The Battlefield and the Day in the Park (April 18-19, 2015

 On April 18, the warmest day of the year so far, took a motorcycle ride to Petersburg National Battlefield. I have been there before but just an amazing place. There is a lot of history in Richmond, especially dealing with the Civil War. This battlefield was basically where it ended. Once Richmond fell the war was over a week later.
From this site the mortar "Dictator (one of the most famous cannon of the war) shelled Petersburg. This is not it, but it is of the same type and size. This is also the exact location where it fired from.

Blandford Cemetery is very old with graves from the Revolutionary war. The church there dates to 1735 and is still standing. It played a big roll in the war and a lot of Confederates were buried there. In fact, it is just a massive place.
I really like visiting Petersburg, both the battlefield and the city itself. Have been there a few times, and it is around some 30 miles from Richmond. Back then they were both tied together and the fall of Petersburg lead to the end of Richmond as the Confederate Capital. Lee's Army met its end a few miles up the road with the surrender to General Grant.      

On Sunday, went on foot to Forest Hill Park to the Day in the Park which is a annual event. The Stone House seen here is one of the younger things I saw, dating to the 1800's They had a lot of cool things on display, lots of vendors, bands, and even a police K-9 demo. I really love this park. My dog and me spend a lot of time there walking around it, going to the Farmers Market on Saturday and exploring the lake there.
This was a very good weekend in what is a very interesting area. .

Visit to Virginia Beach (April 4, 2015)

Though I have been here a few years, and have been there before (many, many years ago back in my Navy Days) have not visited Virginia Beach. For one thing, it can be quite difficult to get to via the tunnel just outside of Hampton, VA which gets pretty backed up especially in the summer. I had been by there during the airshow at NAS Oceana (which is fantastic by the way) a couple of years ago, but that was an all day event and by the time it was over it was pretty late -as the crowd is huge with one way out of the Naval base. I really do recommend that event though which is held yearly.

Anyhow got up early today and by 6am I was on my way to Virginia Beach. It is a 90 minute drive to the beach from Richmond via I-64 and that early was very light traffic wise. I did pick a rainy day: the rains had stopped in Richmond, but it was a day for a few showers while I was there. However..I was impressed with the area, and enjoyed seeing the places there, There are a lot of places to stay which includes hotels, vacation rentals, and even a campground very close to the beach. There are a lot of places to eat, and a number of things to do. I really enjoyed the visit there, and plan to come back.  

Virginia Beach has a lot of things to offer, Of course if you live in Virginia there is nothing really closer (well, Yorktown Beach is also really cool, and have been there a few times) but it is very neat.
Lots of things to see in that area, Hampton has Fort Monroe (a very worthwhile and historic place to visit, and was the subject of a previous post) as was this Air Park which is also in Hampton. A favorite place of mine, I stopped in on the way back. Both the fort and the air park are free, for a small fee you can visit the Air and Space Center in Hampton which is also a favorite place of mine to visit.
There is a lot of fun things to see and do in the Virginia Beach area and it is for the most part a pleasant drive. I have been told there is also a real good alternate route to the area and I plan to check that out this summer on one of my motorcycle rides to the area...as I will be coming back very soon!