Wednesday, May 30, 2007
VIRGINIA HISTORY TOUR
Virginia has been in the news lately due to the 400th anniversary celebration of the founding of Jamestown and visits by the Queen of England and our President. My wife and I "landed" in Jamestown the day after the anniversary weekend and spent two weeks in Virginia. If you have any kind of history gene, you should make this trip. Among the things we saw:
*Jamestown - original site and the recreated community including the three ships
*Williamsburg - colonial capital
*Yorktown - Washington's defeat of Cornwallis
*Newport News - battle of Monitor and Merrimack, artifacts from the Monitor on display; the iconic turret is visible in a liquid bath where it is still being treated
*Cape Henry - where the colonists first landed on American soil
*Fort Monroe - where Lee and Davis served, Lincoln held war councils, and Davis was imprisoned for two years
*Cumberland Gap - where Daniel Boone led settlers through the Appalachian mountains to settle Kentucky
*Appomattox - the surrender of Lee to Grant
*Monticello - Jefferson's home: the only UN World Heritage site in the US
*The Wilderness - where Grant began to press Lee continuously
*Chancellorsville - brilliant victory by Lee a year earlier, Stonewall Jackson killed
*Fredericksburg - destruction of the town in Union defeat
*Birthplace of George Washington (on the Potomac)
*Birthplace of Robert E. Lee (seven miles further down the Potomac)
*Richmond - slave trail from the docks, church where Lee and Davis attended, 1741 church where Patrick Henry gave his "Liberty or Death" speech, Confederate museum and "white house"
History gives a sense of how we got where we are today. It offers lessons to follow and to avoid. It engenders appreciation for the world of our forefathers and their sacrifices. It amazes with stories of bravery, cowardice, brilliance, stupidity, brutality, fraternity, coincidence, luck, and possibly providence. It causes one to marvel at change and at what does not change.
I will share a some tidbits in the next few posts.
*Jamestown - original site and the recreated community including the three ships
*Williamsburg - colonial capital
*Yorktown - Washington's defeat of Cornwallis
*Newport News - battle of Monitor and Merrimack, artifacts from the Monitor on display; the iconic turret is visible in a liquid bath where it is still being treated
*Cape Henry - where the colonists first landed on American soil
*Fort Monroe - where Lee and Davis served, Lincoln held war councils, and Davis was imprisoned for two years
*Cumberland Gap - where Daniel Boone led settlers through the Appalachian mountains to settle Kentucky
*Appomattox - the surrender of Lee to Grant
*Monticello - Jefferson's home: the only UN World Heritage site in the US
*The Wilderness - where Grant began to press Lee continuously
*Chancellorsville - brilliant victory by Lee a year earlier, Stonewall Jackson killed
*Fredericksburg - destruction of the town in Union defeat
*Birthplace of George Washington (on the Potomac)
*Birthplace of Robert E. Lee (seven miles further down the Potomac)
*Richmond - slave trail from the docks, church where Lee and Davis attended, 1741 church where Patrick Henry gave his "Liberty or Death" speech, Confederate museum and "white house"
History gives a sense of how we got where we are today. It offers lessons to follow and to avoid. It engenders appreciation for the world of our forefathers and their sacrifices. It amazes with stories of bravery, cowardice, brilliance, stupidity, brutality, fraternity, coincidence, luck, and possibly providence. It causes one to marvel at change and at what does not change.
I will share a some tidbits in the next few posts.
