173) Valley Forge National Historical Park

Visited: Sunday, September 15, 2024

Back when my brother lived in Pennsylvania, we passed by Valley Forge many times - but this was before we set a goal of visiting all of the NPS sites, so we never actually stopped in.  It's clearly a site that has a lot of support, and is nicely run.  But to be honest, we were both suffering from a degree of NPS War Fatigue by this point, and a desire to get home.  Worthwhile, and the museum is great, but - the story really isn't different from what I expected, and it's busier than I'd tend to prefer.

172) First State National Historical Park

Visited: Saturday, September 14, 2024

Often small NPS sites are particularly interesting to visit.  However, the relative recent addition of the First State NHP works against it; there just isn't that much to it.  To their credit, they have a movie - but the movie, and the exhibits, just don't have that much of interest to say. 

171) Fort Monroe National Monument

Visited: Friday, September 13, 2024

Somehow, when we were planning this trip, I missed this one.  But we did find it, and - it's an impressive site, particularly for such a recent addition to the NPS.  Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the fort - which, like many forts, never actually saw combat - was the decision of the commander when three escaped slaves arrived right after Virginia seceded to (1) decide that the fugitive slave act did not apply, since Virginia was claiming to be a foreign country, then (2) decide that the only way he would need to turn them over would be if their owner arrived and proclaimed loyalty to the Union (thus legally requiring they be returned, but something he was sure wouldn't occur), and finally (3) deciding that they qualified as contraband, and therefore could stay and contribute.  This led to 20,000 slaves appearing at Fort Monroe during the US Civil War, where they were housed, employed, and later recruited to the Union effort.  This is a reason Hampton University - a prominent HBCU - is located where it is - and is considered one of the actions that eventually led to the Emancipation Proclamation.

Oh, and the C&O eventually reached to Fort Monroe, leading to the Mile 0 marker for the railroad being adjacent to the fort.

170) Richmond National Battlefield Park

Visited: Thursday, September 12, 2024

Because the Civil War never really got into the city of Richmond, this park is an interesting amalgamation of battle sites outside the city and one hospital complex inside the city.  Among the sites outside the city are Gaines Mill and Cold Harbor - the latter being a prelude to the siege of Petersburg.  (And, if I recall correctly, the former being a scenario in the game Battle Cry.)  But the site of the hospital - everything was torn down in the decade after the US Civil War, so it's really just a re-use of a building that happened to have been built there (as a weather station) later - is interesting, if a bit disturbing.  There are only two photos of the hospital, so the model of the hospital is far and away the best way to get a feel for what once was there.

I am very thankful not to have grown up living with mid-19th century medicine...

169) Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site

Visited: Thursday, September 12, 2024

One of my favorite things about visiting NPS sites is discovering great people I hadn't known about.  And Maggie L. Walker was most certainly a great person - her vision for fighting against Jim Crow was to help folks develop economically, by founding a bank, a newspaper, stores; after 1920 helping folks to get registered when this was even more difficult; and through her leadership in organizations such as the NAACP.  It's telling that when she passed away in 1934, the mayor of Richmond knew her well enough - even if they didn't agree on many issues - that he closed schools and government for the day of Walker's funeral.

We once again were treated to a private tour; Walker's house is well preserved, and quite interesting.

168) Petersburg National Battlefield

Visited: Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Unfortunately, most of the battlefield sites are only open on the weekend.  But the Eastern Front visitor center was open, and in spite of being right next to the city of Petersburg is nicely preserved.  There is a short auto tour, which I would recommend.

I was not aware of the siege of Petersburg, which lasted for 9 months, ending effectively with the end of the Civil War (Petersburg and Richmond were abandoned in early April 1865).  Perhaps most striking was how badly the Union failed during the siege.  They had an opportunity to win decisively early, which they chickened out of.  They had an opportunity to win when they set off explosives beneath a key Confederate position, which they failed to take advantage of when they didn't avoid the crater they had just created.  Lincoln spent two of the last weeks of his life at Petersburg (at City Point Unit, Grant's headquarters and primary supply point), most notably impacting the agreement that would be reached a week later at Appomattox.  Grant get a lot of credit, but his handling of Petersburg was not a high point.

167) Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

Visited: Wednesday, September 11, 2024

While I know there was a town of Appomattox Court House where the Civil War ended, and always assumed there was a court house there (and there is), I didn't realize that the treaty wasn't signed at the court house.  Instead, it was signed at the residence of Wilmer McLean, who along with his family were actually in the house during the event; they lent Grant and Lee their living room.  The site is very well preserved - in part because the McLean house was disassembled, taken to Washington DC, and later returned to Appomattox (never having been rebuilt in DC), and reassembled.  Nice site, and about the only Civil War site that isn't sad to visit.

166) Booker T. Washington National Monument

Visited: Wednesday, September 11, 2024

The visitor center was in a bit of disarray due to ongoing - apparently ongoing all summer - HVAC work, but that didn't detract from the story of Washington.  Nice movie, nice site with reproductions of the cooking house where he grew up with his mother and two siblings.  I appreciate the choice to simply leave the foundation of the plantation home in place, while recreating the buildings that played a role in Washington's early life.

165) Blue Ridge Parkway

Visited: Monday, September 9, 2024 - Tuesday, September 10, 2024

The is a challenge, following up something spectacular.  The Blue Ridge Parkway is a nice drive - but compared to Shenandoah, it's just not in the same ballpark.  The views are much rarer, and less spectacular.  The wildlife doesn't stand out more.  The constant cross-roads and nearby homes, farms, and other structures pull one out of the moment constantly - particularly compared to the two mid-drive exits of Shenandoah.

BUT - the Blue Ridge Music Center, the Southernmost stop on the Parkway in Virginia, is _very_ well worthwhile.  First, they have live bands play, which is great.  The museum is great, and covers how African American music played an impact on the musical styles of the region.

We only drove the Virginia portion of the parkway - that was our plan, once we realized that continuing to the Great Smoky Mountains was unrealistic - but now completing the full drive is no longer on our list of must-dos; instead, we'll try to hit a few key places in North Carolina.

Nothing to do with the NPS, but after deciding this we stopped down to Mount Airy, NC, and visited the Andy Griffith museum.  It's small, but fun.

164) Shenandoah National Park

Visited: Sunday, September 8, 2024 - Monday, September 9, 2024

Somehow, Shenandoah was not really on my radar.  Oh, we were going to visit, no question, but it was the Blue Ridge Parkway we were most excited about.

How silly of me.

Shenandoah is 105 miles of spectacular views.  There are 75 overlooks you can stop at, and honestly, you can just pick randomly, or stop at all of them, and be fine.

Honestly, the only thing stopping this from being among my favorites of the national parks is the shortage of wildlife.  There are bears in the park, but we mostly saw squirrels and birds.  A couple of raptors, but - a lot of turkey vultures.

163) Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park

Visited: Sunday, September 8, 2024

The less well known an NPS site is, the more interesting it's likely to be.  I had no knowledge of the battle of Cedar Creek going in to our visit, and through the efforts of the ranger there - our personal guide, since no one else visited while we were there - I have a good understanding of the battle and how it impacted the US (more than I would have thought).  The auto tour is interesting, even if I couldn't get the NPS app audio to work.  And we had to leave before Belle Grove opened - be sure to check the hours for Belle Grove to get the full experience.  Recommended even without Belle Grove, though.

162) Eisenhower National Historic Site

Visited: Saturday, September 7, 2024

Unlike Gettysburg - which this site is adjacent to - this site did not disappoint.  However, you really have to get the house tour, and there wasn't any listing of tour times at Gettysburg that I could find.  The Eisenhowers seemed like folks I would be happy to spend time with, not something that I can say of most US presidents.  Unpretentious.

89 Revisited) Gettysburg National Military Park

Visited: Saturday, September 7, 2024

My thought when we kind-of visited before was that it was too commercial.  My thought after actually visiting was - the same.  The movie is decent, the cyclorama is worthwhile, and the museum is OK (if re-using too much of the movie), but - it only took the next US Civil War NPS site before Gettysburg became not my favorite this trip.  Worth seeing once; not the one I'd go back to.