Cumberland Trail Hall Road Trailhead

Jennifer and I met at the trailhead on Hall Road. The parking lot is good but the dirt road getting to it, not so good. There is no sign anywhere on the main road or this dirt road about the CT. We took our time, me nursing a sore back. But that helped us enjoy all the blooms and fungi.  Flame azalea, Mountain laurel, and Rhododendren were all blooming along with Magnolias. There was a magnolia that had fallen in the forest and we got a close up look at the blooms. These trees grow so tall that you usually don't see the blooms unless you are looking up.

This is from the North Chickamauga Creek Conservancy: In the upper watershed, the hike from the Hall Road access point to Barker Camp Road consists of 10 miles of trail that runs along North Chickamauga Creek above the Cain Creek Confluence. This section passes the legendary Helican Blue Hole.

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Savage Gulf

Today Lora and I hiked at Savage Gulf. We hiked the Day Loop trail and three miles on the South Rim trail. Yesterday when we were at my parents home in Maryville we heard the Cicada's and today the woods were full of them. Made for a loud hike. We saw lots of flowers and the water was up for the waterfall. When we left you could see the Cicada's in the road that had been hit.

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Lexington Virginia

Day 20

We drove to Natural Bridge SP and hiked the Natural Bridge trail including cascades, cave, and waterfall. We saw a couple of water snakes on the rock walls. Then we drove to the visitor center in Historic Lexington. From there we walked the town seeing the historic buildings, Washington Lee University, and Virginia Military Institute. We walked to the cemetery where Stonewall Jackson was buried. When we got back we did a little river time and later enjoyed a campfire. 

Day 21

We drove back to Sugar Hollow Park in Bristol VA for our last night of camping. 

Day 22 

We arrived back at our house after a wonderful trip!

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New Market Virginia

Day 19

With time on our hands we took the scenic drive across the mountains between West Virginia and Virginia. We ended up at the Virginia Museum of the Civil War. They were having an reinactment which was really cool. We visited with Surgen, cooks, blacksmith, fired cannons, troops shooting, and the museum. We made it to the Swedish Lilac campground in Vesuvius for the night. It's a really beautiful campground along the river. After visiting with the owners we went down to the river for a swim. 

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Winchester Virginia

Day 17

Drove to Winchester Virginia and camped at Candy Hill campground. Relaxed at the pool, walked campground, and read at campground. Nice to relax

Day 18

Drove to Luray to find Lora's history. We found the house, the monument, and the old meeting house that her great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was involved in. The rock house is now a B@B thats on the James River. After that we went downtown to the visitor center, Singing tower, Little white house, and the Shenandoah Heritage Village. Then we drove back to Winchester. We saw Confederate Statue, Blues Brothers at the Historic Taylor Hotel, Fort Louden where we just missed an reinactment event but a guy showed us all the stuff he found in a dig on the fort property. We saw Stonewall Jackson's Headquarters, Library and had icecream at Red fox Creamery. 

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Washing DC day two

Day 16

We had trouble with the Metro machine. Took VFE which did not stop at the Arlington cemetery so went to L'Enfant station. We went to the Archive building to see the paperwork. Declaration, Constitution, Bill of Rights, and more. Then we went to the Smithsonian of Natural History followed by the Smithsonian of US History which had the flag that flew over Ft. McHenry. After that we did the tour of the Ford Theater which included the house where Lincoln died. Really cool tour. Our last stop was Arlington Cemetery. We got there late and visited JFK Memorial and tomb. Finally we made it to the tomb of the unknown soldier where we watched the sentinel march. He stopped and faced us yelling THE TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER IS NOW CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC! RETURN TO THE VISITOR'S CENTER NOW! So away we went sadly.

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Washington DC

Day 14 and 15

It rained during the night and still sprinkling as we packed up to head West. We drove in the rain to Pohick Bay Regional Park just South of DC. It was too rainy to tour Mt. Vernon and they were doing work on the inside of his home. We got laundry done with short walks in between rain.

Wednesday was our first Washington DC day. We drove to VRE and missed tram. We took a bus to Springfield and caught tram there. We did a monument day seeing all the monuments by walking too far. The Washington monument was closed of course but after a little excitment we got a tour of the capital building. We had of course removed pocket knives, but we got busted for a pair of sissors in the first aid kit. Lora was trying to tell the security where the sissors were and he kept telling her DO NOT TOUCH THE BAG everytime she pointed. She was then excorted out of the building to the trash can to throw them away. While she was gone, someone walked by smelling like pot and all the agents got excited. I got accused of having pot in the backpack. He told me twice to go outside and throw the pot away. I kept telling them that I didn't have any. Anyway we finally got our tour in! 

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Delaware- Magnolia and Dover

Day 13

We drove to Magnolia where I used to live to find our old house. We found the house and then went into town. After that we drove to Dover AFB to see the aviation museum which was closed. One gate was open so we walked through the desplayed aircraft. A guy drove up and let us know that we were not supposed to be there. My bad! We drove on to Dover and visited the First State National Historical Park also known as the Green. We walked to see all of the historic buildings and then toured the Capitol Building. Then we went to see the John Dickinson Plantation which was closed. We walked the grounds here as well. Then we went to St. Jones Reserve and hiked the boardwalk trail.

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Delaware

Day 12

Drove up the coast of Delaware. We stopped to see Fenwick Island Lighhouse and buildings on Finwick Island. Then we stopped to see Discoversea Shipwreck Museum upstairs of Sea Shell City. It has an amazing collection of shipwreak items. We next stopped at Indian River Life Saving Station Museum in Delaware Seashore SP. After that we headed to Killens Pond SP for the first of two nights. Had pizza at Poliseno's.

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Assateague Island National Seashore

Day 11

We drove to Snow Hill and over to Furnace Town to check it out. They were having a Furnace Fairies and Gnomes Festival. Had a lot of old buildings and it was the sight of an Iron Furnance. From there we headed back to Snow Hill and had lunch at Byrd City Park. They have an island there that they keep goats on. It's a beautiful park. Then we headed to Assateague Island National Seashore to see the wild horses and deer. We hiked the trails and boardwalks.

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Chesapeake Bay

Day 10

We got up and drove across the 17 mile two tunnel Chesapeake Bay bridge. We stopped at the visitor center and walked to the Big Gun and overlook. We then drove to Eastville and toured the historic courthouse, court building, and debtors prison. After that we drove to Machipongo and visited the Barrier Island Center, an old poor house that is now  museum. They had a gas powered iron and a twisted chimney. We drove on to Pocomoke River SP to stay the next two nights. We hiked the trails and river area.

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Kittyhawk

 

Day 9

We got up and headed to Kittyhawk. We toured the Wright Brothers Museum and ground including the monuments. Really cool! Then we went to the beach to check it out. Afterwards we headed back to Virginia Beach and checked out the Military Aviation Museum. We got to watch them deploy an old Mililtary plane, unfolding the wings and flying for us. An amazing amount of aircraft in one place. We made it back to the beach for sunset.

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Norfolk Virginia

Day 8

We relaxed on the beach after our morning walk. After lunch we headed to the Norfolk waterfront. We toured the USS Wisconsin and then the Maritime Discovery Center. Afterwards we walked down to the Waterside District to see the ships. We saw the American Rover sailing ship, an aircraft carrier, a paddle boat, a tug, and another navy ship. This was our ship day. After supper we went back to the beach for the sunset when they started doing helicopter training over our heads.We saw the Blackhawk, the Chinook, and the Iroquois. 

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Historic Williamsburg Virginia

Day 7

Lynelle took Melanie and family to airport while Lora and I headed out for Historic Williamsburg Virginia. We spent the day walking the streets, looking in musuems, and enjoying the history. After we wore ourselves out, we drove to First Landing SP in Virginia Beach for the first of three nights. We walked the beach and then headed back to the beach after dinner for the sunset. There were kayaks, barges, and cargo ships going by.

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Historic Yorktown VA

Day Six:

Today we loaded up and headed to Historic Yorktown Virginia. We enjoyed the musuem at the welcome center, which had the original George Washington Tent used in battle. We then walked downtown Yorktown and along the river seeing history. We saw the Yorktown Victory Monument, Cornwallis Cave, and Watermen's musuem. We had lunch at the Yorktown Pub and icecream at the parlor on the river. We walked the Historic Main St on the way back. Mom and dad came over for dinner and then we headed over to their house and hung the chandelier.

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Richmond Day 3

Day Five,

We met Nate and Perry for lunch at Bottoms Up Pizza. After lunch we walked along the Hazall and Kanawha canals. We saw the flood walls with gates and the tour boats that go along the canal. We split up after that. Lynelle and Jim took Lora and I to see the Historic Polegreen Church. Dinner at Lynelle's.

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Richmond Day 2

Day 4

We took mom and dad to Cold Harbor Battlefield visitor center and walked the loop. After lunch we went to Maymont Park to see the Maymont mansion, buildings, and gardens. That was a must see! From there we walked to the Robins Nature Center to see animals. From there we stopped by Hollywood Cemetery and saw the graves of Jefferson Davis, James Monroe, and John Tyler. We went back to Lynelle's for dinner with mom and dad.

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Richmond

Day Three:

We met Jim down in Richmond on the James River. After lunch we left Jim and walked across both bridges. We did half of the trip around Belle Isle enjoying the view and some rock hopping. Got to see some wildlife as well. When we got  back across the river we toured the American Civil War Museum on Tredegar St. Lot's of local history. That evening we met Nate and Perry at Triple Crossing Brewery for dinner. We ended the day back at their house visiting.

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