This Civil War Trails marker is near Fort Monroe at Phoebus, VA (now part of Hampton). It tells us that "Here stood the U.S. Army's first camp on Virginia soil after secession, built in May 1861. Only the Veteran's Cemetery on County Street remains of the entrenched camp."
Here we are in late afternoon at the amusement park. I was really dragging by that time, probably dehydrated. We had purchased an overpriced bottle of water earlier and refilled it from the tap several times, but we did not find any salty chips to buy. I had used up the cashews that I brought in my pocket and I really needed to consume something salty. 
We enjoyed the musical shows at Busch Gardens. These scenes are from a high-energy musical called American Jukebox.
The Loch Ness Monster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg is celebrating her 30th anniversary. I was surprised to learn that because I remember when the monster was born... there were dramatic commercials telling you to experience it.
These are a few pictures of our class at the monastery near Berryville. We were studying the Battle of Cool Spring (mentioned previously).
This is me at age 11. That was a long time ago.
We visited a garden pond dealer who had two pretty collies. One of them had an unfortunate habit of carrying off the water plants that were for sale, though.
At Snickers Gap a major road (now Route 7) crosses the Blue Ridge in Virginia. In the picture we're on the old winding road up the hill from Bluemont. We were there tracing Jubal Early's retreat from Maryland in July 1864. He had managed to cause distress in Washington D.C. by attacking Fort Stevens, but had been forced to retreat. Also his army had failed to reach Point Lookout, where Confederate prisoner's were held.
Here's a photograph from 1958. It shows my dad and my younger sister at Mary's Rock, Shenandoah National Park.
After we toured Monocacy we stopped in Leesburg on the way to Snickers Gap and Cool Spring. The plan was to picnic at Cool Spring but hunger struck so we ate in a Leesburg parking lot.
The Upstairs Patio at the Monocacy Visitor Center Overlooks the Battlefield | |
 | The farm owned by the Best family was also part of the 1862 Maryland Campaign. Lee's "lost order No. 191" was found on this farm by Union soldiers. The Worthington Farm (left) has a trail to the Monocacy River where Confederate troops crossed in 1964. They set up artillery in the front yard, and every time the gun fired, the farmyard rooster would crow. The Worthington family took shelter in the cellar during the battle. (For close-up and text of Worthington marker, click here.) |
Read the markers "Thick of Battle" and "Thomas Farm". Not shown here is another nearby marker called "Federal Retreat."
) gave the order to retreat. However, his troops had delayed the Confederates long enough that Federal reinforcements could reach Washington DC and protect it against Early's forces.
