Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for virginia
Air Power in Virginia
By Linda Tancs
Located in the heart of the Mid-Atlantic region, Hampton, Virginia, is home to Air Power Park. An outdoor park displaying restored aircraft and spacecraft, it chronicles the air power that played a vital part in America’s early space exploration and aircraft testing. Many of the park’s jets, missiles and rockets have connections with nearby Langley AFB and NASA Langley Research Center. Enjoy the outdoor displays daily from sunrise to sunset. You can also tour inside displays during regular business hours. Admission is free.
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Honoring NATO
By Linda Tancs
One of the longest running festivals in Virginia’s Hampton Roads region, the Norfolk NATO Festival is the only one of its kind in the United States honoring the NATO Alliance and its member nations. The festivities include a parade of nations, an international village featuring cultural performances, international art and cuisine and a military tattoo sporting an international cast of over 900, including bagpipers, drummers, military bands, dancers, singers, drill teams and color guards. This year’s event runs from April 20 to April 22 in downtown Norfolk.
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The Wonders of Delmarva
By Linda Tancs
The Delmarva Peninsula is a large peninsula embracing the state of Delaware and the Eastern Shore counties of Maryland and Virginia. Its name derives from this tri-state reach (DelMarVa) of about 170 miles. It’s one of the earliest sites of European settlement and boasts a record of indigenous occupation since the last Ice Age. Among the many tourist destinations in the region, some highlights are Rehoboth Beach in Delaware, Ocean City in Maryland and Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia.
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An Agent of Change in Richmond
By Linda Tancs
The home of Maggie L. Walker in Richmond, Virginia, became a prime location in the heart of Jackson Ward (a National Historic Landmark), the center of Richmond’s African American business and social life at the turn of the century. At that residence she devoted her life to civil rights advancement, economic empowerment and educational opportunities for Jim Crow-era African Americans and women. She was no less an inspiration in her own right, being the first Black woman in the U.S. to found a bank. She also established a newspaper and spearheaded a variety of civic groups. Her home is a National Historic Site on North 2nd Street.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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A Halfway Point in Virginia
By Linda Tancs
Middleburg, Virginia, was established in 1787 by American Revolutionary War Lieutenant Colonel and Virginia statesman John Leven Powell, who named it Middleburg because it was the halfway point between two towns on the popular Ashby Gap trading route. Historically, it served as the site of two battles of the Gettysburg Campaign during the Civil War and counts more than 160 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. Later, it became so popular for fox hunts and horse racing that it earned the moniker “Nation’s Horse and Hunt Capital.” It’s still a hotspot for equestrian events today, hosting an abundance of nationally renowned events. Equally popular are the vineyards, nestled scenically along a stretch of Route 50 dotted with old stone cottages and horse farms with the Blue Ridge and Bull Run mountains as a backdrop. You’ll find 20 wineries just 30 minutes away from this historic town.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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A Crown Jewel of Civil War Sites
By Linda Tancs
Called “the new crown jewel of Civil War sites in America” by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian James M. McPherson of Princeton University, Pamplin Historical Park & The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier is a 424-acre historical campus commemorating people and events related to the war. Set amidst a once-threatened Civil War battlefield near Petersburg, Virginia, the site features numerous museums, a restored plantation, walking trails, encampments and costumed interpretation. The local railroad’s ability to supply Confederate forces was an appealing reason for battles in this area. You can still see the depot in Old Towne Petersburg.
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Lost and Found in Charlottesville
By Linda Tancs
Almost lost to history, extensive archaeological work has revealed the original footprint of Highland, home to U.S. President James Monroe. It burned down in the 1800s, but the guest house remains, filled with family furniture and portraits. A devoted public servant for 50 years, Monroe was the most popular U.S. president of his era, a four-term Virginia governor, Secretary of State and Secretary of War (under James Madison) and an international diplomat, among other things. The grounds include the Highland Rustic Trails, interpretive trails that wind through the pasture and wooded hillside of the estate. In addition to traditional guided tours, the estate offers augmented reality tours featuring a wearable glass device imposing characters of the era (including Monroe) for a more authentic experience. Located in Charlottesville, Virginia, Highland is part of William and Mary, Monroe’s alma mater.
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July 4th at Monticello
By Linda Tancs
With enviable views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello is one of the most famous and popular of the presidential estates, a World Heritage Site, museum, research institute and presidential library. Author of the Declaration of Independence, third president of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia, Jefferson died at the estate in 1826 on July 4th, of all days. The Fourth of July remains an auspicious day at Monticello, where an annual Independence Day celebration and naturalization ceremony take place. The festivities include a speaker, an open house with free walk-through tours of the mansion’s first floor and plenty of patriotic music. The estate is located at 931 Thomas Jefferson Parkway in Charlottesville, Virginia.
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A Tribute to the Marines
By Linda Tancs
A public-private partnership between the U.S. Marine Corps and the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, the National Museum of the Marine Corps is a tribute to U.S. Marines. Its purpose is to view the history of America through the eyes of the Marine Corps and to discover what it’s like to be a Marine. The facility houses approximately 1,000 artifacts that range in size from tactical attack aircraft to individual blouse buttons from the Civil War. Another highlight is the Legacy Walk, which provides a quick initiation into the rich and storied history of the Corps and connects the museum’s seven primary exhibit galleries. The museum is located in the town of Triangle, Virginia, just 36 miles south of Washington, D.C.
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One of America’s Oldest Regions
By Linda Tancs
Virginia’s Eastern Shore is one of America’s oldest regions. Settled in 1615, it predates the landing of the Mayflower by five years. A narrow, 70-mile peninsula with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Chesapeake Bay on the other, the area is the antidote to commercial, blanket-to-blanket beach communities found elsewhere. Of course, there are beaches (six public ones) as well as wildlife refuges and a National Seashore. Historically, many districts in the towns are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The region also hosts the homestead of one of America’s influential colonial families and the repository for the oldest continual court records. Accomac is particularly famous for its debtors’ prison (used until 1849), a rare survivor of penal architecture of the colonial period. Highway 13, commonly known as Route 13, is the major north-south highway on the Eastern Shore. Heavily traveled in summertime, you’ll find little congestion this time of year.
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