I am back in the mainland and the last stop before getting home. I got the extended stay in Norfolk and with four days off here I decided to take the trip of a lifetime and visit and walk the many historic sites around. Sites from the revolutionary war to the civil war. My trip here started with a day spent in downtown Norfolk where I visited the McArthur Memorial, walked the Freemason district and spotted mermaids all around town. My historic road trip started in Yorktown and the visit of the battlefield and the town nearby. From there went over to Colonial Williamsburg where a threat of rain was above all day thus cancelling my trip to Jamestowne. The road between these towns is the Colonial Parkway and I must say a very scenic and beautiful road.
The following day I spent the night in the outskirts of D.C where I made my way through Baltimore to Ft. McHenry where the birth of our national anthem and I got the honors to hoist the ceremonial flag that morning for colors. It was amazing. From there I made my way through Maryland and the back roads through Pennsylvania to Gettysburg and must say those roads where beautiful and scenic. Drove around the town of Gettysburg and walked some of the battlefield and the cemetery where Lincoln made his historic address. That afternoon I made my way to Antietam and drove around the battlefield.
"He who does not work does not eat"
- John Smith, Jamestowne 1609
On Day 3 of my trip I spend the previous night in Manassas and woke up to a cool breezy morning in the Manassas battlefield. This one is all walking through the grassy fields and saw a few people going to run it. I wish I did this as it would have been a run to remember. Here I also saw the site of the battle of Bull Run. From there I made my way back across to Mt. Vernon and walked the whole grounds and visited the inside of the mansion. I was impressed at its beauty and simplicity. Also impressed to see where George Washington passed and his resting place. From there I made my way to George Washington's birthplace. and was kind of surprised this site was not as glamorous as Mt. Vernon. The house built in the 1930s to represent the Washington house was found to be the wrong dimensions a few years later. The original house was much smaller.
Day 4 and last of my trip I made it to Jamestowne and the first landing of the Virginia Company. I found Jamestown very interesting in its history and timeline. Amazed still how such a small group with so many threats around them managed to survive and spread through out this nation thus giving birth to what we now know as this great nation. The small fort built and a few years later the town spread outside the walls. The first landing site I was amazed to see in the "back corner" of a military in Ft. Story. This to me predating the landing of the Pilgrims and being the landing place of the group responsible for our birth.
After this trip I spent the last week in lectures helping us "re integrate" back to the world and spend the last few days with those very few left behind. I will miss everyone as we got even closer in the last month since moving back to Tent City in Camp America.We got to share stories that we didn't share while on deployment. Still much is secret! Shhhhh.
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