June 19, 2010 – Day Forty-three

The Williamsburg KOA hosted a free pancake breakfast today. I love pancakes and I love free food! But out of the goodness of my heart I donated $5 toward the cause, whatever it may have been.

Today, Yorktown, Virginia was in our sites.

The Siege of Yorktown or Battle of Yorktown in the fall of 1781 was a decisive victory by the combined assault of American forces led by Major General George Washington and French forces led by General Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis. It proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War, as the surrender of Cornwallis's army prompted the British government eventually to negotiate an end to the conflict.

Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown are all very close to each other. This entire area is richly steeped in American history and we could have spent much more time here, even driving to Charlottesville, Virginia to see Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, but we have to save some things for another odyssey, this one during the fall foliage explosion.

Negotiating the maze of roads we finally made it to the Yorktown waterfront. This completely rebuilt area was host to a farmer’s market today. I would have enjoyed it more but it was still so damn hot.

From here we headed to the site of the Yorktown battlefield, a national park. Once again my Golden Eagle pass got us in without paying. The visitor center offers a museum with battlefield artifacts, a mock-up of an 18^th century sailing vessel, an assortment of dioramas depicting the siege, and a movie explaining each side’s strategy.

The trenches marking the offensive and defensive siege lines were uncovered by black conservation corps members during the Depression. Also, a host of cannons are within walking distance, some original, some replicas, all interesting.

But best of all was the firing of one of the replica cannons by troops dressed in period pieces. It almost made me feel as if I was in the area 225 years ago.

Returning to the trailer took a lot longer that it should have, because the GPS said one way, Marianne said another, and the road marked “west” really went east. Aggravating, to say the least.

After a rest from the morning’s Yorktown visit, we headed to the local Wal*Mart for resupplies. We also bought a several non-essential items, like a new book on CD (Laura Bush’s book), so we ended up sending spent close to $200.

That evening I decided to go to the pool to cool off. I should have known better. This campground is a haven for families, and the pool was crowded, including babies in diapers. The deep end of the pool was only 5’, but one couldn’t see the bottom. So I just hung my legs over the edge and watched the show.

Back at the trailer we had a late dinner, turned on the TV, but spent most of our time working on our photos and on the Internet catching up on email and this blog. It’s almost like being at home: Marianne on her computer and me on mine. We couldn’t imagine this trip without our computers and the Internet.