The Wonderful World of Williamsburg; Part Three

Much to my disgust Mom and Dad left me to tour the Newport News, VA Mariner's Museum and Park since only service dogs are allowed.

 They hadn't been there since it opened years ago and now it has various findings from the Civil War Monitor in one of its exhibits...Cool...Wish I could have seen it? What is it anyway?

As mom explained this museum to me, it's dedicated to conserving, preserving, compiling and educating the public about all things maritime; not just in our country but worldwide. 

Mom said they must have spent a couple of hours there alone, looking into their massive conservation room, their conservation tanks holding the turret, guns and various other items they are trying to preserve. The docents, conservators and greeters were so excited to see us...it turns out it was the first day it was opened in a year. All of them had something important to add as we walked through...

Mom and dad both loved the ship models, maps, charts, nautical equipment and tools, paintings and prints that add more to our nautical knowledge.

                  This hall is filled with all types of small watercraft from all over the world

There are several galleries dedicated to Admiral Nelson's life, battles and military strategies. 

The most extensive exhibit by far is the large wing dedicated to the Ironclads: the Monitor, Merrimac (that became the Virginia after it was stolen by the Confederacy.) There are recreations of various Monitor parts; the gun turret (before cleaning and afterwards,) the captain's stateroom and quarters, a lesser officer's stateroom, even the lowly sailors lives were also given their due but shown in drawings, visuals and through audio accounts. 

They recovered massive amount of items; clothing, boots, dishes, silverware, weapons, bullets, missiles, cannons and personal items were found among the 2 1/2 tons of coal that was spilled when the Monitor flipped upside down...it's quite a collection. Thanks to more than one letter and journal there is a fairly accurate record of life aboard the Monitor. 

The Monitor's and the Virginia's building process, men who served aboard her, her battles, rediscovery, recovery, and artifacts. 

They even had a replica of Virginia's pilot house that you could walk through and see out of...it was pretty amazing to see

Granted they had the hull already completed first, but still...

                                         Here is what the Virginia looked like

                         Compared to the Monitor which was smaller

  When you read about these brave divers, it's hard not to be amazed by them!!!

                      Obviously, souvenirs aren't limited to our times...

                       Even in the bathrooms this museum educated you...LOL

Here is more from the bathroom...these cracked mom up!!! She is easily amused!!

I was so happy to see them again especially since I was ready to play!!! Thankfully, they didn't leave me but ate dinner in and watched a movie with me...

Saturday turned out to be really rainy as dad predicted, so we stayed in and worked on technical items. Adding a WIFI booster and an Apple TV box. Dad had a great time seeing some of our photos and videos up on our big TV...He really enjoyed this video that mom had to cut into stills for it to show up here..

 

Boy, was I happy until mom made me take a bath afterwards!!!

Our grands are growing up so fast!!!

We have another official walker...Look out world, here comes Clara May!!!

  Meanwhile back in Indianapolis, Houdini, our darling grand dog turned 10...WOW!

Our RV park has truly been a great place to just relax...We finally hit cold and rainy weather here from Saturday through Sunday. We just turned on our fireplace, read, caught up on laundry, reading, old movies and relaxed. The couple of times we went out to eat we ended up bringing food home for another meal,...it's the South after all. LOL! Saturday we did enjoy watching the Indy 500 and cheering for Helio's fourth win!!! He's such a wonderful individual, it's hard not to support him. Loved this quote from him...

"The lesson is to never give up, no matter what Father Time or another race team might tell you," Castroneves said before taking another drag of milk off the bottle he'd been toting around for nearly an hour after the checkered flag, like it had been milked from a cow fed off the Fountain of Youth. "Tom Brady, Phil Mickelson, me. Old guys, we rule. And I don't think we are done yet, either."

Mike spent 35+ years going to the Indy 500 with his family including his Indy cousins. Our kids, myself, our foreign exchange students, other friends would go with him as well...His family has a history with the 500...His great uncle was a riding mechanic in the first 500's when they had a driver and a riding mechanic to keep the car going for 500 miles. There is a photo of him in the Indy 500 museum. Later, his grandfather ran cars in it, back in the days when anyone could... 

My favorite part was the rare time that I could go to the time trials having a pit pass, so you could see the cars and drivers up close...our kids would get their autographs and talk to them. It truly is a spectacle!!!

Two Drummers Smokehouse, Toano,VA  lived up to all it's great Yelp reviews!!! 

Mom hadn't seen these type of metal trays since college when we use to borrow them from the dining hall to go sled riding when it snowed...

Definitely an interesting presentation, but everything, but the coleslaw was exceptional!!! I gave it the Pippi Lick of Approval!!!

So we finished out our eleven days here with another visit from Christy. It was wonderful to share memories of our Hellish year at our inner city middle school. (She was stuck there two years before she moved on to Virginia Beach.) It makes me shudder...

We all commented that our friendship was the type that we just picked up our conversation like we have never been apart...It's definitely her turn to come see us next!!!

We are looking forward to our short drive to Charlottesville today with mom and dad revisiting Monticello, U of VA, and the Skyline Drive while adding James Monroe's home, wineries and distilleries in the mix...