Yorktown- this is what life would have been like living on a ship.
Quoting what is on the sign next to this "The broken stock of this Brown Bess expressess the emotion of the British soldier who flung it upon the pile of arms at surrender field." If you look closely at the bottom you can see where it's been broken.
Washington's Tent. It's a miracle it survived with how much use it got. It was passed through the generations but luckily everyone took really good care of it.
Part of the battlefield. Some of the artillery.
Some more artillery- some of it was authentic and some of it was replicated.
After the park ranger told us what this was and how it was made we came to the conclusion that this is the first rebar ever made.
It's hard to imagine what went on on this field- it's kinda hard to wrap your mind around the history of this grassy area.
Ben standing in one of the dugouts- I would hate to have to dig this out.
Redoubts # 9 & 10
The Moore house- this is where Cornwallis signed the Surrender.
This room could have been where the surrender was signed.
This is what we got to drive through during the car tour. It was so pretty and quiet.
Surrender Field.
Our Trophies of War.
Washington's Headquarters.
French Artillery Park.
Jamestown
Me standing under my handy dandy umbrella!
Pocahontas.
The old church.
This was cool to watch them digging and sifting- except for when it started raining really hard. they had hurry and cover what they were working on, pile all their tools and run into the church to wait it out. All the crosses in the front are where they've found skeletal remains.
Pretty self- explanatory.
Me in front of some of the original foundations of something.
Captain John Smith.
Fredericksburg, VA.If you read further down into the blog you'll read the story about this amazing soldier who risked his life to bring water to his enemies.
The Original Wall- more info below in the blog.
Original bullet holes still in the side of the Ennis House
The last 3 pictures are my feeble attempt at capturing as much of the cemetery as I can while hanging half out of the car as we drove by.
The Original Wall- more info below in the blog.
Original bullet holes still in the side of the Ennis House
The last 3 pictures are my feeble attempt at capturing as much of the cemetery as I can while hanging half out of the car as we drove by.
So today was the last day of our vacation and I was having mixed emotions- on one hand I was ready to come home, I had walked about 40 miles and I was tired and wanted to sleep in my own bed but on the other hand I was really enjoying not having to change diapers, trying to stop little fights between the kids and not having to watch cartoons! Ben was very anxious to get home though!!
We drove to Yorktown and did the battlefield tour- we first walked through the visitors center where they had artifacts from the siege, like Washington's tent and the Lafayette Cannon. We then followed a park Ranger to 3 different spots outside where she went through her very well memorized speech on each thing- it was kinda hard to understand her at times because she would just talk so fast- i'm sure she says the same things over and over again and it gets to be very monotonous but it was just cool to look around at all the history that happened there.
There were cannons and redoubts and a big open grass field with white flags off in the distance- if you didn't know any better, you'd think you were on a PGA golf course. I personally don't know a lot about this part of history so i'm going off the pamphlets I got in the visitors' center.
The American victory at Yorktown, the last major battle of the American Revolution, secured indedpendence for the US and significantly changed the course of world history. After taking some pictures we jumped in the car and did the 7 mile drive tour that took us to Moore House where the terms of surrender were signed to end the siege at Yorktown. By the afternoon of Oct. 19th 1781, both commanders had signed the Articles of Capitulation. We moved from there to Surrender Field and along the way were signs that talked about things that happened in that area. The drive was so pretty- dense, green foilage and it was overcast and at times rainy and it smelled so good!! At Surrender Field Cornwallis's army marched onto this field and laid down its arms. This ended the last major battle of the Revolutionary War and virtually assured American independence. There were a bunch of different types of cannons that we took as trophies of war and on all of them were stamped "Surrendered by the Capitualtion of Yorktown Oct. 19 1781" on all of them. We then drove to Washington's Headquarters and it was situated in almost a cul-de-sac. There wasn't anything there except a plaque that had a picture of what it probably looked like and writing on it that said Washington set up 2 tents, a large one for meeting with his staff and for dining, and a smaller one as his private office and sleeping quarters. We then made the drive over to Jamestown and walked through the old fort- it was sooo cool, there was a huge archealogical dig going on with people shoveling dirt, marking different things, and working with the automatic sifter. There was a statue of Pocahontas that looked like it had seen better days, the coloring was wearing off so it looked like she was bleeding green. There was an old church there that they had reconstructed the inside and parts of the outside. It started raining pretty hard so we went into a really cool musuem that had things that they had found during their digging- including 3 skeletons!! You weren't allowed to take pictures so unfortunately i'm just going to have to remember everything!! There were certain spots on the floor that were glass and if you looked down you could see the original foundation of the old fort. Very cool! We went to the edge of the water where there was a plaque that said "The Site of the First Landing" It went on to say that the first landing was right in front of us in the river and that during the years since 1607 the river had erroded about 25 acres so they had to build a concrete looking dam so that it can't errode anymore. Kinda cool knowing you were standing on the site of the first landing of the English settlers! We had seen basically everything there was to see in Jamestown so we headed back to DC to hopefully be able to see the Jefferson Memorial but Ben remembered there being a sign in Fredericksburg for battlegrounds so we stopped off there for some food and went to the visitors center and they were so helpful- I told them we were in a hurry and just wanted to take some pictures and they told me right where to go and what to see- gotta give a shout out to all the park rangers and give them some props!!
We drove down the street and walked about 20 feet and there was a big statue called "Angel of Marye's Heights" The story is really cool- During the battle, wounded Union soldiers, caught between the lines, cried out for water. Though exposure to enemy fire even for a moment meant almost certain death, Sergeant Richard R, Kirkland of the 2nd South Carolina Volunteers tried to help. Filling several canteens with water, the young Confederate stepped over the stone wall to care for the wounded enemies. When union soldiers understood Kirklands purpose, they ceased firing at him and cheered. For nearly 2 hours he contined his ministrations. Kirkland has since been known as The Angel of Marye's Heights" He died in battle at Chickamauga, Georgia in Sept. 1863. Then around the corner is the original wall, or more commonly called "The Sunken Road" cut into the base of Marye's Heights, the roadbed sits several feet bleow the grade of the surrounding hill slope. Stone retaining walls on either side of the road hold the banks in place. When the Confederate army arrived here in Nov. 1862, it found a ready-made breastwork behind which to fight. At the time of the battle, the stone wall stretched for more than 500 yards along the eastern side of the road After the Civil War, however, large sections were removed. Today just this 1 block remnant of the original wall remains. Down a little ways was a small building called the "Innis House" Located along the Confederate line of battle, the small structure was marred by soldier graffiti and perforated by bullets and shell fragments. You can still see bullet marks on one of the vertical timbers on the side of the house and on the inside walls and on one of the doors. We were running out of time so we drove by the cemetery and I took what pictures I could from the car. Then it was off to the airport- we weren't able to get to the Jefferson Memorial so I guess I'll just have to look at the postcard I have of it and just imagine I was there!
Our flight was delayed for about an hour so I called my dad and let him know we were at the airport. Our flight landed at DFW at around 10:30 and we quickly drove to the Alva's to get the kids- they were asleep together on a bed and I almost hated waking them up but we missed them so much- we finally came home and our house was soo hot. Ben had turned down the air to save money so it took a while for me to go to bed- I was waiting for the temp. to go down to a comfortable level!!
I'm really happy to be home but I can't stop thinking about all the wonderful, amazing, spectacular things I got to do and see- I would highly recommend everyone taking a trip to DC/Virgina and get a glimpse of how this country started and what our Founding Father's went through so we could live in this Free Country!!!
I hope you all enjoyed reading my vacation blog!
We drove to Yorktown and did the battlefield tour- we first walked through the visitors center where they had artifacts from the siege, like Washington's tent and the Lafayette Cannon. We then followed a park Ranger to 3 different spots outside where she went through her very well memorized speech on each thing- it was kinda hard to understand her at times because she would just talk so fast- i'm sure she says the same things over and over again and it gets to be very monotonous but it was just cool to look around at all the history that happened there.
There were cannons and redoubts and a big open grass field with white flags off in the distance- if you didn't know any better, you'd think you were on a PGA golf course. I personally don't know a lot about this part of history so i'm going off the pamphlets I got in the visitors' center.
The American victory at Yorktown, the last major battle of the American Revolution, secured indedpendence for the US and significantly changed the course of world history. After taking some pictures we jumped in the car and did the 7 mile drive tour that took us to Moore House where the terms of surrender were signed to end the siege at Yorktown. By the afternoon of Oct. 19th 1781, both commanders had signed the Articles of Capitulation. We moved from there to Surrender Field and along the way were signs that talked about things that happened in that area. The drive was so pretty- dense, green foilage and it was overcast and at times rainy and it smelled so good!! At Surrender Field Cornwallis's army marched onto this field and laid down its arms. This ended the last major battle of the Revolutionary War and virtually assured American independence. There were a bunch of different types of cannons that we took as trophies of war and on all of them were stamped "Surrendered by the Capitualtion of Yorktown Oct. 19 1781" on all of them. We then drove to Washington's Headquarters and it was situated in almost a cul-de-sac. There wasn't anything there except a plaque that had a picture of what it probably looked like and writing on it that said Washington set up 2 tents, a large one for meeting with his staff and for dining, and a smaller one as his private office and sleeping quarters. We then made the drive over to Jamestown and walked through the old fort- it was sooo cool, there was a huge archealogical dig going on with people shoveling dirt, marking different things, and working with the automatic sifter. There was a statue of Pocahontas that looked like it had seen better days, the coloring was wearing off so it looked like she was bleeding green. There was an old church there that they had reconstructed the inside and parts of the outside. It started raining pretty hard so we went into a really cool musuem that had things that they had found during their digging- including 3 skeletons!! You weren't allowed to take pictures so unfortunately i'm just going to have to remember everything!! There were certain spots on the floor that were glass and if you looked down you could see the original foundation of the old fort. Very cool! We went to the edge of the water where there was a plaque that said "The Site of the First Landing" It went on to say that the first landing was right in front of us in the river and that during the years since 1607 the river had erroded about 25 acres so they had to build a concrete looking dam so that it can't errode anymore. Kinda cool knowing you were standing on the site of the first landing of the English settlers! We had seen basically everything there was to see in Jamestown so we headed back to DC to hopefully be able to see the Jefferson Memorial but Ben remembered there being a sign in Fredericksburg for battlegrounds so we stopped off there for some food and went to the visitors center and they were so helpful- I told them we were in a hurry and just wanted to take some pictures and they told me right where to go and what to see- gotta give a shout out to all the park rangers and give them some props!!
We drove down the street and walked about 20 feet and there was a big statue called "Angel of Marye's Heights" The story is really cool- During the battle, wounded Union soldiers, caught between the lines, cried out for water. Though exposure to enemy fire even for a moment meant almost certain death, Sergeant Richard R, Kirkland of the 2nd South Carolina Volunteers tried to help. Filling several canteens with water, the young Confederate stepped over the stone wall to care for the wounded enemies. When union soldiers understood Kirklands purpose, they ceased firing at him and cheered. For nearly 2 hours he contined his ministrations. Kirkland has since been known as The Angel of Marye's Heights" He died in battle at Chickamauga, Georgia in Sept. 1863. Then around the corner is the original wall, or more commonly called "The Sunken Road" cut into the base of Marye's Heights, the roadbed sits several feet bleow the grade of the surrounding hill slope. Stone retaining walls on either side of the road hold the banks in place. When the Confederate army arrived here in Nov. 1862, it found a ready-made breastwork behind which to fight. At the time of the battle, the stone wall stretched for more than 500 yards along the eastern side of the road After the Civil War, however, large sections were removed. Today just this 1 block remnant of the original wall remains. Down a little ways was a small building called the "Innis House" Located along the Confederate line of battle, the small structure was marred by soldier graffiti and perforated by bullets and shell fragments. You can still see bullet marks on one of the vertical timbers on the side of the house and on the inside walls and on one of the doors. We were running out of time so we drove by the cemetery and I took what pictures I could from the car. Then it was off to the airport- we weren't able to get to the Jefferson Memorial so I guess I'll just have to look at the postcard I have of it and just imagine I was there!
Our flight was delayed for about an hour so I called my dad and let him know we were at the airport. Our flight landed at DFW at around 10:30 and we quickly drove to the Alva's to get the kids- they were asleep together on a bed and I almost hated waking them up but we missed them so much- we finally came home and our house was soo hot. Ben had turned down the air to save money so it took a while for me to go to bed- I was waiting for the temp. to go down to a comfortable level!!
I'm really happy to be home but I can't stop thinking about all the wonderful, amazing, spectacular things I got to do and see- I would highly recommend everyone taking a trip to DC/Virgina and get a glimpse of how this country started and what our Founding Father's went through so we could live in this Free Country!!!
I hope you all enjoyed reading my vacation blog!
1 comment:
Alexis-
You do such a good job keeping up with your blog! I followed you each day of your trip. It sounded incredible. I hope I get to go there sometime!
-DanaLee
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