Our first night on the road (April 9) we stayed at the KOA near Ashland, Kentucky. It is relatively new but a well developed campground. Our second night was spent near Lexington, Virginia at a KOA that had just added new camping spaces in an area cleared last fall.
Before leaving the Lexington area in the morning we took the time to go to Natural Bridge State Park. (For those that have never gotten out of Kentucky, there is a natural bridge in Virginia as well as other states in the nation.) The park is on property that was survey by George Washington (initials are carved on the side of a rock) and later owned by Thomas Jefferson who purchased it from the King of England when Virginia was a Crown Colony. Jefferson wrote the following regarding his impression of the bridge: “So beautiful an arch, so elevated, so light, and springing as it were to heaven, the rapture of these to a spectator is really indescribable! It is the most sublime of Nature’s works.”
Byron at the entrance to the stairway down to the creek and the path to the bridge.
Martha at an observation theater built with a view of the natural bridge
and parallel to the creek that runs under the bridge.
Leaving around noon on Tuesday, April 10, we journeyed on to Williamsburg and another KOA where we stayed on our first trip to the area in 2008. We drove past the Colonial Williamsburg area late in the afternoon going past College of William and Mary before deciding to have dinner at The Jefferson, a nice restaurant that gave you the feel of eating in a rather but somewhat formal, large kitchen. There were nice paintings and photos of the area as well as several copper pots and utensils hung about the room amid the drapery on the windows. Of course, metal chargers were sitting on the linen tablecloth. We were served on china and have linen napkins available. We did drink from glass, rather than crystal, cups (a restaurant must cut expenses somewhere). Altogether, it was an enjoyable dinner and one we hadn’t planned for.
We arrived at our destination during the middle of the day on Thursday, April 12. We were escorted to our parking space for the summer season. We are situated among others in an “extended stay” are of this large campground that sits near the end of one runway for Oceana Naval Air Station.
On our first outing in the Virginia Beach area we drove 2.5 miles to the “boardwalk” which is really a wide, concrete sidewalk. Adjacent to the walkway is a cycling path. Hotels and restaurants are strung up and down the nearly two-mile stretch of beach. In fact, Virginia Beach is a part of one of the longer stretches of beach on the eastern seaboard. At the advice of friends who have relatives in the area, we at at Waterman’s where we celebrated Byron’s birthday by sharing a piece of key lime pay after a great lunch of seafood. Martha enjoyed the fried shrimp with it’s light and crispy batter. Byron said the crab cakes were the best he had ever eaten.
From the boardwalk we journeyed on to Norfolk waterfront and saw the USS Wisconsin which is displayed as a the museum ship for Nauticus, the National Maritime Center. The Wisconsin served in the Pacific Theater of World War II and during the Korean War. She was reactivated in August of 1986. After a modernization program the Wisconsin participated in Operation Desert Storm in January and February of 1991. Wisconsin was last decommissioned in September 1991. It was removed from the Naval Vessel Register in 2006 and donated as a permanent museum. The City of Norfolk took ownership in 2010.
By surprise we attended the Virginia International Tattoo, something we had never heard of so never planned to attend. Well, what a pleasant surprise. After reading the description of the event we decided it was a “must do” since we had the opportunity. We attended the second night of the event.
The festival was in its 22nd year at Scope Arena. It featured nearly 1,100 cast members from eight different countries, all celebrating the theme, “Above and beyond the call of duty” which honored the surviving Medal of Honor recipients. For the first time ever, there was also a demonstration of the changing of the guard outside of Arlington National Cemetery.
We arrived at our destination during the middle of the day on Thursday, April 12. We were escorted to our parking space for the summer season. We are situated among others in an “extended stay” are of this large campground that sits near the end of one runway for Oceana Naval Air Station.
On our first outing in the Virginia Beach area we drove 2.5 miles to the “boardwalk” which is really a wide, concrete sidewalk. Adjacent to the walkway is a cycling path. Hotels and restaurants are strung up and down the nearly two-mile stretch of beach. In fact, Virginia Beach is a part of one of the longer stretches of beach on the eastern seaboard. At the advice of friends who have relatives in the area, we at at Waterman’s where we celebrated Byron’s birthday by sharing a piece of key lime pay after a great lunch of seafood. Martha enjoyed the fried shrimp with it’s light and crispy batter. Byron said the crab cakes were the best he had ever eaten.
Byron enjoyed key lime pie for his 71st birthday. Martha got half of it, too.
From the boardwalk we journeyed on to Norfolk waterfront and saw the USS Wisconsin which is displayed as a the museum ship for Nauticus, the National Maritime Center. The Wisconsin served in the Pacific Theater of World War II and during the Korean War. She was reactivated in August of 1986. After a modernization program the Wisconsin participated in Operation Desert Storm in January and February of 1991. Wisconsin was last decommissioned in September 1991. It was removed from the Naval Vessel Register in 2006 and donated as a permanent museum. The City of Norfolk took ownership in 2010.
USS Wisconsin, an Iowa-class battleship, was built at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
and launched on December 7, 1943 (the second anniversary of the Pearl Harbor raid).
By surprise we attended the Virginia International Tattoo, something we had never heard of so never planned to attend. Well, what a pleasant surprise. After reading the description of the event we decided it was a “must do” since we had the opportunity. We attended the second night of the event.
The festival was in its 22nd year at Scope Arena. It featured nearly 1,100 cast members from eight different countries, all celebrating the theme, “Above and beyond the call of duty” which honored the surviving Medal of Honor recipients. For the first time ever, there was also a demonstration of the changing of the guard outside of Arlington National Cemetery.
The 2018 festival featured the Royal Band of the Belgian Air Force,
the U.S. Marine Corps band, a bagpipe and drum corps band from Scotland,
three different, traditional units from South Korea, and his Majesty the King’s
guard band and drill team from Norway.
Since we have regular days off each Monday and Tuesday (except holidays), we are able to take one day each week to travel in the area with friends with whom we worked last year in Jackson, Wyoming. They arrived at Virginia Beach two weeks after us. Our first excursion together was to Kitty Hawk, less than 85 miles south of Virginia Beach. There we visited the Wright Brothers National Memorial.
Rising nearly 100 feet above the surrounding sandy area is Big Kill Devil Hill
where the stone monument to the Wright brothers stands. It was from
this hill that the brothers first test flew their gliders each summer
in 1900, 1901, and 1902.
The front side of the momument at the Memorial faces the south.
To the north, behind the monument, lies the flat area where the Orville
and Wilbur flew their self-propelled plane in December of 1903.
The test flight area is at the end of the walk. Next to the walkway
are replicas of two building used for housing the gliders
and plane. To the right is the Museum and, still further
to the right, is the Visitor Center operated by the
National Park Service.
The small hanger built by the Wrights in which the self-propelled
plane was stored during their visit of late 1913. At that time,
the first building was used for an office and residence.
Martha stands at the marker that designates the starting point
of the launch rail. The store marker is at the place where
the first flight ended. The brothers made four other
flights with the plane that day until it was damaged
upon landing after the furthest flight of the day.
South of Big Kill Devil Hill are life-size bronze statues of the
brothers and several life saving corpsmen who volunteered
to assist with the flights. The full-size model of the plane
is also in bronze. Not only did the brothers have to experiment
with lift and the effects of air over the wings and figure out
a way to control pitch and yaw, they also had to learn,
by experience, how to pilot their aircraft.
From Kitty Hawk and the Wright Brothers Memorial we traveled further south to the Bodie Island Light Station (formerly Body’s Island) at Nags Head, NC. We arrived too late to climb the lighthouse but still enjoyed looking around the grounds and walking to the adjacent marsh.
We plan to be in Virginia Beach until the end of September when the travel season winds down. Our first Sunday in the area we worshipped at First United Methodist Church, which is on Pacific Street just over two blocks from the boardwalk.
Bodie Island Light Station stands as a marker to ships
on the Atlantic coast as well as those on Roanoke Sound.
The water entrance to the sound is just south of the light station.
The water entrance to the sound is just south of the light station.
We plan to be in Virginia Beach until the end of September when the travel season winds down. Our first Sunday in the area we worshipped at First United Methodist Church, which is on Pacific Street just over two blocks from the boardwalk.
The corner entrance to First United Methodist Church
features a bronze statue of Jesus in a boat.
The photo shows an interior view of the sanctuary which houses
the three-manual pipe organ.
