Our first autumn in Virginia has arrived!  A few weeks ago we had five days straight of rainy 45 degree days. brrr  My husband insisted on taking me tree shopping on two of those days and I am sorry to say that I mutineed on him. As much as I enjoy gardening, I am close minded to it when it is bitterly cold. I am sure any northerners reading this are going to laugh, but I have lived in Louisiana, Hawaii and Texas all of my life. Now living in Northern Virginia has been a new experience. If this is autumn, what is winter going to be like? 

     Last Saturday was warmer, but extremely rainy. It was a cozy day to sew.  Then Sunday arrived with cloudless blue skies and true autumn cool (not frigid) weather. The kids hit dad up for a drive to the mountains.  I sat back and smiled as I listened to the discourse.  

Kids: Dad, can we drive to the mountains today?

Dad: Why?

Kids: So we can see the colors!

Dad: Let's wait for nice weather to see the colors.

Kids: It is nice weather! The sun is out.  

Son: I didn't realize the colors were changing until I saw all the colors in the mountains in the distance.

Daughter: If we don't go now, the leaves will be all gone.

Son: I have never seen the colors before, Dad. Besides, you said you wanted to see the autumn colors in the mountains.

Dad: Hmmmm, what does your teacher say about your school work? Are you behind on any schoolwork?

Mom: The colors can be school today. This is their first year to see the colors. I've only seen them once before.  If we don't see them now, I'm afraid the leaves will drop by next weekend.

Dad: Okay, we'll go.

We decided to drive out to Shenandoah National Park's Skyline Drive. We drove over 3000' in elevation.  That was sort of funny to us, because we've driven over 14,000' in Colorado.  Nevertheless, the views were gorgous. Enjoy!

     Friday morning we left for the weekend, with our first stop at Yorktown Battlefield.  If anyone had ever told me I would be touring a battlefield on my birthday by choice, I would have thought they were nuts! However I have found this to be the most fascinating battlefield that I have ever toured!  One thing that sets this battlefield apart from the rest, are the redoubts, a form of earthworks, which are all over the park.

     Our first stop was the visitor center. We did not arrive until 11:00am.  I knew we wouldn't have time to do everything (major sadness) so I tried to plan our time to the utmost for the day.  While waiting for the movie to start, we toured the Visitor Center a little bit.  Every time I tried to read something, my kids kept calling me over to see this or that.  The first item they directed me to, with a huge grin, was the Lafayette Cannon!  I had to chuckle. While touring the Civil War battlefields around Fredericksburg last spring, we discovered the Napoleonic Cannon, which is a certain style of cannon.  (There's an inside joke here.) The Lafayette Cannon is not a style of cannon, but a cannon with a story that involves Lafayette's Grand Tour.   

     The movie we watched was probably the best I've seen at any of these parks. I forget all the details now, but one item that stuck out was the naval battle we got to see. The kids and I have read about many naval battles, but this is the first we've seen one.        

     There was a lot more to see in the Visitor Center than we had time for.  We spied a huge ship we could walk into behind the desk. Because the day was beautiful, I suggested we save the rest of the Visitor Center for a rainy day.  After lunch, we started the driving tour. The brochure says the main drive takes only 45 minutes, but it took us over 3 hours! 

     I should probably preface the driving tour with a little background. Yorktown was the last major battle of the American Revolution, fought in October 1781. Earlier in the year, General Washington had sent Lafayette with his men into Virginia, while Cornwallis arrived to attack Lafayette West of Williamsburg, but failed.  Cornwallis then established operations in Yorktown, East of Williamsburg.  Lafayette sent word to General Washington in New York, who had been reinforced by General Rochambeau's French army. They headed south to Yorktown. Meanwhile, any hope for a British escape by sea was doomed, due to the arrival of a French fleet led by Comte de Grasse.  Cornwallis and his men were cornered at Yorktown. Lafayette waited in Williamsburg for the arrival of Washington and Rochambeau. When all the French and American soldiers had gathered, the 17,000 men moved on to Yorktown where they began a seige on Cornwallis and his 8,000 men.     

    The first stop was the redoubts the British had built for their defense.

     The next stop was the Grand French Battery, where on Oct 6, the first seige line was built.  On Oct 9, firing on the British began.  The different types of cannons are explained here.  We learned all about them during our CW EFT last year on Yorktown. 

Now we got to actually see them set up.  Nearly a year later, my kids were able to give my husband all the details on the differences of each one.

      Then we drove to the Second Allied Seige Line, closer in to the British position. However, there was a problem. British redoubts 9 and 10 were in the way. 

We drove to Redoubts 9 and 10, which we learned about in the Yorktown EFT.  Lafayette was the commander and Col John Laurens led the storming of Redoubt 10 while the French took Redoubt 9 on October 14.  Up to the attack, the cannons had been steadily firing upon the British without relief.  To prevent any accidents, the soldiers disarmed their guns yet engaged their bayonets. Suddenly the cannons were silenced, the soldiers attacked the redoubts which were captured within 30 minutes.  

It is amazing how quickly these structures were built. The technique goes back to the Middle Ages.

The York River is creeping up behind the redoubt.

 The Continental Army advanced and continued the bombardment. General Cornwallis surrendered three days later. Meeting at the Moore House, Lt. Col. John Laurens negotiated the surrender terms.  Because he, General Benjamin Lincoln and their men were captured the year before in South Carolina and denied the honors of war, Laurens insisted on the same for the British surrender. 

This house overlooks the York River.

Then we drove to the surrender site. This body of water was beautiful!

 This is the field where the British formally surrendered.  Denied the honors of war meant that the flags had to be cased and the losing army could not play the victor's music. General Cornwallis did not attend the ceremony and had his second in command hand over the ceremonial surrender sword. The British soldiers angrily laid down their arms.  This was the last major battle of the American Revolution.

 These are the British cannons that were turned over to the Americans.

 Although there was another driving tour to the French encampment and Washington's headquarters, the day was getting short. Instead we wrapped up our tour of Yorktown by  going into the town, to the Nelson House.  Thomas Nelson led a local "tea party" on the York River in 1774.  He was the third governor of Virginia, behind Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson. While he was governor, he was also general of the Virignia militia during the Seige of Yorktown. He directed his men to shoot the artillery at the British, even if it meant his house would be destroyed. Apparently he also gave Washington a white horse, named Nelson. Here is his house today. While we walked up to the house, we heard a cannon blast which made me jump out of my skin!  I had to think a moment, then I realized it came from the Victory Center, the hands on Battle of Yorktown museum.  Considering the setting for the day, it sure seemed realistic!

There are scars from the seige today. Here's a cannon ball, that's been put in one of the scars.

We had a few minutes left so we walked down to the riverfront. The land on the other side is Gloucester Point, where Banastre Tarleton and his men were. We met Tarleton at Under the Redcoat.

Doesn't the boat ride look like fun?

Then we left for Williamsburg for the beginning of Prelude to Victory!

    Now that we are Virginia residents, I thought it was important to visit the Virginia State Capitol. My husband and I visited when we were first married.  At the time I had no idea what a Houdon was. Nevertheless, I found the statues, two in particular, to be quite stunning, in form and in background.  I told the kids about it after they got to meet Generals Washington and Lafayette at Colonial Williamsburg last summer. Ever since, they were interested in seeing the famed Houdons. 

     The day before I downloaded the Visitor's Guide, that contains lots of background information. The kids could not wait for the drive down, and were asking me lots of questions about what they would see before they went to bed.  I only gave them a glimpse into the next day.  On the drive down, I told them all about what the different statues artistically represented, the history of the building, etc.

   There are many statues on the grounds of various important figures in Virginia history.  Most notably is that of General Washington, surrounded by other Founding Fathers from Virginia.  Allegorical forms representing their contributions are in front of each of them. The most famous are Patrick Henry-Revolution, George Mason-Bill of Rights, Thomas Jefferson-Independence, Thomas Nelson-Finance, John Marshall-Justice.

The capitol building itself, was designed by Thomas Jefferson, after an ancient Roman temple in Nimes, France called the Maison Caree.

     Although I had been here before, I had forgotten how, um, small it was. The kids toured the state capitol of Texas a few years ago and they remembered that comparitively, the Texas State Capitol is huge. Since the Texas capitol is huge and the grounds are massive, I figured that Texas has a lot of Congressmen.  I decided to do a little research.  Texas has 31 State Senators, whereas Virginia has 40 State Senators.   Texas has 150 State Representatives, while Virginia has 100 State Representatives.  I was surprised at how close the numbers are.  

     Our tour started in the new extension, which is partly a museum. The primary exhibit is "Beyond Jamestown."  We got to see actual wampum in this display of native dress.  I was excited to see that the clothing was close to what I made for our Native American costumes a few years ago when my daughter and I represented Powhatten's tribe. 

     We got to visit the original rooms for the Senate and House of Delegates. There was beautiful architecture, historically meaningful paintings and statues, and great stories.  Guess who I found in the General Assembly? None other than Sam Houston.  General Sam Houston won the war for Texas Independence by capturing Santa Anna.  He became the first president of the newly formed Republic of Texas. When Texas entered the Union, he was the first Governor of Texas.  Why is his bust in the Virginia capitol?  He was born in Virginia!

      We got to go to the actual room where the General Assembly meets today.

The architecture is stunning and was recently restored.

      While we were in here, the tour guide explained the job of pages, who run errands for the congressmen.  Since my son was the only one there who fit the requirements to be a page, she told him that he need only apply for the job and he could get paid to be a page.  One must be 13 or 14 years of age and be a resident of Virginia. That bit of information left me speechless.  My son wants to be president someday, though I don't know that I'm wild about that prospect. Being a page could cure him from politics. Or it could fire him up to reform it, which is his intent. (He can have quite the Patrick Henry personality.)     

     The Virginia State Capitol does have a rotunda, although it can only be seen from the inside.

     Underneath the rotunda is the Houdon of George Washington.  This statue was designed by Houdon, who knew his history!  It tells the story of the American Cincinnatus. Cincinnatus was a Roman citizen who led his country to victory in time of war, then refused leadership, going back to the plow. Washington wears his uniform, but his hat is off, representing his military power was temporary.  To further represent his time in the military is an American sword and Roman fasces. That is the bundle of rods next to him.  In portrayal of his return to the life of a citizen, is the American walking cane in his hand, and the plow behind him.  The visitor's guide says that his expression is "fatherly".  Upon whom does he look? None other than his adoptive son, Lafayette.

      The Virginia General Assembly commissioned that a marble statue of General Washington be made, as well as a marble bust of the Marquis de Lafayette. In appreciation for all the Lafayette did for the Commonwealth of Virginia during the American Revolution, he was made an honorary citizen. Upon Thomas Jefferson's recommendation, the French artist Jean-Antoine Houdon won the commission.  He made life masks to make the faces as true to life as possible. (There is a great film of the process of this at Mount Vernon.)   The tour guide told us when Lafayette made his Grand Tour of America in 1824, he stood in the capitol, looking upon the statue of General Washington, his adoptive father.  With tears streaming down his face, he said, "That is the man."  All of Washington's contemporaries agreed that this statue was a perfect likeness to the Father of our Country.

     There are other busts in different niches in the room.  They are of the seven presidents of our country, who were born in Virginia.  The tour guide said the niche Lafayette was in was reserved for the 8th president from Virginia. My son had been asking which state he would claim, if he became president. The tour guide said Texas, since he was born there.  I think my son was quite relieved, because he did not want to knock Lafayette from his niche.  I asked the tour guide what would happen to Lafayette if there is an 8th president from Virginia. She said he used to be on a pedestal and he would return to his pedestal. We laughed, because the "Lafayette" in Colonial Williamsburg always tells us that his friends say that he is a statue in search of a pedestal. 

Then he yanked another leaf and ate that. 

Then he did that again.

Okay...that is the end of the cuteness! We have seen him return on many an occasion. Before this we were wondering why in the world my peach hibiscus was more sparse than my red hibiscus. I had no idea it was because leaves from the peach hibiscus taste better! 

     I feel as though we have packed quite a bit of adventure into the two short months we've been in Virginia.  We left Texas in early March. In fact, we left spring back there. Here is the Mountain Laurel outside my kitchen window the day the movers put our household goods into the moving truck.

     These flowers are heady with a grape like fragrance. I left the window open to drink in the aroma.  I don't think I can grow these here in Virginia, so I was sad to leave them behind.

     In fact, I was sad to leave our house behind.  After the movers left, we stayed behind and made the house spit spot clean. Then we pulled out of the driveway and I started getting teary eyed.  Suddenly I was imagining the second story windows shedding huge drops of tears as I pulled out of the driveway.  I felt awful, as if I was abandoning all the wonderful memories we had in that home. 

     There were goodbyes from our friends at church.  On Thursday night, when my son went to Awanas, Mr. H., his club director from last year set him inside the flag area after the pledges.  He announced my son's leaving for Virginia and gifted him the infamous "Quiz Man Mask" that Mr. H. had used during Council Time. He wanted my son to carry the tradition to his new Awana club in Virginia.  During my daughter's Awana club night, Friday, they had a little party for her to say goodbye. 

    Then Saturday morning we tried to get together with friends from church to ride their horses.  Incidentally, he is Shamu's doctor, which we always thought was pretty cool. Well, the day was too windy, so we had to pass on seeing them and the horseback riding. =(

    That night we went to a social with our Sunday School class.  It was veggie night and we could only bring veggies.   Hmmm, I'm not a huge veggie fan. I like great salads. But I am also pre-diabetic and need a balanced diet of carbs and protein.  I had no kitchen to bake in so we went to the grocery store and looked around. I found zucchini bread which is always a winner.  Then my son asked a few questions:

Son: Mom, aren't beans a vegetable?

Mom:  (I knew he knew this.  There is a deeper question here.  Where is he going with this?)  Yes...

Son: Doesn't chocolate come from cacao beans?

Mom: (I'm beginning to see the light.) Yes...

Son: So chocolate is a vegetable right?  

   He convinced me. We bought some chocolate. He wasn't the only one to think of this. We had a great supply of chocolate.  Someone also brought lasagne so that helped me get through the night!  lol   

     One of the guys in our class likes to play with his camera. He had us pose for group shots, both serious and goofy. This ended up being a goodbye present for us. We received a nice picture from this night, surrounded by a mat upon which everyone signed good wishes.  That is inside a gorgeous walnut frame. On the back is an overexposed version of one of the goofy pictures. It will be a fun memory of the class.  There were lots of hugs and tears through the week, and not all from us. We were actually touched by those who got teary eyed saying goodbye to us.  Oh, if only we could take them all with us!  

    Our last week in San Antonio, we stayed at my parents' house. Oh the memories from growing up there.   For the first time ever, my mom spoiled us.  Virginia is the furthest I'll ever have lived from them. Our last morning there my dad waited on us during breakfast.  Their black lab, Missy, moped for a week after we left. Actually, the kids tell me that Grandpa told them over the phone that Missy is still looking for us.   Since my parents don't travel much, I told them they should put Missy on a plane to come see us. There are lots of trails around here she'd love to take us for walks on!    

     Well, after shedding tears we were off.  We said goodbye to my alma maters...Trinity University and Texas State University.  We said goodbye to our state capitol.

 Did you know there is a lake East of Dallas?

By the time we reached Arkansas, we saw snow!

Then we crossed the huge bridge...

across the mighty Mississippi River...

On the other side we found a lot of snow in Tennessee...

    We also saw lots of towns and counties with signs referencing Lafayette.  The kids had fun picking them out.  We weren't quick enough to get pictures of the signs, but we took lots of pictures of the snow.  My husband said we were acting like a bunch of Texans who had never seen snow before.  Well, we were Texans who hadn't seen this much snow before!  The kids and I even had our first snowball fight when we stopped for lunch.  These are the snow scenes in Tennessee...

It was odd seeing snow to the right but none to the left. 

      The next day we drove through this gorgeous, snowy scenery in Virginia! The state slogan is, "Virginia is for Lovers."  My husband said it is so cold in Virginia, you'd better be lovers because you'll be snuggling up just to keep warm.  Even though he's from upstate New York, Texas has spoiled him. 

This is the James River...

 In all of the Virginia pictures, the Blue Ridge Mountains are in the distance.

     There was even snow waiting for us in Maryland, where we were blessed to stay with some friends for a month. The second night we were there, I think the kids scooped up the last of the snow to build this snowman!

     This is my friends' cat, aka Mr. President. He's a hoot! He hung out with us the first night and walked all over my back.  Cats give the best back massages!  He liked inspecting our printer and doing back flips inside the stool (wish I had video of that)...

     He took over my son's bed and fell asleep.  I was flabbergasted.  I thought that hyper cat never slept!  He was so much fun and always brought a smile to our face, especially in the mornings when he'd greet us.  We'd greet him back and say, "Good morning, Mr. President."  It's impossible to say that with a straight face!

    My husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary while there.  My friends took the kids to youth group with them so we could go out to dinner, but we were too depressed about losing a bid on the Gunston Hall Dr. house. I've been a bundle of nerves through this entire process and have hardly been able to eat.  I've lost a lot of weight. That night we watched Andy Griffith reruns and kept warm in front of a cozy gas fireplace. The cats joined us. Good old fashioned comedies are good when depressed.  We were finally able to laugh when we watched Andy tell Opie the backwoods version of "Romeo and Juliet".  It was so cute to watch the expressions on Opie's face as he thoroughly enjoyed that story, and so did we!

      The next day was my daughter's birthday. She wanted to spend the day in Colonial Williamsburg. However we had to drive into Virginia to try to beat the competition on a bid (in the end we were beat out again.)  Since I didn't have time to do anything for my daughter's birthday, my friend graciously put together a little party for her.  (The next day I finally got to take her out for her birthday in Maryland.) They found out my daughter likes strawberries, so they dipped them in chocolate and decorated the cake with them. I thought that was clever!

     My husband decided to get a GPS since he couldn't take me into DC all the time when he went to work. (He calls me his personal GPS.)  He loves gadgets and now has a new challenge of figuring out the settings. I'm not a gadget person and am perfectly happy with good old fashioned paper maps. The first time we used the GPS we used it on a route we knew to the real estate agent. My husband chose the voice of Lee, and we were on our way...to parts unkown had it been left to Lee.  Honest-lee, didn't he know about the highway?  Lee, encouraging-lee, kept directing us to the backroads.  Normally we enjoy backroads, but I kept telling my husband we didn't want the ones that would take us into Washington DC!  We wery told by the agent and my friends to change the setting to highway.  I think my husband did that because of our next scenario...

      This time we were in two separate cars. My husband took the lead with his GPS, Lee. I followed in the van with our kids. Neither of us knew where we were going. I had written directions. I thought we were driving from Fairfax to SE Maryland. The directions said to take 395 and take King Street, which was on the south side of Washington DC. Easy.  My son asked if we could see the Washington DC monuments up close. Oh no, I terrifying-lee said with a shudder. I was exhausted and the last thing I wanted to do was drive into downtown Washington DC.     

   I followed my husband, got onto I66 East, onto the beltway, then onto 395. I had never been on 395 before. I knew it led into Washington DC, but we'd be getting off long before that.  No worries. Suddenly, my husband took an exit to I don't know where. That GPS Lee was absolute-lee crazy! I had to follow him so he wouldn't get lost.  As I tried to establish my bearings, I realized the highway I was on was quite unusual to any I've ever driven.  ?????  There were no exit ramps. We were surrounded on each side by highway. I was so confused. Then I realized we were on an HOV with no exit lanes.  Uh oh...there went King St with no way to access it. I called my husband on the cell phone. "Where are we?????" Oh, we were just following Lee.  As I read the signs, I realized that Lee was determined-lee taking us into DC. 

    I told my son he was going to see the monuments after all! Trying to make the best of the situation, I became a tour guide. "We are now crossing the Memorial Bridge, which spans the proud Potomac River. To our left you will now see the beautiful Jefferson Memorial, designed according to our third president's favorite architectural style.  Now we are driving under Washington DC through one...two...three tunnels. (The kids were ecstatic!)  You kids walked all over DC last August. Do you think you can guess which historical building we will see when we come out of the tunnel?"  (Teachers must always work on their student's higher thinking skills by asking prediction and analysis questions. After discussion of their assumptions, I proceeded...)  To the left is the beautiful Rock Creek Park. I've always wanted to take you kids here."

     Finally we arrived at our destination of Silver Branch, which is north of DC on the beltway. All we had to do was take the beltway from Fairfax to Silver Branch and ta-da, we're there!  But oh no, Lee adventurous-lee took us to parts unknown.      

     The next morning we were driving from Silver Branch to Fredericksburg, Virginia. I had a mapquest done and gave it an A+. It routed us direct-lee onto the beltway to 95 South. Yippee! My husband showed me his GPS Lee's route, daring-lee suggesting we drive by Arlington Cemetary...oh no! I begged my husband, to please take the beltway. Sure, he said he would have Lee  obedient-lee follow me. Lee had to confused-lee do a lot of readjusting to follow me, but he managed to arrive in Fredericksburg just fine.  

     I guess Lee has actual-lee helped my husband find a few places, eventual-lee.  But he just plain makes me nuts! We went to Colonial Williamsburg last Sat and my husband was programming Lee. Oh no!  Let's not take him! We have gotten to CW lots of times just fine and I want to get there in time to see Thomas Jefferson! So my husband tucked Lee away and the entire drive went well, while we listened to Lee say discouraging-lee with muffled voice..."recalculating."  

     On that note...the kids and I drove to Leesburg yesterday to see another friend of mine. Ooooo, unchartered territory! I printed out a mapquest and highlighted the route for my son. I had the highways down but needed help on the quick turns on the little streets in my friend's neighborhood.  My son could read the street names to me and both kids could be an extra pair of eyes to read the obscure signs. My son promised me that he'd read the directions to me just like Lee, the GPS. Hmmmmm...thanks? Fortunately, it went great on many levels! We didn't get lost once. 

  We had a great time at my friend's house with her and her kids.  One of her daughters asked her mom why my son talked the way he did. Her mom told her it's because he's from Texas and has an accent. An accent???? She smiled and said that we all had a touch of something. We do??????

     Earlier this week, while it was cold and rainy, we spent the day at the United States Marine Corps Museum.  This is free!  Also there are great interactive displays about boot camp, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. When we first walked in, my son immediately found this plane.  He has a model of this Corsair, called Whistling Death. He told me that when it flew close to the enemy to attack, the enemy could hear it whistle. Then I told him about Pappy Boyington and his squadron of Black Sheep, who flew Corsairs.  At this point, a docent came over and my son asked lots of questions about Corsairs. Later, in the WWII section, we got to see a display on Pappy Boyington.  

     I looked high and low for the history of the beginnings of the USMC.  That was not easy to find.  When we drove into the parking lot, I noticed that the building number was 1775.  Hmmmm....would that be the year they began? Yes!  One of the docents confirmed that! ;) Since it began in 1775, I was especially interested in finding a display on their beginnings. The American Revolution is my favorite historical era, in case you didn't know. ;)  

      When we left the boot camp display, we found a section of the museum that is being built...the history of the USMC beginnings! There were a few signs that explained their beginnings and one great display. I tried to get a picture of it but it was too dark.  It is from 1775 and shows the Marines in the upper riggings of a ship.  

     Upstairs I found this display of one of the Marine's first ventures to the Bahamas in 1775.

     There is a lot here and we never had time to do it all.  We'll definitely come back when we study WWII, Korea and Vietnam next year. We hit the highlights and one that definitely got my attention was the Iwo Jima interactive exhibit.  The story of the battle and how the flag flew over Mt. Surabachi is a great one with which my kids are familiar.  We've been to so many museums with timers outside the doors, that when we saw this one, we automatically thought...great, a chance to sit down and see a movie. Ha!

     Well, a man asked a group of us if we were ready and we said yes. (Famous last words.)  We walked in and he showed us actual footage of a surveillance map of Iwo Jima and told us the geophysical characteristics of the island and our objective.  (Objective?  I came in here to see a movie.) Then he walked out the door and shut us in. (gulp)  Did I mention that this room was dark with a bluish hue? I felt like I was in a movie or the JAG tv show and on a sub or a ship.  The actual footage of the map of Iwo Jima showed all the angles of the island and we were told in explicit detail why this stinky, sulpheric rock was strategic, that the Japanese were all hidden with an extensive network of armament and communications under the ground and how we needed to access and conquer the island. (Um, precisely how interactive is this to be?)

     Another door opened and there was the man again. He ushered us into that room...onto a boat.  After a few instructions, which I missed, he left us and shut the door again. All above us we could see the waves rolling, the aircraft and artillery overhead, and feel the craft moving, rolling, pitching...causing me to lose my balance!  No, I wasn't sea sick. I just couldn't stand up steadily! Since my husband was at work, I grabbed onto my son...who kept leaning away from me.  I kept leaning on him and he kept leaning further away. I couldn't tell him what the problem was without interrupting the program. During major head surgery several years ago, my balance nerve was cut and I had to learn how to walk again. Now I do pretty well with my balance...until I am unexectedly put on a ship bound for Iwo Jima!  Later, when we were done with the "activity", my son told me the ship wasn't moving at all! It was merely the visual aspect of seeing moving waves and aircraft in the sky that were tricking my brain...which I need to function at full capacity for my balance to work! 

      Seeing this made me feel at home. The American Revolution had Captain John Paul Jones from Fredericksburg, Virginia. World War II had Admiral Chester Nimitz from Fredericksburg, Texas!  He grew up in a hotel there that is shaped like a ship. Today it is the Pacific War Museum.  It was incredible to read quotes from famous men of the various services who gave high praise to the Marines.  The Marines, who are the first to enter the danger zone, and arrive by air, land or sea, have consistently cleared the way for other armed services to go in and do their job.  To the Marines and all the other armed services who have served our country bravely so that we may be free...thank you! 

     Wow!  A recent, gorgeous, sunny, warm spring day in Virginia beckoned us to shake off the winter and enjoy the outdoors.  These days are few and far between, so we decided to spend it outside, walking around Old Town Fredericksburg. The name of this town has always put a smile on my face, because for years we immensely enjoyed the charming town of Fredericksburg in our home state of Texas!

     Last summer when we were in Colonial Williamsburg, one of the scenes from Revolutionary City, Gale from the North, featured Fredericksburg, Virginia. 

     In the scene, Mann Page (on the horse) has arrived with news of Lexington and Concord. Furthermore, Page has made a 100 mile ride from Fredericksburg to Williamsburg with news that the men are ready to arm and arrive at the capitol, angered that Governor Dunmore has taken the gunpowder from the magazine. However Mann Page is told by the burgesses to relay a message back to Fredericksburg for the men to disarm.  Seeking a peaceful resolution, the burgesses were  planning a meeting themselves with the governor.  Due to the 100 mile ride, Mann Page has been called "The Paul Revere of Virginia." Because of all the wonderful memories  I have of Fredericksburg, Texas, and because I was always a Paul Revere fan, this is one of my favorite Revolutionary City scenes. While we were in Old Town Fredericksburg, I looked high and low for a historical marker or something about Mann Page. Alas...nothing.

     However, we did find Lafayette Boulevard!  (of course!)  

After I took that picture, I noticed a marker across the street. I had to check that out!    

No, not Mann Page...but John Paul Jones (another Revolutionary War favorite!)  Here is his home...

We walked up and down the streets, admiring the colonial architecture...

enjoying the lovely flowers...

 and looking for some history on Mann Page. He has been an elusive historical figure to capture any information on.  This day proved to be no different. Instead of finding historical markers about him, we found lots on others we have studied! 

    All the street signs had historical names. My son wanted me to take a picture of this one. He insisted, "But Mom, Wolfe conquered Quebec in the French and Indian War!"

The building on the corner used to be a tavern that George Washington had been known to visit. 

In 1777, Thomas Jefferson, George Mason and other committee members met here to recodify the Virginia law.  The tavern burned in the early 1800s and went through other changes since. Can you recognize it from the above picture by the chimney to the right? 

From this Courthouse cupola, the Union troops viewed the Battle of Fredericksburg.  Additionally, they used the cupola as a signal and observation post. 

 Across from the Courthouse was a Presbyterian Church where Stonewall Jackson planned the Battle of Fredericksburg.  After the battle, the church was used as a hospital, where Clara Barton herself tended to the soldiers.  

This is an extremely historical intersection. On the other corner is the bank...

where President Lincoln came for a visit.

My husband insisted we all stand where President Lincoln once stood. After I had a moment to stand in a spot of history, I went across the street to stand in front of the church to take the family's picture.

There's a lot more history than this in Fredericksburg.  When we come back to tour the other sites, I'll keep looking for Mann Page.   He's got to be somewhere!

     My eighth grade English teacher instilled a love of the "right" name in me.  I suppose I never realized how much she influenced me in this way until we started house hunting in Virginia. Coming from San Antonio, all of our streets have a theme.  I have been spoiled by logical, creative, thematic names.  I imagined the street names in Virginia would be incredibly exciting, considering all the history of the area. However I have been surprised.  The real estate agents have been laughing at my perspective of street names and this has become a running joke.

     After all, who wants to live on Tongue Ave. (Yes, there is really a street with that name.)  Hmmm....

     We drove by Lauriann Woods subdivision with the main street named Lauriann.  Wow!  Wouldn't that be cool, to live on a street that bears my first and middle name.?

     I found a house on a street with my son's name...too bad, that was a short sale.

     I found a street named Tapestry. Now that would be funny if I lived on Tapestry Ave. That's the name of our incredible classical history/literature curriculum and I am a moderator for some Tapestry yahoo groups.  

     On a map I found Lafayette Crossing! What is that?  A subdivision? A town?  The site of Lafayette crossing a creek?

     Then we drove by Saratoga Heights with the main road named General George Washington. Now that looked exciting! I asked if there was  Benedict Arnold street. No, the agent said none of the other streets have anything to do with General Washington or Saratoga. At least I did find two houses for sale on General George Washington Drive. However the agent couldn't bring up a current listing of the first...it sort of disappeared. The second was a short sale. Sounds traitorous to me.

     We finally found a house on Gunston Hall Drive.  How unromantic. After all, what is a Gunston Hall?  Is it a place where guns are stored? Nevertheless, I decided to get over it since the floor plan was incredible and we put an offer on it. That night as we drove up I95, I saw brown sign (as in historical landmark) that said Gunston Hall, next exit. Wait!  Wasn't that the name of the street where the house is that we put the offer on?  "Yes," my daughter exclaimed!  "Wow! I can't believe it! I wonder what happened there?"  My daughter suggested that Lafayette slept there. Hmmmm, that's likely. He visited everyone in America!

     Later that night I googled Gunston Hall and discovered George Mason lived there! He lived on the peninsula south of Mount Vernon. He was a friend and mentor I think to George Washington. He wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which is featured in Revolutionary City at Colonial Williamsburg. The burgesses in Virginia met in Williamsburg and agreed to independence from England and then sent delegates off to the Constitutional Congress to agree on independence. The Virginia Declaration of Rights was the forerunner to the Declaration of Independence. You hear about it all the time in Colonial Williamsburg.  And guess who were guests at Gunston Hall?  George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Lafayette (of course)!

     While we were putting the offer on the house, we got to meet our friendly finance officer, Rick. He asked for my cell phone number and when he heard it he exclaimed, "You're from San Antonio!"  He then told me about his dad who lived out there near Max Lucado's church.  I said that was Oak Hills Church. Rick got more excited. He said his dad lived across from there in the Dominian.  Oh that's where a lot of the San Antonio Spurs live! He told me David Robinson lived there. Oh I knew that! Everyone knows that! He asked if I knew the name of the street he lived on.  No. Admiral Way!  (His nickname was "The Admiral" because he attended the Naval Academy.)  I laughed and told Rick that street names are really important in San Antonio and he agreed. The agent was laughing because of all my previous comments about street names.  Then Rick told me to guess David's house number. Okay it had to be the number on his jersey. I said the number and the agent was laughing and laughing while Rick told me I was correct.   

     Alas, someone else got the Gunston Hall house. I am really sad about that. That would have been too cool to tell people I live on Gunston Hall Dr. While I was looking up the floorplan, I discovered the builder is located on Lafayette Circle. sigh  Oh well. We have an offer on another house...although I don't have a clue what that street name means. Hmmm....

     We have been researching the price of houses, pending a possible move to Northern Virginia.  In the process, I have met some wonderful people from Virginia who have been helping us immensely in figuring out the cost of living of the area.  Their generosity in helping us figure out some details has encouraged us as we are reminded of fond times in the friendly state of Virginia.  While waiting out the job search process, I would like to thank everyone who has helped us out with great information!  =)

     In the meantime, we've been investigating real estate options on-line.  I've started teasing the kids, naming possible street names from prospective houses that I've found.  Would they like to live on Gloucester Street?  That was received with grins.  How about Ichabod Crane Avenue?  Apparently my son felt a need to interject at this point, with a big smile.  "You know what I'd like, Mom?  If we move to Virginia, I hope we move to a house on a street named after Lafayette.  If not Lafayette, then George Washington.  If not George Washington, then Patrick Henry."  Hmmmm, do Virginia real estate agents get that kind of wish list very often????

     First I have to explode with the excitement...We might move to Virginia!!!!!  Woo hoo!  My husband is retiring from the USAF on Jan 9 and he's been sending everyone his resume and networking.  We'd be very thankful for a job in Texas.  But I admit, I've also been praying for a job in Williamsburg because we love it there so much!  Okay, the family's excitement is probably fueled from my exuberance! LOL My husband has been looking in the area, even at Langley AFB, but nothing.  =(  

     We've had a difficult time, emotionally, getting caught up in the Christmas festivities because of hardly a nibble of job offers for my husband, due to the economy. Then my husband called a few weeks ago and asked if the Pentagon was close enough to Virginia for me (he thought it was in DC.)  LOL  Of course it's close enough to Virginia...it's in Arlington, VA! 

     Now, here's the part where we start to hyperventilate.  We had never tried to find a job in the DC area.  We know that is EXPENSIVE and CROWDED!  But it is a job, my husband would have an opportunity to do a job that he excels at, and it's 2.5 hours, minus the traffic, from Colonial Williamsburg!  We could put our season passes to great use!  Woo hoo!!!  My brother thought it was cool that we'd be near a lot of Civil War history.  Well, yes, but I'm not the Civil War buff that he is.  I am an American Revolution buff! We'd not only be close to CW, but also Mount Vernon, Montpelier, Monticello...why we'd even finally get to visit Poplar Forest!  Oh, and the opportunity to see all the other places in DC and Maryland and Virginia we haven't had a chance to visit yet.  I've told the kids about the beautiful Virginia capitol building in Richmond, they want to see that.  There is Yorktown and Jamestown.  There is Chincoteague!  Seasons, ocean, mountains...I could go on and on and on.

     But the expense.  gulp  My husband interviewed Christmas Eve with the Pentagon and there is another interview forthcoming.  Salary has not yet been discussed.  This is where we could use some advice.  I know there are some Virginia people who have stopped by my blog.  ;)  What do you think we should look for in the way of salary to make ends meet?  You can e-mail me privately, the link is in my right sidebar.  Thank you so much for any tips!