Trip #2

My wife came out for a second visit. What a boost to morale! Being alone is never fun, and I know she was looking forward to a little down time as well.

While she was here we went to Colonial Williamsburg. This place was beautiful. We both felt as though we had taken a step back in time. We walked down the streets, saw the horse-drawn carriages being parked outside the taverns, and even locked ourselves into the public discipline square.

We drove out to Jamestown which is the first American settlement. That place is amazing for separate reasons and I'm hoping to go back out there before my time in Virginia is over. We'll see. Someone just told me that he took his family out there and they came back with 4 ticks and had to get checked for an infection of Lyme disease. So yeah....I'm a little hesitant to go out there.

We went to Busch Gardens and saw some roller-coasters that we didn't have the courage to ride. We saw some fun performances - Irish dancing, and an animal show - that we enjoyed. We went on the Sky Ride. We didn't know that we were patronizing the famous beer company. I felt a little bad about that when we first entered the park. My guilt quickly subsided because I'm really good at pushing feelings of guilt aside. Feeling guilty takes too much time and energy. Plus, we got a sweet deal - $50 for the both of us for the entire day.

We also spent July 4th together. We stayed for the fireworks finale, but didn't wait until the finale was over before leaving. The show was held at the football field on Ft. Lee and there were Soldier's everywhere. This was the time when we both wished Sydney could have been with us. We sure missed our little bug!

The day before she flew back to Utah, we walked along one of the Petersburg Battlefield trails right on Ft. Lee. I enjoyed going there with Stephanie because we both got to see some living history. There was a re-creation of trenches used during the Civil War. For any history experts out there, you know that there is a specific reason we don't use trench warfare anymore - trenches are effective at stopping the enemy and killing lots of people!

She stood by a small hut that was typically used by Soldier's during this era. There was also a piece of the railroad left that was used to transport goods and Soldier's during the Civil War. General Robert E. Lee had a headquarters here in Petersburg. I need to get out there and see the headquarters.

I remember reading about General Ulysses Grant (Union) meeting General Robert Lee (Confederacy) when General Lee finally conceded defeat. They talked as old friends from the West Point Military Academy finishing up the business of war. Did you know that General Grant was ranked at the bottom of his West Point class? Yeah - apparently most of the other cadets didn't think he would ever succeed.

Anywho's..... Here are some pictures. Enjoy!