Virginia

We’re headed north to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. First stop along the way was Virginia for a quick stop and a little sightseeing. We stayed at a nice RV park just outside Williamsburg and headed into Yorktown for an afternoon. Here are some of the sights.

Muffy felt right at home in our campsite.

We even spotted a real flower bed.

The Olympic Torch landed in Yorktown on its way to the 1980 Winter Olympics.

Here’s the beachfront in Yorktown, VA.

And we got to see a Fife and Drum Corps march through the town.

West Virginia

We had planned to spend more time traveling through West Virginia, but the serious flooding altered our plans. We ended up skirting the northern part of the state. First stop was in Charlestown where we ran into the Budweiser Clydesdales! What magnificent horses.

Bacon Jam? Only in West Virginia

Harper’s Ferry & John Brown

In October of 1859 John Brown, a staunch abolitionist, and a group men seized the federal armory and arsenal in Harper’s Ferry. Brown hoped that the local slave population would join the raid and through the raid’s success weapons would be supplied to slaves and freedom fighters throughout the country. It didn’t go as planned.

The US Marines under Colonel Robert E. Lee arrived, killing many of the raiders and capturing Brown. Brown was charged with treason against the state of Virginia, murder, and slave insurrection. Brown was found guilty and sentenced to death. He was hanged on December 2, 1859.

Among those present at the hanging was John Wilkes Booth.  Booth had put his theater career on hold to join the Richmond Grays, a Virginia Militia that offered to provide security at the hanging. Although Booth reviled Brown for his anti-slavery views, he also admired his flair and courage.  He called Brown, “the grandest character of the century.”  Booth would go on to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln.  (See the chair Lincoln was sitting in when he was shot in our photo gallery from the Henry Ford Museum, and the hearse that carried President Lincoln’s body in the photo gallery from the Tallahassee Auto Museum).

Wheeling, WV

A couple notable landmarks can be found in Wheeling, West Virginia. First is the Wheeling Suspension Bridge. It is the oldest operating suspension bridge in the world. It was the first bridge built to cross the Ohio River, and at the time was the largest bridge ever constructed.

The town had a love affair with organized labor. There are memorials up and down the riverfront paying tribute to labor leaders. Here’s one.

In February of 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy visited Wheeling. The McClure Hotel was the site of his famous speech that began the McCarthy era. He accused the State Department of being a hotbed of Communism. His accusations led to a series of Senate hearings on the issue.

See More Pictures in the Gallery