Colonial Historic National Park, Jamestown

Today we went to Jamestown Island which, along with Yorktown, is part of the Colonial National Historical Park operated by the National Park Service.

Jamestown, founded in 1607, was the first permanent English settlement in North America.

Walking over the footbridge from the Visitor Center into the park, we came to the Tercentennial Monument. It was built in 1907 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the landing at Jamestown.
Park rangers give informative tours of Jamestown hourly.

The current version of Jamestown's Memorial Church was completed in 1907. The interior of the church contains the brick and cobblestone foundations of the original 1639 church.

Archaeological digs occur regularly on property searching for NEW old artifacts.

Captain John Smith had a colorful past prior to being elected to a one-year term of Governor of Virginia in 1608. That's him on the right.

Pocahontas was about 13 years old when she first visited Jamestown bringing gifts of food from her father. She married John Rolfe at about 19 years of age and died just three years later in England. She is on the right.

These geese are direct descendants of geese who may have lived here in Jamestown in the 1600s.

These row houses were occupied at least from 1650 to 1720. It looks as if they then fell in disrepair.

This is believed to be the site of Swann's Tavern as artifacts such as a brass spigot from casks of beer or cider were discovered at the site.

This is known to be the new theater in the round which opened, along with the new visitor center, in 2007. The theater presents Jamestown: America's Birthplace.

Glass blowing demonstrations can be viewed at Jamestown's Glasshouse.

A video of Jamestown excitement is below!
For more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/june/colonial-national-h/ .

To be continued...

American Heritage RV Park, Williamsburg, VA

Today we headed from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to one of the oldest cities in America- Williamsburg, Virginia. In order to get there...

we had to cross the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel. This 4.6 mile stretch, including a 4,800 foot long tunnel which runs under the Hampton Roads harbor, connects the Virginia cities of Newport News and Suffolk.

Watch as we go through the tunnel portion of the MMMBT. Once you emerge on the other side, you can go ride the ferris wheel up ahead.

Having survived two tunnels (one of which was only two inches higher than the motorhome!), we pulled into our site at American Heritage RV Park.

The campground had a nice wide entry which was easy to navigate.

The pool was open, but instead of swimming...

we went on a short nature hike.

For more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/june/american-heritage-r/ .

To be continued...

Wright Brothers National Memorial

Yesterday we drove south from our campground. Today we drove north.

What did we see? A light house!

This light house, Body's Island Light House, will soon be restored for climbing. Right now though you can only LOOK up the stairs.

Just in case you wanted to know how to find this light house...here's its coordinates.

Next we arrived in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina to visit the Wright Brothers National Memorial. Marlon tries to fly...but fails.

This is a full-scale reproduction of the original 1903 Wright Flyer.

The 4 initial successful flights occurred here December 17, 1903. They were in succession 120 feet, 175 feet, 200 feet and 852 feet long.

The 60-foot high granite monument sits atop 90-foot high Kill Devil Hill.

The monument was completed in 1932 with a budget of $213,000.

To see the view from the top of Kill Devil Hill and hear the fierce winds on the day we visited, click below During the Centennial of Flight in 2003, participants attempted to recreate the legendary flights with varying degrees of success.

The Wright Brothers designed this wind tunnel to teach themselves what makes a wing work well.

Near the Outer Banks Visitor's Bureau in Kitty Hawk, we found these monuments to 100 years of flight.

Did you know that pilot Chuck Yeager first flew faster than the speed of sound in 1947?

Did you know that this 945 pound Marlin fish weighs several hundred pounds MORE than this Marlon human? As Ripley says, "Believe It or Not!"

For more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/may/wright-brothers-mem/ .

To be continued...