We visited Dollywood, Dolly Parton’s theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Theme park map; click or tap to view on their site:
An interactive map:
GIF
Baseball: Washington Nationals vs Miami Marlins
The second baseball game we attended while in the DC area was the Miami Marlins playing at the Washington Nationals stadium, Nationals Park:
We got there shortly before the gates opened:
Baseball art:
Team store:
More art:
Cutwater Spirits:
We got some tasty beverages in interesting containers:
Fritos tacos:
Mascots:
View of the ballpark from our seats:
Mascot:
WSH:
Cheerleaders:
Selfie:
See You Tater:
Tater tots with mac & cheese and pulled pork:
Mascots:
Cart:
Dippin’ Dots for dessert:
Nats win:
Baseball: Baltimore Orioles vs Atlanta Braves
While staying in the DC area, we attended a couple of baseball games. The first was the Atlanta Braves playing at the Baltimore Orioles stadium, Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
The entrance to Oriole Park:
Team store:
Food vendors:
We like to try regional specialties when exploring ballparks; we started with the crab mac hot dog:
“The ballpark that forever changed baseball”:
The view from our seats:
Lineups:
Lots of navy folks for Fleet Week:
Selfie:
Former Mariner Jarred Kelenic:
Crab shuffle game:
Time to try more food:
Chicken bacon ranch fries:
And crab chips:
Hot dog race:
Home run markers on the ground:
I looked for Mariners ones, including Ken Griffey, Jr on April 24, 1994:
Sam Haggerty on April 13, 2021:
Cal Raleigh on June 25, 2023:
Mascot:
Dippin’ Dots for dessert:
Final scores:
Oriole Park at Camden Yards:
Cherry Hill Park
We stayed at Cherry Hill Park in College Park, Maryland. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A very nice resort, convenient to the DC area.
Dates:
- Check in: 2024-06-09
- Check out: 2024-06-23
- 14 nights
Weather:
- Partly cloudy
- High temps 76-96°F, lows 57-69°F
- Little wind, gusts to 18 MPH
Noise:
- Some freeway noise
- No train horn noise
- Negligible neighbor noise during the week; lots of noise during the weekends
Site:
- #39, back-in, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
- A little unlevel site; high on driver side; used hydraulic leveling
- Gravel driveway about 45 feet long by 14 feet wide
- About 12 feet to neighbors on both sides
- Picnic table
- Fire pit
- Tall trees behind site
- Clean site
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, fairly conveniently located
- 50 PSI water, fairly conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, very conveniently located (less than a 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 25-45 Mbps down, 15 Mbps up, 43 ms ping
- AT&T: 500 Mbps down, 60 Mbps up, 80 ms ping
- Campground Wi-Fi: 20 Mpbs down, 20 Mbps up, 8 ms ping
- Verizon: 15 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage bins
- Pools
- Onsite cafe and food delivery to site
- Package delivery to office
- Bus to DC mall
- Tour buses
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Location, location, location!
If you want to visit the DC area with your motorhome, trailer, fifth-wheel, tent, or what-have-you, this is THE place to do it. It’s convenient to the Beltway and close to a Metro stop for all your sightseeing needs. They also offer tours from the campground, which is just the cherry on top. The campground is top-notch and well-kept, with all the amenities you could want (including food delivery right to your site), which is a plus on a travel day. We were in site 39, in the far corner of the park, backing onto trees. The site was a little unlevel side-to-side, but nothing our levelers couldn’t cope with. It was also plenty long enough for our 40′ motorhome with space to park our tow vehicle in front. There was some freeway noise, but it was mostly a distant hum. The staff were all very friendly and helpful. We have already booked our next stay when we swing through the area next year. We camped at Cherry Hill Park – Washington, D.C. In a Motorhome.
A handy campground map for getting to our site:
And on the other site, a map of campground features:
Tours:
Cafe, bus, etc:
Wristbands:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Utilities:
Backed into the foliage:
Our site at night; we don’t usually turn on our undercarriage accent lights and door light, but I did on this occasion, as Jenn was arriving back after spending a few days with her girlfriends:
We appreciated an onsite cafe with food delivery to the site on arrival day (and probably would have partaken on other evenings if we weren’t busy with exploring etc):
Park history:
Camp store:
We appreciated and took much advantage of package delivery to the office:
Bus depot, where tour buses and commuter buses depart:
Pond:
Playground:
Event pavilion:
Ballroom:
Cafe, pools, clubhouse:
Another playground:
Mini golf:
Splash pad:
Game court:
Pond:
Tent area, each with hammocks and gazebos:
Yurt:
Cabins:
Other RV sites:
Pull-through sites:
A large gathering next to us for a couple of days:
Prevost departing:
Gazebo and trash (the squirrels enjoyed investigating the trash):
This place is so huge, they have a shuttle that roams around:
The evening tractor pull rides were popular:
A very nice place. We have already booked another stay here for next year.
Gettysburg National Military Park: memorials and cemetery
The second post about Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, including the battlefield memorials and Gettysburg National Cemetery.
The interactive map again:
The battlefield has a bunch of roads, dotted with monuments from the various states and military divisions that participated in the battle:
GIF:
Gettysburg National Cemetery:
Lincoln address memorial, where he gave his famous speech:
Gettysburg National Military Park: museum and visitor center
We visited Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, including a third-party museum and visitor center.
An interactive map:
Visitor center:
Gift store:
“Now we are engaged in a great civil war”:
Exhibits:
Theater:
The Gettysburg Cyclorama, a 360° painting by the French artist Paul Philippoteaux depicting Pickett’s Charge, the climactic Confederate attack on the Union forces during the Battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. It was painted in 1883, and measures 42 feet by 377 feet. The viewing of it started with a dramatization of the battle with light effects:
After the light show, it was shown without light effects. The foreground in front of the painting is a natural-looking landscape, blending into the painting:
An easter egg: a wounded President Lincoln is in this part, representing a wounded nation:
Impressive stuff.
The Gettysburg address:
Tomorrow, the battlefield and cemetery.
Colonial National Historical Park: Jamestown
We visited a couple of areas of the Colonial National Historical Park in Virginia, including Yorktown and Jamestown Island. This post is about Jamestown.
Jamestown is in multiple parts; a touristy Jamestown Settlement, that we didn’t visit (this time), and Jamestown Island, which is partly NPS, and partly a Preservation Virginia area.
The NPS map; click or tap to interact:
An interactive map of the Jamestown Island area:
Historic Jamestowne:
Glasshouse ruins:
A replica Glasshouse, that does glassblowing demonstrations:
Jamestowne visitor center:
Auditorium:
Exhibits:
Monument:
Pocahontas:
Relief map:
Captain John Smith:
Cannon:
The Barracks:
Indian tools; this guy showed and handed around various tool components, and told of their manufacture:
Church:
Cellar kitchen:
Blacksmith workshop:
This recreator talked Jenn’s ear off with old-timey tales:
The Statehouse:
Museum:
Ancient foundations under the floor:
Gift store:
Fascinating stuff.
Travel from Chocowinity, North Carolina to Cape Charles, Virginia
We drove our coach 156 miles, about two hours of driving, from Chocowinity, North Carolina to Cape Charles, Virginia. Another new state.
This was a late change in our plans. We were originally going to head more directly north, but we realized that we’d be traveling over the Memorial Day weekend, which is one of the busiest camper weekends. And checking in to a first-come-first-served Thousand Trails park during that weekend, so would probably struggle to find a good site. So we decided to add a stop elsewhere between the two, to avoid both issues. In retrospect, we chose poorly (okay, I chose poorly), since we didn’t realize that the route would involve some narrow tunnels.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading northeast:
An interactive map:
Washington, North Carolina:
13 / 17 North:
Not a lot of stopping opportunities on this route. I found a nice big parking lot that worked well, also a convenient walk to a McDonald’s for lunch:
Paladin sat in his nest on the dash as we headed out again, until we got back on the highway:
Roanoke River:
Chowan River:
Future I-87:
Paladin asleep:
Perquimans River:
Exit to Chesapeake:
Future I-87 again:
A break at the Dismal Swamp Canal Visitor Center rest area:
Snuggling with Paladin:
Paladin on the dash:
As we left this rest area, we had a strange wobble — it felt like the wheels of the coach were loose or something, but on looking at the 360 camera footage from the truck later, it looks like the front truck tires possibly weren’t pointing in the right direction as we made a turn out of the rest area, and they hopped a few times. We pulled over, then resumed while keeping any eye on things; it was fine after that. Rather disconcerting, but no harm done as far as we can tell.
That issue did occur again on a subsequent trip. But we have since replaced our truck tires, as the front ones were getting a bit bald on the outer edges, so hopefully it won’t occur again.
“Welcome to Virginia”:
Exit:
Bainbridge?! To us, Bainbridge is an island in the Puget Sound, across from Seattle:
Southern Branch Elizabeth River:
Exit:
We hadn’t seen a “Signal Red Ahead” warning before:
I wonder what was on “Pleasure House Road”?
Toll plaza:
A bridge-tunnel across the mouth of Chesapeake Bay; part bridges, part two tunnels under the water:
13’ 6” height restriction. Our coach is 12’ 7”. 11 inches of clearance is totally fine, not at all concerning!
They’re working on adding a second tunnel for opposing traffic, but for now both ways goes through the same tunnel:
A couple of snapshots from the 360 camera on the truck; look at all those inches of clearance (remember too that our AC units stick up a little higher than the roof rail):
An animated GIF:
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A ship going over the second tunnel:
Our destination:
Guided to our site:
We originally were going to go back through those tunnels, and a third tunnel and roadworks north of Virginia Beach, but decided to change our plans again to avoid those; more on that next week.
And check out the video today; it includes views from the truck, and lots of interesting bits including an instant replay of the truck wobble thing, and the truck and coach views of going through the two tunnels, and more.
Cape Hatteras National Seashore
We took a long drive out to and along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina.
The NPS map; click or tap to interact on their site:
An interactive map of our route to visit Fort Raleigh National Historic Site (post coming tomorrow), Wright Brothers National Memorial, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, and Sugar Creek Seafood Restaurant for dinner on the way home:
A replica of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse at a gas station on the way:
Alligator River:
Cape Hatteras National Seashore sign:
Whalebone Junction Info Center:
Bodie Island Light Station:
Bridge:
Ocean view:
Sand blowing over the road:
Cape Hatteras Light Station. It is currently undergoing repairs and restoration; they had just finished adding the scaffolding when we visited:
Park Store:
Museum:
The lighthouse was moved half a mile inland from the coast:
Saving the Light Station:
Cape Hatteras Light Station:
A long Sunday drive, but we enjoyed it.
Myrtle Beach State Park beach
While staying at the Myrtle Beach State Park campground, we walked to the adjacent beach on several days. Nice to be able to walk to a beach:
A cannonball jelly; apparently harmless:
Waves:
Pier:
Gift shop:
We walked out on the pier, while enjoying some very melty ice cream:
A sign with info about jellies:
Boardwalk:
Picnic shelters:
Gaillardia flowers growing wild (we used to buy them at a garden center):
Beach:
Pelicans:
We loaded our beach chairs, mini table, and cooler into our cart, to enjoy a picnic dinner on the beach:
Plane:
