Where the First Thanksgiving Really Happened and Other Interesting Things

Coastal Virginia is a historic area and we took advantage of a beautiful day to visit the Berkeley Plantation.

Williamsburg is about 45 minutes away and then the plantation is about 30 miles from there.

I think I may have heard about the Berkeley Plantation but I was reminded of it about a week ago while talking with a new friend at a group gathering we attended.  Wiley said, "The Berkeley Plantation is where the first Thanksgiving happened!"  Really?

I said I hadn't heard that one and he said, "Oh yeah, it's well documented."  Over the years I learn that  Christopher Columbus didn't really discover America and now this.  Hmmm.  Pam and I hadn't had a day trip in a while, so we drove out to see what it was all about.

Perfect day for a drive!  The major highway road construction near Newport News/Yorktown/Jamestown/Williamsburg is now complete and it was a great drive.  Especially the stretch from Williamsburg to Berkeley Plantation.

We arrived right when they opened up at 9:30 and had 25 minutes to mull around and see some things on our own at one of the little museums.

We joined a tour of the property led by a well-informed docent who was dressed up for the part.

Early settlers from England arrived at what would become Berkeley Plantation and observed the first Thanksgiving in America on December 4, 1619.  This was 13 months before the celebration and feast at Plymouth Rock.

Here is how Wikipedia makes the distinction between the two.

Pilgrims and Puritans who emigrated from England in the 1620s and 1630s carried the tradition of Days of Fasting and Days of Thanksgiving with them to New England. The modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition is traced to a well-recorded 1619 event in Virginia and a sparsely documented 1621 celebration at Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts. The 1619 arrival of 38 English settlers at Berkeley Hundred in Charles City County, Virginia, concluded with a religious celebration as dictated by the group's charter from the London Company, which specifically required "that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned ... in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God." The 1621 Plymouth feast and thanksgiving was prompted by a good harvest, which the Pilgrims celebrated with native Americans, who helped them pass the last winter by giving them food in the time of scarcity.

Other noteworthy facts associated with the Berkeley Plantation:

• The first Bourbon Whiskey in America was distilled there 1621-1622.
• Plantation purchased in 1691 by Benjamin Harrison III, ancestor of two U.S. presidents.
• Was the first commercial shipyard on the James River, building 18 gun battleships for the Revolutionary Navy.

• Tobacco was the cash crop on the 1400 acres, making the Harrisons wealthy.
• The original plantation was built in 1726 when Benjamin Harrison IV built the mansion.   
• The three story brick mansion is said to be the oldest 3-story brick house in Virginia.
•  The eldest son, Benjamin V, operated the farm and became active in Virginia politics and was governor three times.  He also was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
• William Henry Harrison, son of Benjamin V, became the 9th president of the U.S. in 1841. He holds the distinction of holding the office only 31 days, dying of pneumonia after his long-winded inaugural address in freezing cold weather.  
• He served in the Northwest Territories with John Tyler who became his vice president and later  president after his short tenure.
• John Tyler’s plantation is just a few miles up the road from Berkeley Plantation.
• William Henry Harrison’s grandson, Benjamin, became the 23rd president of the U.S. in 1889. They are the only son-grandson duo in history to become presidents.
• George Washington and later the succeeding 9 presidents all visited the Berkeley Plantation.
• By 1862 the estate came upon hard times and was abandoned.  Union General George McClellan retreated here after the attempt to take Richmond from the Confederates in 1862.
• During that encampment in July, Union Major General Daniel Butterfield tinkered with “Taps”, changing it into what it is known as today.  It has been played at the end of the duty day since then at military bases and at military funerals throughout the world.

•  Later in 1862, President Lincoln visited Berkeley Plantation and visited McClellan’s Army 140,000 troops.
• The grave sites of presidents William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison are on the property.  Truly modest by most standards.

While there we wandered around the grounds and had a picnic lunch on the river.  As things would turn out, Jamestown was doing a test run of the ship “Godspeed” which added to the interesting things of the day.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Berkeley Plantation and recommend it!

Thanks for joining us today!

Camping Our Way From Virginia to NY - Summer 2018

Thought I'd give an update of where we've been over the last few weeks.  We are now on our 'Summer 2018 Trip' to the Northeast.

Malek Visitor's Center, USMA, West Point

We're currently at the military campground at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
On the map below, our location would be at the northernmost point (F). We were here six years ago.  The campground hasn't changed much but the Visitor's Center at the USMA is brand new.  More on that and some of what we've been seeing.

We stayed in Virginia Beach all of May and most of June.  

Sea Mist RV Campground, Virginia Beach, VA

The last day of June, we made a quick trip

Rest Stop Along the Way

to South Carolina for some annual motorhome maintenance

Cross Country RV Park, Denver, SC

and got to see D and Jackie in Lincolnton, NC and Cindy in SC.  We headed back to the Virginia Beach area for a couple of weeks near Williamsburg, VA.   Our first stint for a few days was in Newport News.

 Newport News City Campground, Newport News, VA

King's River Campground, Cheatham Annex, Williamsburg, VA

There we got to see Bill and Kris and spend more time with Kelly, Jon and the grandkids.  Before we left we spent some time with Jon's parents (Diane and Marty), up from Augusta GA for a few days,

We drove a long day after departing Williamsburg and made it to out reserved site at Mountain Springs RV Resort just north of Shartlesburg, PA off I-78.

 Mountain Springs RV Resort

We hit the rains the whole way from Virginia Beach, but it hasn't been too bad.  They have been a series of hard rains, light rains and then now rain.  It hasn't been a constant downpour.  We carry an umbrella and wear rain gear and have kept dry.

Round Pond Campground, USMA, West Point

We snagged this site which is pretty level.  We are glad to be able to get satellite TV.  The internet and cell phone reception is sketchy at best.  I'm posting this from Starbucks at West Point which has great Wi-Fi.

We've seen a lot here and along the Hudson River Valley.  Over the last few days here, we re-visited the USMA Museum which is outstanding.  We also took another windshield tour around the premises and got some great views of the Hudson River.

Earlier we took a day trip over the Hyde Park (FDR home, Presidential Library and Museum), Val-Kill (Eleanor Roosevelt's Retreat) and the Vanderbilt Mansion.  Earlier today we made the two-hour drive to see Martin Van Buren's home in Kinderbrook.  We'll be telling those stories about our times there in the coming weeks.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Playing Tourist in DC

We played tourist a few days ago and had a nice day downtown.  We went to the National Museum of the American Indian, had lunch on 7th Street at some food trucks, then went to the Ford Theater and Peterson House.

This post is about our experience at the National Museum of the American Indian and lunch at the food trucks.

After living in Fairfax VA for 17 years we saw a lot of new museums and monuments get built in the downtown DC area.  A few of the new ones we haven't seen.  Yesterday was a mix of that.

We started off at the National Museum of the American Indian.  We drove in from our campsite from Haymarket, VA which is about 37 miles and took an hour.

The traffic was typical morning rush hour and we were glad we were able to cruise along in the HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle - 2 people) lane.  After finding our way to the Washington Mall and heading toward the U.S. Capitol (near the Indian Museum), we saw that there was plenty of parking.  What?  Yes!  They no longer have meters with coins but use one every 5 or 10 cars and they all take credit cards.  I like the fact that the parking spot was limited to 3 hours which makes it very convenient for tourists and visitors.

We arrived about 9:25 AM, got our parking spot near the museum (and there were plenty more on the street available).  Next, we asked around for the nearest rest room.  Since the museum didn't open until 10 AM, we had some extra.  And a McDonald's was about 2 blocks away.  Perfect.  We used the facility, got a couple of cups of coffee and split a sausage biscuit.  And then we people watched for a few minutes.  The McDonalds may have been the nicest one I have ever seen.  Large,  updated furniture and traffic flow, fast and friendly service. It was exceptional.

We were only a block away from the museum and walked around to the front and took two pictures.

The fountain was a very beautiful one.  I could imagine sitting near it for lunch our just spending time enjoying it.

This is a better picture of the fountain that I got off the internet.

This notice caught my attention.

Inside, we stopped at the front desk and talked with a couple of people in charge.  They explained this was not a museum of US American Indians but of the Western Hemisphere Indians.  That included North, South, and Central America.

During our 90 minute stay we saw 13 minute orientation film, and the galleries:  Nation to Nation; The Inka Road, Native American's in our Nations Armed Forces

We have been to a few really good museums that had galleries and artifacts of (US) American Indians and I expected a more complete group of galleries explaining the hundreds of different tribes and a lot of their history and such.

The museum was more about a sampling of a lot of Indians in the Americas/Western Hemisphere including the Native American Indian.

The museum was a large and beautiful four story structure with an open area in the middle.  Almost like a rotunda of a capital building without the murial or guilded ceiling.  Or like an Embassy Suites hotel with the walkways around the center of the building which is open.  It was an impressive looking building both inside and out.

The structure itself cost $199 million with an additional $20 million for exhibits, public programs, and opening events. The facility itself was quite large and sits on a 4.25 acre site near the U.S. Capitol.

We went to the top/4th floor and began our tour walking through the explanations and artifacts of the diplomacy, treaties and betrayals of the U.S. government with the Native Nations.

The gallery was very well done with enough information to explain the agreements while not getting too complicated.  It very informative.

 In each of the nine treaties on display, viewpoints of the Indian and the US government leadership were explained.  It did not seem to be too harsh on the injustices the Indians have endured time and again.

After time in that exhibit we viewed the 13-minute Orientation film:  "Who We Are".  It sets the tone of the museum with a documentary of Indians in the Artic, Northwest coast, and the plateaus of Bolivia while introducing themes of the cross cultural lives of Indians throughout the Western Hemisphere.  No photography or video recording was allowed in this exhibit.

The next gallery we walked through was The Great Inka Road: Engineering an Empire.  A bilingual series of displays explained one of the engineering marvels in history.  The road is a network of roads spanning rivers, deserts, mountains and tropical lowlands.  It traverses the countries of Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Boliva, Argentina and Chile.

I snapped a few photos of some of the many displays:

Our niece was Peace Corps volunteer for two years in Peru and we have since been interested in learning more about that country.  My brother and wife (her parents) visited her and have since volunteered for that last ten years and participated in a Disability effort of providing wheelchairs to those in Peru.  They are going to Peru again in November for their 11th trip.

The last gallery we visited was about American Indians who were veterans of the U.S. military:  Native Americans in our U.S. Military.  Though it was off to one corner and relatively small, it was one of my favorite.

 The last display discusses Ira Hayes who was part of the famous Raising the Flag at Iwo Jima.

He is pictured on the left side of the men raising the flag.

We also visited the bookstore and gift shop but didn't find anything we couldn't do without.  Next, we headed over to the other side of the mall and parked near the Ford Theater in an underground parking lot.

The costs were a little different, ($24 vs $6) but all in all it was nice to get a safe spot to leave the car and walk around downtown DC.  By now it was lunch time.  We asked around and were directed to 7th Street over by the National Portrait Gallery.

Wow - 7 or 8 trucks of delicious food.

I got the falafel and hummus plate and Pam had a burger.  A definite treat on both accounts.  It was fun to see the customers walk up and order.  The clientele were all quite different.  It was great for the taste buds and a time of some more interesting people watching.

That's a quick look at our time in the National Museum of the American Indian and lunch at the food trucks in DC.  Look for my next post on Ford's Theater and the Petersen House.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles.

Some things to see near Lancaster PA

We saw some interesting sights around Lancaster with our friends Mike and Sue.  We met at their place about 10:00 AM and went over to the horse auction.  Next we went to a tour of Wheatland, home of our 15th president - James Buchanan.

First over to the horse auction.
There are a lot of auctions in this part of the country.  Estate auctions, houses and farm auctions, quilt auctions, produce auctions and this - a horse auction.

 When we arrived in the parking lot, it took a bit to find a good place to park among the trucks and horse trailers.  And the Amish buggies.

I've never been to a horse auction.  It was a busy place.

On our way out we could see some energetic games of checkers going on

I wanted to get some more photos of the animals outside before we left

Our next stop was a few miles away over at Wheatland - the home of our 15th President - James Buchanan. The property and Visitor's Center is on outskirts of Lancaster PA.

We walked down to the back entrance to the home and were greeted by our docent who proceeded to give us a room by room history of the home and its occupants.

Wheatland was on 22 acres when James Buchanan bought the place in 1848.  He lived there many years before his distinguished service in Washington.  After his presidency he returned to Wheatland where he lived until he died in 1868.

Buchanan was one of our most experienced statesman, having served 10 years in both the House of Representatives and the Senate as well as being the US ambassador to England and to Russia.  He was also the Secretary of State under president James K. Polk.

He allowed his name to be entered for nomination in the presidential race of 1856 under one condition, that the campaign be run entirely from Wheatland.  Other did his bidding and committees throughout the country were organized to campaign for him.  He was easily elected and oversaw one of the most contentious and divided periods of history in our country - immediately before the U.S. Civil War.

James Buchanan was a lifelong bachelor.  His niece, Harriet Lane was orphaned and he became her guardian. When he was ambassador to England, Harriet joined him and when he was elected to the White House, Harriet served as the First Lady.  In fact, she was the first one to be labeled the "First Lady".  She also lived with him at Wheatland until she married at 36.

One thing I noticed about the house downstairs was the use of mirrors with candles near them to reflect the light in many rooms.

The whole house was interesting.  Each room had a story and uniqueness about it was noteworthy.  It was filled with furniture that had been returned over the years and was either from Wheatland originally or from the time-period.

The tour lasted about an hour. It helped fill in a lot of questions and misconceptions I had about President Buchanan.  We find that we learn a lot about our country by visiting presidential museums and libraries and their homes.  This was no exception.

Thanks for joining us today on two memorable events for us -- the auction and Wheatland.  Until next time...