D.C. one day, so off we went to the nearest Metro station, but when we got there the only parking still available was metered at $1.00 per hour and used only Quarters which we didn’t have. So we decided to drive into the city and find a parking garage that Jimmy said was near the Air & space Museum. What a mistake; first of all we had no map of the city and the GPS we have couldn’t tell us which parking garage we were looking for, second when we did find parking it was $18.00 for the day. We decided to wait until the weekend when parking is free at the Metro stations and there are not so many commuters. Another day we went over to Quantico and the Marine museum. Jim goes through museums slower than Shirley does so she takes a book and finds a seat to wait until he catches up with her. Finally we made it into Washington and spent the morning at the National Museum of American History which was closed the last time we were in the city a few years ago. We spent the afternoon walking around and getting Shirley’s National Parks Passport book stamped which we forgot to do the last time. One of the places we went to was Ford’s Theater which was closed last time, this time it was open but there were no tours as they were having a matinee performance, maybe we will get to see it sometime. Now it is time to move on and into Shenandoah National Park and round of Presidential Homes. Our first stop was at Montpelier home of James and Dolly Madison. James was born on the property in 1751 and in 1763 his father started the current mansion which was enlarged twice during Madison’s lifetime to accommodate his widowed mother and growing family. He originally studied law but decided for some reason to change and study for the Ministry and eventually became the school master to his brothers and sisters while at the same time being caught up in the sweeping revolutionary spirit in the colonies. During the Constitutional Convention in 1787 drafted much of the Constitution for which he became known as the “Father of the Constitution”. To help get the Constitution ratified he helped write the Bill of Rights because some states were concerned about individual rights. In 1808 he was elected the 4th President and served for two terms where most of his energies were spent on the 2nd major war with the British, the War of 1812. After the presidency he retired to Montpelier where he is buried. On the way home we stopped at Michie Tavern, ca. 1784, for dinner, we had eaten here in 2004 and found it to be a unique experience and the food is typical colonial fare. On another day we went to Staunton, VA to see the birth place of Thomas Woodrow Wilson the 28th President. Wilson studied law and though he never enjoyed the studies kept at them as a means of entering politics. He found the practice of law unfulfilling and chose a carrier in higher education and became a professor. Later he became president of Princeton then governor of New Jersey and eventually President. The home he was born in was a Presbyterian Manse as his father was the Presbyterian pastor of Staunton, VA in 1856. The family had three servants, probably slaves rented for them by the church. While we were there we had lunch at a small café so we could use the internet and then went to see the tribute, 4 stools, to the Statler Brothers a country group from the area. Our last stop in this area was at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. We had been here before but for some reason Jim had more or less forgotten what the inside looked like, so we went back to do it again. Jim was just getting over a cold and like a good husband had decided to share it with Shirley and she was just not feeling very well this day. The cold weather might have had something to do with it. One night it got so cold that poor Delilah, with her crate in front of the door whimpered most of the night because she was cold, so around 4:30 Jim got her and put her in bed under the covers with us, there she settled down and went to sleep. The next night we moved her crate from near the door and turned the furnace on as low as it would go and she slept just fine all night. Delilah has learned that car rides are fun and can even jump up into the car by herself, though sometimes she jumps onto the floor and then up onto the seat other times she makes it all the way onto the seat. She sure is getting to be a big girl. It’s now time to head to Grindstone campground in Mt. Roger’s National Recreation Area in Jefferson National Forest for the summer.