We got an early start today… actually left the motel about 8 am! (That’s early for me!) It was about 175 miles to the Petersburg Civil War Battlefield. About 10 miles from the Virginia state line, we stopped to fill up with gas. Well, it got dark, the wind picked up like crazy, and I really thought we were about to be caught by a tornado. We hurried and got back on I-95 – I was hoping we could get ahead or away from the storms. I called Tracy and he check The Weather Channel for us. He found no tornado watches/warnings – just heavy thunderstorm warnings for where we were. And boy, did it rain on us. All the way through Virginia – to Petersburg. I was so afraid we were going to be unable to visit the battlefield. I would have been so disappointed. We got to the Visitor’s Center at the battlefield, and it had slowed down to a sprinkle, pretty much. We shopped in the gift shop – I got a couple of book, along with some things for scrapbooking – then we toured the museum and watched a film about the Siege of Petersburg. That was interesting and helped put events in order for us. I found the neatest thing in their little museum. They had a headstone that a Confederate soldier had carved for his brother… and they served with the Georgia 48th – the same unit my great-grandfather and his brother served with at Petersburg!! I hope the pictures turn out.
We then left the Visitor’s Center and boy, had the wind picked up! It kept blowing my umbrella inside out. We drove the park’s driving tour, just briefly stopping at each point and taking pictures from the car. The Crater was #8 on the tour, and I was determined to walk to it, despite the weather. Luckily, the rain was just a sprinkle and the wind had died down. So we walked to the Crater and took tons of pictures. It is amazing… and unbelievable to see how close the Union and Confederate lines were to each other… and yet, the Confederates were taken by surprise by the blast. What I didn’t know is that the town of Petersburg and the Confederates had heard rumors of the tunnel the Union soldiers were digging, but when nothing happened, they forgot about it. It only took a month for the tunnel to be built. It is a very disturbing chapter in the entire sad story of the Civil War.
After leaving the Crater, we continued to a local church and cemetery where all of the fallen Confederate soldiers from the Petersburg siege/battles were taken and buried. Most of them are unknown. After getting help from the nice ladies in the church’s reception center, we found the Georgia marker, commerating the soldiers from our great state, including my great-grandfather’s brother, Francis Tapley.
By this time, it as after 2 pm, and we had not had lunch! So we found a Five Guys (thank goodness for GPS), fueled up, and headed on toward D.C.
On the way, we went through Richmond, Virginia… where we saw Philip Morris and a monument to cigarettes out in front of their plant. Only Virginias would build a shrine to tobacco! LOL! We passed by the Marine base, Quantico. My niece and nephew, Missi and Harry Jr., used to visit their dad when he was stationed there. It is really beautiful country in that area – rolling green hills. We came through Alexandria and then without even noticing where, we passed into the District of Columbia! We were on the beltway (I-395) by this time and we saw the Washington Monument, the Capitol, and the Supreme Court as we came in!
We found our condo with little problem. The condo is very nice, clean, and spacious. The neighborhood is terrible. But the owner, who lives right here on site, swears it is safe… so I hope he’s right. We’re staying in tonight to rest up before hitting the ground running first thing in the morning!!
It took me three hours and a call to Dell Support to get online tonight! So everyone of you better be reading this! LOL! Ofr course, it ended up being something really simple. That's a good thing, but I wish I had called Dell first!
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