British colonization of America began in Jamestown in 1607. We've all heard the historical accounts of how tough it was on those early colonists to survive, the majority of them unsuccessful. Preservation Virginia and the National Park Service have excavated the area and recreated the foundation outlines of many structures from that original settlement. Excavations continue as they discover artifacts from those early years.
British colonization ended less than 25 miles from Jamestown when the American forces defeated the British in Yorktown in 1781. The National Park Service has identified and staged significant sites around that battlefield. Moore House, where surrender terms for Cornwallis's army was negotiated, has been refurbished to its appearance during that time. The house is open to visitors on some days, but the day we visited was 'not that day'.
The original Capitol Building was built in Richmond in 1788. It was designed by Thomas Jefferson, and based on a classical Roman temple design. In the picture below, the original Capitol is the center building. Additional wings were added in 1906. Many historical events occurred in the original building--the Bill of Rights was ratified into the U.S. Constitution, Aaron Burr was tried and acquitted of treason, and Robert E. Lee assumed command of the Virginia forces.
Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello, is in Charlottesville, VA, about 120 miles from Williamsburg. We decided to make the drive and spend the night in Charlottesville. Our choice to just 'wing it' rather than make hotel reservations in advance cost us an additional $100+. The University of Virginia is in Charlottesville and we unwittingly chose to be there on their graduation day. At least we did find a room even though it was at a premium.
Jefferson designed the house and included several innovative ideas such as a dumb waiter to deliver wine from the cellar to the dining room. Service rooms, such as the kitchen, smokehouse, dairy, ice house, and carriage bays are connected to the main house by an all-weather passageway at the cellar level so they were easily accessible regardless of weather. Strangely enough, the main stairway was designed very narrow and winding--hauling household items up and down was likely a daunting task for the slaves that worked there. Another interesting fact is that the dome on the top of the house was not used nor intended for anything but storage, but it's not lacking any of the internal architectural embellishments.
We took a day trip to Kitty Hawk, NC. As it turns out, the Wright Brothers' momentous first flight was in the neighboring town of Kill Devil Hills. We toured the National Memorial there.
HeM served in the Navy in his younger years, and spent a bit of time in the Hampton Roads area. He was assigned to the aircraft carrier Forrestal and sailed in and out of Norfolk Naval Station three times during his service period. While it was docked in Norfolk, he and his buddies would spend some time at Virginia Beach. We took a bus tour of the naval base. As it is with many things now, pictures were not allowed during the majority of the tour due to security. After the tour, we took a walk along the boardwalk in Virginia Beach as HeM reminisced. The boardwalk did not exist in 1968 when HeM used to body-surf there. The only thing that remains from those days is the fishing pier. Too long of a story, but it was a few feet north of the pier where HeM lost, to an unseen wave, the plastic flipper containing his 4 front teeth. He resisted trying to find it again. He's often wondered if someone ever did find it.
On occasion, the Forrestal was dry-docked in Portsmouth for repairs and maintenance, so we visited there. While we were wandering around the historical district of the city which includes houses dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries, we also ran across one floating dry-dock operation being conducted on the USS Wasp.
We are coming to realize that the 'flavor' of national parks are very different here in the East, compared to the West. Parks in the western states mostly showcase awe-inspiring scenery. The parks we're visiting now are refreshing all the history lessons we had so many years ago. And we're finding that we can critically appreciate that history much more now that we're older. Does that also make us wiser?
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