Checking Out Yorktown

Ok we are starting to feel the rigors of vacation now. Today we decided to take it easy. We wanted to do a sailing ship cruise but they were booked up, that was a bummer but we move on and decide to check out Yorktown and that area. It's nothing like Williamsburg and maybe if we'd done it before Williamsburg or even earlier in the week we would have gotten more out of it. As it was it's a quaint little town on the water. Very pretty. We had lunch in a neat little place called the Carrot Tree. The food was good, I enjoyed mine more than Steve liked his, but the carrot cake we had for desert was to die for. Oh so good! After that we walked around a little. Browsed through an art gallery of works from local artists. That was nice and I found my ornament for the ornament exchange party.

We walked down by the water, nothing really special so we decided to go to the Battlefield's Visitor's Center. We saw a film of the victory at Yorktown then took a driving tour of the battleground area. It was a lot of grassy fields. Nothing to write home about and yet I make mention in this blog. We did get to visit the home where the terms of surrender were hashed out between the British and the French and Americans.

Now we are back to the RV with a steak to cook on the grill. Day six is done.

Colonial Williamsburg, Day 2

Our second day in Colonial Williamsburg started out well. We woke up to another cool morning, but it quickly warmed up to perfect temperatures. Yesterday we saw a bunch of shows and we didn't get to do many tours, so today we wanted to get inside the buildings. We first went to the home of the Randolph family. It was very austere from the outside, but on the inside it was beautiful. The wall papers alone were fascinating. From the Randolph home we went to take the tour of the Governor's Palace. That was beautiful and ornate and luxurious. I can't say enough about how beautiful the palace was.

Today we were able to really visit with the different trades people. We spoke with a cook, a cobbler, a milliner, a blacksmith, a tavern worker, a cabinet maker, a wig maker, and a copper. We found out all sorts of things. Women were blacksmiths too, wigs had to be taken in to the wig maker to be cleaned and re-styled a few times a month, a harpsichord plucks the string unlike a piano which strikes the string with a hammer, the copper makes his barrels so tight they won't leak. I could go on but Steve is insisting I'm not writing a book.

After another full day of walking around we got home and had dinner. Day five is done.

Colonial Williamsburg

Tuesday morning it is actually a bit cold. I had to put the heat on for a few minutes this morning. Just to get the chill out, but it was down to 63 degrees in the RV. We tried a local establishment for breakfast this morning, Astronomical Pancakes. Now reading the little write up about this place on-line I was lead to believe that the name came about because the pancakes were astronomically good tasting, although that is true, the fact that they are astronomically large could have been a factor. Steve had a western omelet and I had the berry delicious pancakes. Oh it was a wonderful breakfast! I had some of Steve's omelet and he helped me make at least a dent in my pancakes. What I really needed was a hungry family of four, then maybe I could have finished it all.

Now with our stomachs overly full we are off to experience colonial times. We got to see, Patrick Henry speak to a crowd in the gardens of the Govenor's Palace. Then we went to a museum to see a performance of America's Music. Right around the corner from that was a Baskin Robins, I wasn't aware that Baskins Robins was popular back then, but what do I know. From there we went to Kimball Theater to see A Conversation With George Washington. Then there was trouble brewing in the streets down by the Raleigh Tavern when news came in from the battles of Lexington and Concord. After that there was an altercation and a man was almost tarred and feathered. But in the end he decided a public apology was a better idea and he was forgiven.

By now we are ready to go back to the 21st century and get pizza for dinner. We found a great pizza place and ate again to excess. Back to the RV from there and day four is done.

Travel to Williamsburg, Virginia

Before even setting foot outside Salt Springs our trip plans hit a snag. My sister's mother-in-law was taken to the hospital gravely ill. So Kim and Robert had to cancel their plans to meet up with us in Williamsburg. My dad and Sandy were supposed to be meeting up with us also and they decided to lend support to Kim and Robert and stay home. Steve and I went back and forth trying to decide if we wanted to stick with our planned trip, plan a different trip, or just stay home and not bother, we decided to carry on with our original plans and make the trip to Virginia. 

So leaving all cares and troubles behind us we started out bright and early, at least for me, Saturday morning. I must admit, we had one of the most pleasant first days on the road ever, well almost. The drive was pleasant. The traffic was light. There were no wrong turns made. Things were going along just fine. We made just one stop for gas, hiccup. Pumped gas, go to the cashier, and our debit card was declined. Now i dont know about you, but when I see someone and their card is declined i think loser. So it really tweaks my butt when I've got the money and my FREAKING CARD is declined. Wells Fargo I guess doesn't think we are spending our money wisely and they'd rather we not take a vacation without clearing it with the, first. The ensuing phone call to card services is a story for another day, lets just say there is a customer service person that is re-thinking her profession of choice. 

Moving along, we got to the campground where we would spend the night and out came the travel gremlins. The campground was a cute little place, not much to look at, but right off the highway as promised, well manicured, staffed with a very nice lady, and cheap. We got to our site, we put down the jacks, put the slides out, we were ready to relax and Steve was anticipating watching the race. I guess I just assumed they had cable. It touted "full" hook-ups, but sadly no cable. Oh crap! Well Steve said, hey it's OK, we should be able to get something on the iPad, right? Although they did have free wifi, there was something going on with that and the connection was horrible. So, NO, we couldn't get anything on the iPad. Honestly, I don't know if we did have wifi if there would have been somewhere to go to watch the race anyway, but I wasn't going to bring that up. 

Well we did have a new movie that we hadn't yet seen, "Safe". It was really good. I would give it four golf carts. We played a game of Scrabble, it beat his butt, so that didn't sit well, but we did have fun. We made it an early night and went to bed. Oh did I forget to mention it poured, well let me mention it, it came down like cats and dogs. So we slept well in anticipation of starting out early, really early by my standards, for Williamsburg. Day one was done. 

Bright and early Sunday morning we are ready to go. I was a bit concerned that we'd have a problem driving over the grass to get out after all the rain. When we'd come in, the campground attendant told us we could just drive strait across the grassy area in front of us to go out. Steve walked a way to test the ground and he didn't think it felt soft from the rain so we gave it a try. Thank God the travel gremlins were still in bed, we drove right out, right onto the highway, and day two had begun. Mind you, I was feeling pretty damn good right about now. We were making good time, things had been relatively uneventful, life was good and I didn't care who knew it. 

The Virginia state line. YES! We were in Virginia. I wanted to stop at the Virginia Welcome Center. So we did. Oh this was a perfect idea. We had toyed with the idea of going to either Mt. Vernon, or Monticello. Both are about a two hour drive from Williamsburg, but I thought we are a hell of a lot closer to them when we are in Williamsburg then we are when we're in Florida so we ought to make the most of it. Well we spoke with a nice man and he said if he could only hit one he'd go for Monticello. They gave us maps and brochures and hints and tips and we were on our way again. 

Right about now I'm on the top of the world. Well you know how that goes, the higher you are the further you have to fall. So we are tooling along, we are making good time, we are off the highway, this is it, the home stretch. All of a sudden we are staring at a ferry! A freaking ferry, like a boat that takes you across a body of water! What the heck is up with that?! So let's picture this people, we are in a 40+ foot motor home. We are towing a car behind us. We are on a narrow two lane road, no shoulder to speak of, dead ending at the water, no where, and I do mean no where to turn around. There is a gravel area off the road to the right that looks like it should be parking but there are no parking signs all over it. So screw the signs, we pull in and put the behemoth in park. Those flipp'n little gremlins, at it again. 

I'm not panicked, yeah right, I just pull out my phone and I'm going to make a call. Thank God for all the crap they gave us at the Welcome Center. The maps have numbers on them. I called one, I got a woman on the line and she really wasn't very helpful but it gave the mind a chance to absorb what the heck was happening. There were some bikers waiting to board the ferry, Steve went to talk to them. They suggested IF we could get turned around we could go back about 10 miles and take a different way across the James river. We weren't giving up so easily, before giving in we walked down the ferry entrance to talk to the two guys directing traffic. They had those bright orange reflective vests on, they had to know what was going on, right? They don't just let anybody have a reflective vest by God. 

These two guys take one look at us walking to them and you know they had to be laughing inside. So we tell them our tale of woe, with huge smiles they tell us they take tour buses, tractor trailers, and all manner of things across on the ferry, no problem. So we got to take a ride across the James River on a ferry. What a cool experience that was. It was a tight squeeze but it's all good when you travel in a motor home. Now of course this set us back about an hour but who cares, it's just the two of us. No one is waiting for us to arrive. 

We are now in Williamsburg Virginia. The campground is a cute little place. Not very big at all. We set up, settle in, have a great dinner, I made a stuffed chicken and corn with cranberry sauce. Oh my God we do eat a little too well. This time the campground has both cable and a working wifi. After dinner we clean up get rid if the trash and litter the floor with brochures and pamphlets and maps to make our plans for Monday. Monday is going to be a full day. Day two is done. 

Monticello Visit

So now it's Monday morning. Vacation is really starting. Today we are off and running to Monticello. It's a glorious morning, the weather is absolutely perfect. It's cool, there is almost a chill. We have a two hour drive but really after the last two days that's nothing. The drive is mostly highway but then we get off the highway onto a winding tree lined road up to the plantation. It's so nice to visit an attraction and not have to pay additional money to park, not to have to trip over whinny kids, dodge the strollers, etc. Oh but then there is another kind of annoyance at this attraction, blue hairs. Oh my gosh the mean age of the group of tourists to Monticello was early 70's. I kid you not! Hell the attendants and tour guides were no spring chickens either.

We decided if we were going to go we were going to go big, we bought tickets for the Behind the Scenes Tour. That included the House and Gardens Tour, the Slavery at Monticello Tour, and tours of the upstairs floors and the Dome Room. It was beautiful and fascinating. The mansion really isn't as big as you might think. The grounds are spectacular.

We thought we might be able to get to Ash Lawn-Highland, the home of James Monroe, and to Montpelier, the home of James and Dolly Madison, but there was no way, time would not permit. We did tours until 1PM then went for a great lunch at the Michie Tavern, then returned for more tours after lunch and walked the grounds at Monticello for the rest of the afternoon. It was a great day. Our lunch was big enough and late enough that when we got home we just crashed. Tuesday we will be visiting Colonial Williamsburg. Day three is done.