Vicki and Steve drove down to and back from Virginia Beach to celebrate Joe Galecki’s birthday. this post is for the travels, the birthday celebration is in another post.
This was a trip without Lexie, and she was very disappointed that she could not travel with us. Kate stayed with her while we were gone and exercised her well.
We left Seven Hills around 3pm on July 1. there were thunderstorms along the route, but we followed Google Maps and their route kept us away from the storms. We left the PA turnpike in Somerset and took Bethel Plank Road to Cumberland Highway (PA 160), through Cumberland and onto Rt 51/Rt 9/Rt 29/Rt 127 to our old fried, Rt 522 to Winchester. Our travel was rain free until we got to Winchester, but we could see the storm clouds running parallel to us (and in the neighboring valley) as we drove along the backroads.
We spent the night at a Best Western in Fredericksburg. The next morning we explored the Chancellorsville Battlefield, one of several battlefields associated with the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Battle Memorials. The visitor center had interesting information about the battle itself: The Union’s General Hooker’s plans to capture Fredericksburg and the Confederacy’s General Lee’s reaction. The number of dead and wounded in these battles is horrifying: tens of thousands. Sadly that was typical of most battles fought in the Civil War. There wasn’t much of the battlefield left today, the most notable marker was the monument to Gen Stonewall Jackson’s mortal wounding. Steve took a quick walk on a short trail in the area before we left for Virginia Beach.
After Chancellorsville we drove down to Virginia Beach, stopping at Chic-filet for lunch (which included peach shakes.)
Our return trip to Seven Hills started on July 4th after saying goodby to Joe and Chris (Steve’s parents). We drove to the Cold Harbor battlefield, one of several sites associated with the Richmond National Historic Battlefields. Cold Harbor was the site of two battles during the Civil War, one in 1862 and the final one in 1864. It was interesting to learn how the battlefield tactics had changed during that time: the infantry in 1864 would quickly create earthworks (digging trenches) with anything they could find so that they were a smaller target for musket and artillery. Vicki and Steve toured the battleground (by car since the temperatures were up in the 90’s) and looked at what remained of the earthworks. They were still visible after 160 years.
After Cold Harbor Vicki and Steve spent over an hour trying to find a place for lunch. Most (almost all) restaurants were closed for the holiday, but we did eventually find a barbecue place (Backwoodz BBQ) that was open. This restaurant had taken their food truck business and expanded to a brick and mortar building. The brisket was great! But they only had one sauce (unlike Beach Bully’s selection of five different sauces)
After lunch we went to our hotel: the Virginia Crossings Hotel & Conference Center, Tapestry Collection (by Hilton). The grounds on this hotel were very picturesque, rumor has it it was a college campus before becoming a hotel/conference center. There was also an underground tunnel connecting the three buildings.
But the glory days of the hotel are gone. While the outside, restaurant and our room were clean and fresh, the interiors looked aged and in need of an updated. The tunnels between the buildings had had artwork of American landscaping, but some pieces had been removed and the walls needed fresh paint (and maybe some bleach.) And there was disappointment that the hot tub was not working. Not what I expected out of a four star hotel (and not what I expected for the price.)
We did meet a couple of couples that were also staying there. The husbands were participating in the nearby American Cornhole League tournament. One of the men was the number one cornhole player in the league. We talked with them around the firepit in the evening, after we had enjoyed a light dinner, drinks and apple cobbler.
V. I checked out the standings after that tournament and Mark Richards was indeed still in the #1 spot, and he and his double partner were #1 in doubles. Never realized there was a national Cornhole League. Lovely couples and we connected on FB, of course.
We returned home using the same backroads, avoiding Berkely Springs. But we won’t be doing that again, the roads were two lane and curvey. We were trapped behind an oil tanker that was going about 15 mph under the speed limit. We spent too much time on that road! Suddenly it was not as scenic a route.
But we did get home, and Lexi was very glad to see us. And we were happy to not be traveling. For awhile.