Seeing the historical sites in Virginia has been on my list for a long time. I actually had a trip planned for April of this year and then later cancelled it. It just didn’t feel the right trip to take at that time. I thought I would take the same trip in December when I would be in Virginia for business…but then Calleen and Ronda invited me on their trip to Virginia and they would be going in May. I was so in and I am so grateful I listened to my feelings when they were guiding me not to go in April! It felt things came together perfectly-the trip I wanted to go on, with my favorite people!!

The trip would include me, Calleen, Ronda, and VerRonica. Schedules matching up can hard, but eventually we got our dates coordinated and our trip was planned May 11-May 19th. They would come from the west coast, I from east and we would meet in Richmond, Virginia.

I was flying in earlier than them and the original plan was those from the west were to fly in at 12:30am. But, as traveling can go…plans change. The ladies got stuck in Dallas for the night. Gratefully, they got on an early morning flight and we met up at the airport the following day.

We were ready for the road trip to begin!! We literally squeezed into our Lyft ride and went to go get our rental car. We got a free upgrade (yay!) and we were off!! Well, actually Calleen ordered food in Richmond for a picnic in Shenandoah National Park (our first stop). It was Mother’s Day and Calleen was a Rockstar and wanted the honor the mothers on our trip. She ordered a Strata and meat pies.

We ended up eating the food in the car on the way to Shenandoah. We were hungry and it looked like there would be rain in the park anyway. The food was SO delicious!! The drive to the park was gorgeous and it was just so wonderful to be in the car with these friends!

We were all so excited to be arriving at the park. But sadly (so sad), we could not see any of the park. It was SO foggy! We could not see any of the valley or views from the outlooks.
Our first stop in the park was the Byrd Visitor’s Center. We had to get our Cancellation stamp and see movie on the park! We also got some advice of what hikes to take considering the weather. We decided on the hike to see the Dark Hallow Falls. Although, it was foggy, we could not see far, but we could see the immediate landscape around us. It was stunning. We were instantly in love with what we were viewing. Life felt good.

We made it through almost to the falls before it started raining like crazy! But the hike was worth it! The waterfall was amazing and much bigger than I thought!! Due to the rain, I could not take as many pictures as I would have liked, but we tried to soak in all the beauty we saw.

It rained all the way back to the car. We were feeling wet and happy! We loved the hike.

We were ready to check in to our hotel room and dry off. We stayed in a lodge within the park. The main house of the lodge was built in 1939 and it felt like it. It had a beautiful great room with a fire place. I felt history was all around us. We had to imagine the view from the lodge was gorgeous, but fog still was all around. We ate dinner and settled into our room for the night.

I woke up early the next day. The forecast called for rain. So, when I saw a break in the weather, I jumped out of bed, hoping to get some pictures before the rain settled in. It was a good thing I did. It started to rain hard within 30 minutes. I loved being out and about before most people were up. The grounds were gorgeous, but again fog was blocking the larger views.

We all got ready and set out for a hike. Soon after we started hiking it started to rain HARD. So much rain. Basically, we were all soaked, except for Ronda under the umbrella (her hair even looked good all day long). I was so wet and muddy for most of the day. After our rain-soaked hike, we headed to another lodge to dry off, for warmth, and food. We were in the lodge for almost two hours. We ate lunch and all studied our weather apps looking to find out if there was a chance of a break in the rain. I think we were all done with the rain, but also, we were hoping for a chance to see the park from the many overlooks.

So, we set off again. VerRonica and Calleen worked hard on their Jr. Ranger certification, so we first needed to get them sworn in as Jr. Rangers of the Park. After, we found a part of the Appalachian trail. We all wanted to say we have hiked the Appalachian. We all know I would never ever EVER really hike the Appalachian trail. We saw some of the through hikers. I am happy they are happy hiking. But it looks so hard. But in the words of VerRonica… ‘we can do hard things!’ VerRonica noted she learned this while walking the trail after just a few minutes.

It started raining when we got onto the trail…I was definitely ready for rain free hiking. Gratefully it stopped soon after and soon clouds parted and fog lifted. We could not have been HAPPIER! We FINALLY were able to see the mountains and valleys. Of course, I will say the wait was worth it, but it would have been nice to see the views the entire time. The rain definitely did not ruin our time in the park, but we were cold and ready to feel some freedom in what we could do!!

We drove south through the park, stopping at many of the outlooks. We even saw a bear!! For real! We really had hoped we would see one. It was a small cub, but our excitement was HUGE. We enjoyed our last couple of hours in the park enjoying the views and the very fact we could see the views!!

Our next stop was in Charlottesville. Seeing Monticello was the next stop on our trip. We spent our entire day there. Monticello is the home of Thomas Jefferson. I have wanted to come here for years and I am so glad we did. The grounds were absolutely beautiful! Every view was stunning. Such detail in the gardens. Shockingly, I could not stop taking pictures!! The day flew by. It was truly enjoyable to learn about the life of President Jefferson. I appreciate that they talked about his virtues and vices.

We then left for Williamsburg, VA. We first had to stop at Whole Foods. There is a bit of a tradition of going there on road trips with Calleen and VerRonica. Let’s just say once VerRonica is determined to something, nothing will stop her. And if that includes getting your ‘steps’ in at Whole Foods because it’s freezing outside…so be it!!

We were in Williamsburg to visit the historic triangle-Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown. Our first day was spent in Williamsburg. I had no idea this place was as big as it was. I was so impressed the details on the grounds, gardens, buildings, and with the reenactors. I truly learned something in each presentation/building we went to. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. I admit was not prepared for the sun. I had to buy a sun hat and it was totally worth it.

That night we walked around Williamsburg and Williams & Mary College campus. It was a gorgeous night and the campus was beautiful.

The next day was Jamestown and Yorktown. It was going to be a full day, but we were excited! We started the day off in Jamestown. We opened the place up; we were determined to make most of the day and knew we had a lot to see. We started off in the visitor’s center. We saw a film there and drove around a bit of the island.

Truly the highlight of our time at Jamestown was doing archeological tour. I will admit, I was worried I was going to be bored-but it was completely the opposite. Our tour guide was an actual archeologist. He had e just discovered a piece of history minutes before and SOOO excited. The archeologist had just found cowerie shell. He noted this was more proof that Slavery existed in Jamestown. He shared a lot of the history of the beginnings of Jamestown and the importance of the site. I learned that the Pocahontas film by Disney was wrong . Pocahontas married John Rolfe, not John Smith. But both are an important part of the history of Jamestown. But we did see the exact site where they did get married!!

We then were off to Yorktown. We totally listened to ‘Battle of Yorktown’ from the Musical Hamilton Soundtrack. We could not wait to see the battlefield. And we were so not disappointed. The area exceeded my expectations! The entire area was beautiful and so peaceful. We did a tour at the visitor’s center. Well not me…It was too much information to take in. But I so enjoyed taking pictures of the grounds. We then saw one of the worst films I have ever seen at a national park and then we were off to drive around the battlefield. I had no idea there would be different locations to visit. But it really felt special to be able to take the time to visit the spots that changed/defined our American history. We sat at Surrender field for a while.

We listened to the song, ‘I’m proud to be an American’ and discussed the blessings we have by what these men did and the privileges we have being Americans. We had the entire place to ourselves. It was near sundown. So, the temperature was perfect. It is a truly a moment I won’t forget.

We ended the night by ending in Yorktown and eating at the Yorktown Pub.

The next day was our last day in the historic triangle. We finished up some things in Colonial Williamsburg and in Jamestown. I did not take my allergy medicine as I should have, and I was SOOOO tired. I really did not do much of anything, except take a few pictures and sit around.

Our last night and day were spent in Richmond. We were all flying out on Saturday. We stayed down town. By the time we got there all we had time was for dinner. We ate at a restaurant called Mama J’s-southern/soul food. We were trying to soak in all the south we could before leaving. The wait was 40 minutes and it was SO worth it. The food was delicious, and we were so happy with our choice.

The next day we saw two National historic sites. First, we saw the home of Maggie L. Walker.

I felt I truly learned about a lot of the history of the country and of Richmond while visiting her home. We had the tour to ourselves and the guide was so happy to talk to us.

The last site was Richmond National Battlefield Park . The was a huge outdoor festival going on in the same area. This made getting there a bit harder and it was definitely hot!! Our weather temperatures had extremes from the beginning of the week to the end. Soon after arriving at the site, I needed to leave. It was hard to leave the ladies and I felt bad because their flight was cancelled due to weather in Dallas. So, spirts were not high for lots of reasons, as I departed.

I so loved our trip and I am so grateful that I got to see things/places I always wanted to visit with those I love dearly. I truly felt I gained a perspective our history and more gratitude for those who have fought for the freedoms I have.