Spring break!

This spring break we planned a course through Virginia and North Carolina, where we enjoyed some history, some beaches, and some good times! Seriously, if we could live in a Winnebago on a permanent road trip, we would! These kids are pro travelers, and we're all up for roadway adventures.

Attraction number one: Jamestown, VA

The National Park Service has created stunning displays to describe America's first permanent English settlement. Walking along the shore of the James River,  we visited the beautifully preserved/restored buildings and viewed hundreds of artifacts. I was interested to see a collection of rounded buttons that look similar to those on one of my favorite blouses. It struck me as odd that the button hadn't been through any major transformations in at least 400 years. I guess that if it works, it works. 

During the first several years, the colonists suffered a drought--the worst in eight centuries!--that caused all but a handful to die. Skirmishes with the Powhatans and failed economic projects made the colony seem hopeless. Why did they stay? 

It felt sacred to be there, hearing about the colonists' lives. What sacrifice. What moxie!  

Attraction number two: the hotels!

Is there anything more fun than a hotel pool?

Zachary's hooked on swimming. He even convinced me to go with him at the OUTDOOR pool at the next hotel. It was 75 degrees outside, so I said okay. He squealed when I cannonball splashed him--then he braved the water himself!

And here, witness a moment of boyhood bliss: they're eating corn dogs, at bedtime, while watching a monster truck rally. Living it up!

Attraction number three: Outer Banks, NC beaches

The kids had never been to an actual ocean beach before, but they ran right up into the water as if they'd done it every day of their lives.  

We did the normal beach things: 

watching,

digging,

swimming (yikes! Eric wins the bravery award, because the ocean was much cooler than the pool!),

more digging, 

crabbing, 

burying,

and, finally, de-salting.

I wasn't expecting such nice beaches, but these were Florida-esque!

Attraction number four: Wright Brothers Historical Monument, Kitty Hawk, NC

Learning about the Wright Brothers makes you proud to be an American, as you have some stake in the gutsiest, most enthralling endeavor in modern history. The NPS visitors' center describes the Wright Brothers' experiments in some detail. Jacob was earning his Junior Ranger patch there, so we attended a lecture about the brothers, too.

And here, these brothers stand at the landing spot to the fourth and longest flight on the day that the Wrights flew the first airplane. After this flight, the wind took up the craft, along with a bystander who tried to save it. He struggled with the plane, eventually crashing down again. As he tells it, there were five flights that day--and he earned the distinction as the first person injured in an airplane crash.

Attraction number four: Yorktown, VA

We did another Junior Ranger program here, rode the trolley throughout the town and battlefields, and even climbed up on some of the Revolutionary War earthworks. For the third time in that many days, we're awestruck over the history of American bravery.

We love being in these places together, and we're already looking forward to future adventures on the road!