Friday, June 16, 20923 - Today we drove for two hours from the Coast Guard Station at Elizabeth City to the Cheatham Naval Annex (Kings Creek RV) near Williamsburg, VA. This drive took us through Norfolk where we took a wrong turn and ended up going through the main part of town on freeways and then through a tunnel that only left us with inches to spare. We also had to stop at an inspection station where we were told to turn off our propane tanks to enter the tunnel.  Getting through Norfolk was a little stressful, but we made it okay.

Just before getting to the Navy Annex at Cheatham Base, we were placed on the Colonial Parkway. This is a parkway that ties Colonial Jamestown, Williamsburg, and the Yorktown Revolutionary War site together. No commercial vehicles and only 45 miles per hour. You can ride bikes on this road and many do, and the cars seem to be pretty courteous to the bikers.

After we set up the RV, we drove to the Yorktown Revolutionary War Battle Site. This is where British general Cornwallis surrendered his troops to George Washington to end the Revolutionary War. The British troops were backed up against the York River and French fleet had assisted George Washington by not letting the British ships get to Cornwallis to re-supply his troops. Washington was able to "dig in" and then bombard the British troops. Cornwallis had no choice but to surrender. We plan to visit the entire site on Sunday.

Saturday, June 17, 2023 - Today we drove on the Colonial Parkway about seven miles to the historic town of Williamsburg. This was one of the early towns that became a center of power after Jamestown. There is a Visitor Center there and then you can hike to the actual historic town. For $30 each ($15 each is you have a National Parks "Geezer" pass) you can walk the grounds and check out the village. For another $49.99, you can actuall enter many of the buildings to check them out. We opted to just walk the grounds. Williamsburg is highly commercialized. There is a section of the old town that is commercial stores and shops. When you walk on the outer perimeter of the town, you get ot see some of what Williamsburg used to look like. There were people walking the streets in period clothing and you could ask them questions. There was also a large "farmer's market" going on from 8:00 until 12:00 in the town center. Pricey, but good vegetable sot by had if you choose to do so. We also came to the west end of town and walked onto the campus of William and Mary University. That is a beautiful campus with tons of old buildings, statues, grounds, and history. It was fun just to walk on the campus grounds. We saw the Governor's Palace where Thomas Jefferson worked as the governor of Virginia. We also saw the tavern where Jefferson and Washington like to dine and drink on the opposite side of the town. We had coffee and pastries in a local shop in town and continued to walk the streets. There were horse-drawn carriages you could ride about town if you wanted to pay the price. We had a great day in Williamsburg.

We then drove on the Colonial Parkway to the historic town of Jamestown. After Roanoke, Jamestown was the next major settlement in the colony. It was part of the Virginia Company and the main idea was to find gold and silver like the Spanish were finding. Unfortunately, there was no gold or silver to be had, but the lands were rich in resources. The first group of settlers had a really tough time surviving in the Americas. They were not prepared to forage and survive in this new world. Without the help of the native Americans, the Powhatan tribe, they would have likely all died. John Smith was in charge initially. The social order had wealthy elites being provided food and housing by a lower class of workers and soldiers. That did not work. Finally, John Smith told everyone that if you did not work, you would not eat. That force everyone to contribute to the success of the colony at Jamestown. The Indians were basically friendly and tried to help, but the new settlers did not treat the Indians very well. Their cultures clashed.

Sunday, June 18, 2023 - On this morning, we drove to the Yorktown Battlefield Site which is where British General Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington. We went to the Visitor and walked right into a Ranger led presentation on what had happened here. We then explored the Visitor Center to get an expanded idea of the impacts of the British surrender. We also learned a lot about how the French greatly helped us win this battle by repelling the British fleet from re-supplying Gen Cornwallis and his troops via the York River. We then drove the roads that are part of the Yorktown Battlefield experience to see what happened where. This is an amazing area since there is so much history about the Revolution and the Civil War here.

After driving the road and exploring the battlefield, we drove into Yorktown to check out the Nelson House. This is a home that endured the entire battle of Yorktown and the subsequent activities that occurred in the region. The home was very nice with the normal large rooms for bedrooms and places to greet visitors. It was a very nice day.