We visited Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia.
Relief map:
Bus from the visitor center to the town:
Exploring the old town of Harpers Ferry:
national monument
National monuments that we have visited.
DC monuments by night tour
We did an evening guided tour of Washington DC from the Cherry Hill Park campground.
Selfie in the bus:
US Capitol:
Washington Monument:
Back to our bus; there were lots of food trucks like this lining the roads in DC:
Treasury building:
The White House:
Guide talking about the White House:
Washington Monument:
Thomas Jefferson Memorial:
Sunset:
Lots of tour buses:
Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial:
Korean War Veterans Memorial:
Washington Monument and the Capitol beyond the reflecting pond:
Lincoln Memorial:
Vietnam Veterans Memorial:
World War II Memorial:
World War II Memorial:
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.
Manassas National Battlefield Park
We visited Manassas National Battlefield Park in Manassas, Virginia, where the first major battle of the American Civil War took place on July 21, 1861 (plus a second battle later).
The NPS map; click or tap to interact:
An interactive map:
Visitor center:
Henry Hill Loop Trail:
Stonewall Jackson:
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.
Colonial National Historical Park: Yorktown
We visited a couple of areas of the Colonial National Historical Park in Virginia, including Yorktown and Jamestown Island. This post is about Yorktown.
The NPS map; click or tap to interact:
An interactive map of the Yorktown area:
Historic Yorktown:
Visitor center:
Yorktown:
Wright Brothers National Memorial
We visited the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where Wilbur and Orville Wright achieved the first successful powered airplane flights.
Here’s the NPS map; click or tap to interact:
An interactive map:
Entrance:
Visitor Center:
Relief map:
Exhibits:
A full-sized reproduction of the first plane:
Home away from home:
First flights:
First flights launch marker:
Looking along flight path:
First flight marker; 12 seconds, 120 feet, December 17, 1903:
Second flight marker:
Third flight marker:
Fourth flight marker:
First flight markers, and info sign about the launch rail:
Monument:
Plane sculpture:
Impressive how we’ve come so far since then.
Natchez Trace Parkway
We drove along about 140 miles of the 444-mile Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. A weird park barely wider than the road, with thousands of years of history.
Though we drove both ways on that portion, so a total of about 280 miles, plus some detours, over two days.
We also drove past Elvis Presley’s birthplace and Tupelo National Battlefield, and visited Meriwether Lewis National Monument.
An interactive map (see the NPS site for the full route map):
Tupelo:
Back to the Parkway:
Alabama state line:
Tennessee River:
Tennessee State Line:
Meriwether Lewis National Monument, where Lewis of Lewis & Clark died and was buried:
Laurel Hill Road:
Sunset:
A nice scenic drive, with some interesting stops.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is one of the most famous monuments in the country, though with some problematic history.
George Washington, First President of the United States:
Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the United States:
Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States:
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States:
Exhibit Hall:
Profile View:
