Williamsburg, VA

Truck Upgrade

I decided I think I like having a trailer to be able to go around and visit new places and to have a “home” at the end of a day of hiking, so I upgraded my truck from a F-150 to a F-250 to help tow my trailer better. It is the exact same color and trim level, so other than being bigger (taller and longer), it looks pretty similar. It has a diesel engine too, which is a first for me. I never felt like my F-150 didn’t have enough power to pull my trailer, but the new truck is heavier duty so it doesn’t get pushed around by the trailer in windy conditions, and the diesel engine brake is amazing for maintaining speed while going down hill without having to worry about burning up the standard brakes. Another nice feature of having a diesel engine is the ability to use the truck lanes at truck stops, which makes refueling so much faster (much larger fuel nozzles fill my 35 gallon tank in a little over a minute), and safer and easier (getting in and out without worrying about cars and just being able to pull straight through every time).

🎵 On the Road Again 🎵

After a few shorter trips to East Fork Lake State Park on the southeast side of Cincinnati, Ohio; Clifty Falls State Park near Madison, Indiana; and a combined Indiana Dunes State and National Parks near Chicago that led to a weekend of tailgating at Purdue, I decided it was time to take a longer trip again, so I started planning around Shenandoah National Park and New River Gorge National Park, but since I was going to be relatively close, I decided to hit some of the National Public sites in eastern Virginia too. My first leg was going to be almost 600 miles, which even with the new truck is farther than I would like to tow in a day, so to split it up I made a stop at a Harvest Host called Caring Acres Farm near Lewisburg, VA. This place was gorgeous and an almost perfect stop. Their driveway goes through one of their cow pastures. The farm is on top of a mountain so the view was awesome. Unfortunately to get to the top of the mountain was quite the adventure, coming from the west it was mostly one paved lane with gravel shoulders winding up the mountain. Fortunately traffic was very light so I only had to share the lane two or three times, but it was a white knuckle drive the whole way up. The hosts were very friendly and accommodating though and I was able to buy some steaks and fresh eggs from them, plus I got to see this amazing moon rise, so it was all worth it.

The next day I made the rest of the drive to Anvil Campground in Williamsburg, VA. I choose Williamsburg because it was centrally located for the NPS sites there and not too far from the NPS sites around Richmond, VA. Mistakes were made when picking this campground though. It is sandwiched in between two busy roads plus a railroad track that has trains racing by not more than 20 feet from my trailer, so it wasn’t the quietest campground. The good news is I got a very private end site and I didn’t spend much time at the campground, as there was plenty to see in the area.

Petersburg National Battlefield

I started my sightseeing at Petersburg National Battlefield. The most impressive thing at this site was this Civil War era mortar nicknamed “The Dictator”. It weighed over 17,000 pounds and shot 220 pound mortar shells. It was so powerful that it could fire 2.4 miles and frequently broke the firing platform it was on, so it ended up not being used for very long because it was too impractical to keep fixing. A short drive from the Petersburg Visitor Center but still part of the Petersburg National Battlefield was the Poplar Grove National Cemetery. It was relatively small as it primarily (only?) contained soldiers from the Civil War, but any national cemetery is an impressive sight to see.

Richmond National Battlefield Park

My next stop was the Chimborazo Medical Museum as part of the Richmond National Battlefield Park. This was a pretty quick stop but it was fascinating and terrifying to see the tools used during surgeries during the Civil War, even showing their process for amputating a leg. The dental tools (in front) look relatively familiar, but the surgeons kit (in back) is not exactly what I want to see when I have to have surgery. My next stop that was part of the Richmond National Battlefield Park was Cold Harbor Battlefield. . There was a tiny museum and a self-guided walking or driving tour. Since it was the end of the day and I was reaching my limit of battlefields, I did the driving tour and didn’t get much out of it. At the first stop an older guy did tell me he highly recommended the walking tour, so maybe I’ll give that a try next time.

Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site

I actually stopped at the Maggie L. Walker site in between the Chimborazo Medical Museum and the Cold Harbor Battlefield, and it was a great way to break up the battlefields. I had not heard of Maggie L. Walker before looking at the NPS sites, so I didn’t really know what to expect. After an hour going through the small museum and getting a tour of her house, I was surprised at all her accomplishments yet being so (in my mind) unknown.

Colonial National Historical Park

The next day I started at the Historic Jamestowne section of Colonial National Historical Park. In 1907 on the 300 year anniversary of the settlement, the government erected this memorial that looks very similar to the Washington Monument in D.C.. It was very cool to walk around the settlement and see the beginnings of the United States. The extended Island Drive road was also nice, and at the far end before you loop around you can do a short walk to see the views from the tip of the island. They also had a glass blowing site about a mile from the original settlement that had been excavated, and the NPS had built a new glass blowing building with people there demonstrating glass blowing. Always a cool process to see.

Next I made my way to the Yorktown Battlefield section of Colonial National Historical Park. Unfortunately the Colonial Parkway was closed for construction, so I didn’t get to take that route between sections. I got lucky at Yorktown Battlefield though, it was the one day a month that they do live firing demonstrations of Revolutionary War era artillery.

Fort Monroe National Monument

My last stop in the area was Fort Monroe National Monument, which was an active military base up until 2011. It is really difficult to describe how massive this fort is compared to other forts of its era, but the perimeter walls are 1.3 miles long and it covers 63 acres. This sign shows the size of Fort Monroe compared to other forts of its era. The walls were thick enough that a museum showing the history of the fort was in the walls.