Historic Yorktown, Virginia - Day 7

Well, since we were all dragging today, we didn't get out of the house until noon.  We did manage to get a decent breakfast down before we left.  However, since we are trying to eat all of the food that we bought, we only had one piece of bacon a piece!  Needless to say, I was starving in about an hour and half after leaving for our next destination....ugh!

This ride was only about 20 minutes  from where we have been living.  So, it was alright that we left as late as we did. The town was established in 1691, but the battle was fought for independence in 1781.
    

if you look into the distance, you will see some hills behind the flag......those are there on purpose....

under all of those hills are bottomless basket type things that are about 3 feet wide that the soldiers used to shore up the ground and keep it stable for their protection against enemy forces.  They worked night and day digging holes, making "galbions" (that's what they are called), and they are still in the ground to this day..... 

isn't that amazing?  I have served in the military before and I can assure you that our fox holes did not look this polished! The battlefield was huge and spanned 14.5 square miles.   

 We went inside to see if we could use my national pass to get in and it was accepted.  So, we didn't need to pay for anything this time around.....yay!....:-)

the first thing you see when you turn the corner is this big ship sitting in the middle of the floor....ha.  Alrighty then.  I'll just have to go inside and see what's what......

These cannon were recovered from sunken ships that had been used in the war...

At first glance, I had not a clue what those thingees were hanging from the ceiling and then I realized they were rolled up hammocks.......    

this is a replica of what a dining area would have looked like......

I tried to get as close to the glass as I could to take pics of these scenes without casting a glare.  The British had been so defeated that the entire army marched to the surrender field to lay down their weapons.   They were flanked on either side by American and French forces.

These are other scenes from that battle......



it was rather dark and my camera had problems focusing.  Had I used a flash, it would have made a glare...

and of course the officers had to discuss the progress of things......

One last bang for good measure.....ha

As I said, the lighting was terribly dark.  I guess to help preserve some of the history and protect some fabrics from deterioration.  This is the actual tent the George Washington stayed in.  It is said that he cut pieces of it out and gave it away since several pieces have been found in private collections and been confirmed to have come from the same tent.
 

Here is a description of the tent.  It is difficult to read, but interesting if you can get it figured out.....

She must have been treated very well to have done this for them.......although, a slave.....:-(

Well, I was starting to feel famished since we were a little lean on the protein for breakfast.  We decided to stop at a coffee shop and get a snack and something to drink.

We saw this memorial along the way.....

The York River was very beautiful and the sky seemed very clear.....

We found the coffee shop......cool beans.....:-)

 

 It was a nice place, but nearly deserted since most of the tourism season was over....

 A quick look around found this guy hanging around the window........

by now, I was running on fumes and asked Chris to get me something FULL LEADED...

 after regaining my strength and finishing my muffin; which I ordered as well....we carried on.....this time walking and taking in the scenes.......:-).  I loved this bridge.

This almost looks like a little village, but of course the whole place looks like little villages....:-).  Very cute....

We did in fact drive to this little place along the shore.  I thought it was interesting as it appeared that someone may have lived there at one time.....

a little further along we ran into a bronze statue of George Washington.  Chris decided to give him the eye.  Neither of them moved.... well, until Chris did...ha.  George won! haha.  He was STILL staring when we left him....hahaha....

As we strolled along the coast line, we noticed that the bridge was open.  A local gentleman was standing near by and informed us that the bridge had malfunctioned and that the cars had been sitting waiting for it to close for some time.  I was glad we were not the ones stuck up there.......geeze...
    

 

while the other were gazing at the malfuntioning bridge, I grabbed a few more pictures....

the cresanthemums were just strickingly beautiful......

and then, Presto!  The bridge was closing and the cars were able to pass after a few minute of waiting for the gate to raise.

We noticed that there were a few more shops in the area that we wanted to check out......

When we get in the door, the first thing that greets us is the tea party......

and a life size reminder of what your home would have looked like after the British took it over for their own use during that time.  To not allow them to take control of your home during that time would have been considered an act of treachery for which you could have been shot.   Have a seat boys, says I.  Can I get you anything.....ha 

 

These are replicas of what a common table setting would have looked like for the soldiers...

Chris decided to join the inserrection and dump his tea off the boat......hahaha

These guys look creepy.....my goodness....

Then I decided to revolt too!  Down with Taxes!!

 ok, time to go on.......hey look.....:-).  SCOOOOOTERRRRR!!!!  It's a Stella 125cc I believe.....:-).  cool beans.

We ventured inside and discovered that the rented Segways and also had this used one for sale for $4,400.  There was a  lady inside who was up in years.  She was behind the counter, but explaining to me that she had her eye on the used one and was saving her money to buy it. She also told me that she rides them and finds the quite easy to operate.....hummmm.  Problem is there are restricted to 8 miles an hours.  After riding a 250cc for 1 full season, I just couldn't see it.
   

Well, the time was getting on and our coffee and snack had worn off long ago.....it was time to get in the car and head to the store for some dinner.  The scenery along the way was beautiful......

and wouldn't you know......The Yorktown Pottery Store "found us"......:-).  I have no idea why they call it that because there was all manner of stuff inside.  This is the view to my left.




this is looking to the right.  It seemed that we had "been found" by another village!

after having filled our eyeballs with eye candy as far as they could see, we decided to head to the store and get some things for dinner.  We also needed to finish what we already had in the freezer.....yikes!

Well, I managed to get everything cooked, but then we still had too much food!  We will be finishing the rest for breakfast!  Yep, meatloaf, mac and cheese, broccoli and carrots for breakfast; with a healthy dose of vanilla icecream.....hahahaha.  I will know better next time. 



Tomorrow is our last day as our plane leaves at 6:00pm.  But we do have the whole day ahead us.

Stay tuned!