Privy, Whiskey, Hilly, Under Water, & Monticello

Forecast: cloudy with highs in high 50s. That worked for us for the plans for the day. We headed to Norfolk, VA, to General Douglas MacArthur Memorial. We learned so much about him. He had a real passion for the people of Philippines. He said he would rather give up all the awards and medals for there to be no wars. General and his wife Jean are both buried there in the rotunda. 

They had a good display that told about each point of view when President Truman fired him during the Vietnam War. We were there 4 hours. 

Chesapeake Bay Tunnel Right There! Chesapeake Bay, VA 04/24

Then we went on to drive the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. This road has two tunnels and they are 25 to 100 feet deep. It is 17.6 miles across the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. It was sure fun. We saw 17 oil tankers. The toll was $16.00. At the north end, we turned into the scenic overlook, got out and looked around, and then headed back. Nice, we saw, that we didn’t go out of the toll and then back in, just to pay again. Sweet. Nice it was set up like that for those of us visitors who just go over and back. We wish there was a museum telling all about how the bridge and tunnels were built but there isn’t. From research I did learn that a ferry was used for 350 years. Later people wanted bridge built. The navy said no way! Because, what if something damaged the bridge, then the navy couldn’t get out to sea. Good point, seems how just a few weeks ago a broken ship ran into the bridge at Baltimore in the middle of the night and the whole bridge collapsed. So, thus, the two tunnels. So fun!

Battleship Wisconsin “Whisky” & Carnival Pride Behind, Norfolk, VA 04/24

The next day we went right back to Norfolk, VA.  As we pulled up we saw police cars with lights and police directing traffic. Saw a big semi truck, too. What was going on? Then we saw it – Carnival Pride cruise ship being loaded with people and supplies. We got nostalgic about the many cruises we have been on. Later, as we sat along the water and were close enough we could almost reach out and touch the front of the ship, Kevin told me his day dream used to be for us to have an apartment close to cruise ships so we could jump on at the last minute when they had openings. I remember him telling me that back then. “Now,” he said, “that is no longer the dream. We are RVers now.” Grin, I love that! Of course, we will go on more cruises when want. 😃

This museum building, called Nauticus & The Battleship Wisconsin. Battleship Wisconsin was in WW2, Korean War, and then in Virginia Capes area. On May 6, 1956, in heavy fog it collided with the destroyer Eaton. Wisconsin suffered extensive damage to the bow. At the Norfolk Naval Shipyard a new experiment made the repairs faster – they took the bow from a sister ship that was being built and put it on Wisconsin. That ship was named Kentucky. So, from then on, Wisconsin’s nickname was “Big Whisky” combining the words Wisconsin and Kentucky! Inside the museum, we went to the second floor to Hampton Roads Naval Museum. It is free. Our favorite part of this museum is that throughout it there are screens on the walls. They are touch screen and you can touch to see different people tell a story “in their own words” about being in a war. I was thrilled beyond words as they were all captioned. This place gets an A. While words can be read on a board, there is just something about seeing a person tell the words and watching their body language. Excellent.

What Is On The Map? A Hill? Haven’t Seen Those For Months! HA Charlotte, VA 05/24

I have seen some towns around here in VA with the added “C.H.” behind the name. Wondered what it meant so I looked it up. “Many of the towns which were county seats were called ‘Court House.’” The building is spelled courthouse and the town is Court House. Interesting. We were on our way to Charlottesville, VA to visit Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. As we got close, on the Garmin RV 1090 screen I saw a line of something. I zoomed in and what did a see? Hills!!! It has been sooooo long since we saw a hill like this (Blue Ridge Mountains). Actually, we didn’t see much because it was a rainy day with heavy clouds on the tops. We laughed at how we were excited to see something like that, even on a map! HA (Note: we are from the Intermountain West so we are used to seeing mountains where the ground is around 5000 ft above sea level and the mountains are almost 12,000 ft tall!)

Monticello tickets for the house tour and grounds was $42.00 each. We wondered if it would be worth it. It turns out, yes, it was. I had read on their website that they have an iPad with text on it for the tour for those of us who are deaf. We inquired about it at the ticket counter and they said they would have it for me at the house. The start of the tour is at a certain time; ours started in about 45 minutes. We took the shuttle up to the house. The tour guide handed me a large iPad. She had air-bud in her ear with a microphone that used blue tooth to put her words on the screen. It worked out great!

Thomas Jefferson Slaves, Monticello, Charlottesville, VA 05/24

The house is much much smaller than we expected! That was a big surprise. What we immediately noticed is, this place doesn’t try to cover up or shy away from telling the truth of Thomas Jefferson and his slaves and his words about them. He wasn’t perfect, as some people want to believe and teach. A sign said: “Jefferson owned 607 people over the course of his lifetime. He freed only seven, and let three others leave Monticello. They were all members of the extended Hemings family. Four were his children. Sally Hemings was ‘given her time’ after Jefferson’s death, but never legally freed.”

When you walk through the front doors, you enter a large room. There is a balcony. Jefferson said that grand staircases are a “waste of space” so there isn’t one here. If you go upstairs, you have to go to the back and up the tiniest, narrowest stairs. HA Jefferson had over 7000 books. He had a writing instrument that would copy what he was writing onto another paper. His bedroom has a barn door that opens from the side of his bed – literally right next to the mattress – into his study/office. Plus a regular small door. In the dining area, behind the fireplace is a dumbwaiter. This way his wines could be brought up quickly. He also went to a lot of work in designing and actions to keep his enslaved people from being seen. He was a friend with the Marquis de Lafayette. Lafayette really got on him hard about him still owning enslaved people. They had big fights about it, but Jefferson didn’t change. Nor did Washington. 

The tour last almost an hour and was very informative. We walked around the enslaved people’s working rooms and along Mulberry Row where the house enslaved people lived along with some of the building, for example, the place they made nails.

Words The Way Jefferson Wanted On His Grave Stone, Monticello, Charlottesville, VA 05/24

Next we walked to the cemetery and saw Jefferson’s gravestone. Jefferson said this is what it would say, (and the gravestone is in quotes): “HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON – (next line) AUTHOR OF THE – DECLARATION – OF – AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE – OF THE – STATUTE OF VIRGINIA – FOR – RELIGIOUS FREEDOM – AND FATHER OF THE – UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA.”  

The visitor center museum has a gigantic wall that has these words: “The American Declaration of Independence has inspired nations and people around the world to declare independence.” Then it lists 70 countries and their flags! Wow. I looked it up and while the United States of American wasn’t the first to declare their independence, it is neat to see the ones who have come after. I am reminded how George Mason had a lot of the ideas that were later put in the Declaration of Independence. He is one I would like to “have a conversation with” if I could talk with anyone from the past.

Found these in the family and friends cemetery of Jefferson. I don’t know who they are because there is a fence around the cemetery and it was too far to see the other side. “A Perfect Gentleman, A Talented Lady.”