Yorktown

The trip to Yorktown was a lot shorter - only 20 miles - than the other 2 places we visited the previous 2 days. For that reason, we took a direct route instead of using the Colonial Parkway. It was also a little earlier for us since we wanted to make sure we returned earlier in the afternoon to begin our preparations for our departure today.

We arrived at the Victory Center - as opposed to the Visitor Center, which is located at the actual battlefield site - at around 9:30 AM:

The Center was actually a museum that chronicled the struggle through the years leading up to and including the Revolution. There were flags in front representing each of the original Colonies:

Following our tour of the galleries and the displays of all the artifacts from that period, we went outside to witness a firearms demonstration:

The outside tour was very similar to the one we took at Jamestown the day before. Instead of an Indian village, there was a recreation of a 1780's farm. There were small plots of vegetables and several buildings:

There was a sizable patch of tobacco, which was a main product of early Virginia. There was also a turkey walking around that looked like he was about ready for someones table:

Following our walk through the outside displays, we boarded a trolley:

 that would take us to the Visitor Center at the battlefield, while driving through the town of Yorktown. There was a nice memorial near the battlefield:

The visitor center was much like the Victory Center with a museum and galleries of Colonial folklore. The final activity for us was a tour of the battlefield that was well done by a young volunteer (below) that was French, and knew many of the fine details of the final battle of the Revolution:

There were flags (British, French and American) that marked the location of the troops and he described the battle of Yorktown, which lasted for 10 days, and resulted in the British surrender to George Washington on Oct 19, 1781.

We returned home in mid afternoon and began our chores for our departure today. We will stay in Clifton Forge, VA, tonight, which is about 30 miles from the West Virginia border. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the 3 cities we visited and are very glad we took the extra time to see them.

Now, it's off to another chapter...