Second Week of Wayne's Retirement

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We ended our last blog arriving at Cape Hatteras.

We went to see Cape Hatteras lighthouse, then went to the beach and watched kite surfers. Check “kite surfing” out on google if you want to see what a wild sport it is. The next morning, the 13th, we continued north on the Outer Banks and managed to drive out on the beach again, without getting stuck in the sand. We drove through Nag’s Head, another Wisconsin Dells type area. We then checked out Orville and Wilber Wright’s first flight National Historical site at Kitty Hawk. We ended up driving through Norfolk, Virginia and stayed in Newport News, VA that evening.

We had planned to go to Williamsburg the next morning, but found out that the National Maritime museum is in Newport News so we went there first. The Maritime Museum is very new and is very large. We spent 6 hours enjoying all the exhibits. The highlight was displays of the Civil War naval battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac. They have recovered parts of the Monitor from where it sunk off the North Carolina coast. The turret, guns, anchor and engine are being restored for display. We learned a lot of history during this visit. We did make it to Williamsburg and had a chance to walk down the main street of this colonial town. We thought about spending another day at Williamsburg and also go see Jamestown, but decided to continue on north and visit another Civil War battlefield. So we followed General Robert E. Lee out of Virginia, through Maryland and into Pennsylvania.

On April 15th we spent the day at Gettysburg, PA. This was Karen’s first trip and Wayne’s second trip to the famous battlefield. We happened to arrive the day after the opening of a new visitor center and museum. Our visit to the museum was very helpful in understanding how the 3 day battle at Gettysburg had proceeded. We then took a 4 hour driving trip through the battle field. We tried to read many of the inscriptions on the monuments, but there are just too many to read them all.

Karen and I didn’t plan to spend so much time visiting Civil War sites, but we both have read much about that part of our history. We enjoyed visiting the sites and learning more about those very difficult years in our nation’s history.

We arrived back in Baraboo at 10:00PM Wednesday April 16. Now it’s back to WORK, for Karen!

Miles driven 3,160
Gallons gas 122
MPG 25.9
Average cost per gal. $3.3584
Cheapest gas, Summerville SC $3.209
Most expensive gas, Baraboo, WI $3.479

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Photos

The Outer Banks
That's sand, not snow!

Kitty Hawk, NC
The Wright Brothers first flights started here and ended up by those white markers.

USS Monitor
On the deck of the replica of the Monitor.

Williamsburg, VA
Colonial transportation

Covered Bridge
Near Thurmont, MD where we picked up a Maryland Geocache.

Wisconsin Monument
Wisconsin boys fought and died here.

Confederate General Longstreet
This is on Seminary ridge where Picketts Charge began.

Cemetary Ridge
This is where Picketts Charge ended in defeat.

Minnesota Monument
Minnesota boys also fought and died here.

Little Roundtop
The high ground that the Union held.