We decided to take a weekend trip to the Outter Banks in North Carolina. I have read about it in Graduate School, especially on the Lost Colony on Roanoke Island and wanted to see it for myself.
On Friday, October 22nd, 2021, we departed from our Northern Virginia home for the over 5hr drive down. I decided since we were going to pass the Yorktown battle site, me, being a history nerd of epic proportions, would show the family and explain to them what happened.
The were thrilled. (sarcasm) But the good news, it would break up our long drive.
We arrived a the Yorktown Battlefield after a couple of hours. Yorktown is a small little town in Southeastern Virginia that has houses that are hundreds of years old. Most of them are historical sites, but some of them are still privately owned with owners living in the them.
Yorktown Monument
There has been big monument erected regarding the battle of Yorktown, which lasted a couple of weeks, from September 28 to October 19, 1781. The battle was brutal with both sides receiving large numbers of casualties.
After taking pictures of the monument we moved to the welcome center, which had tons of Yorktown artifacts. One was the actual box where George Washington kept his gear, and it was inside the actual tent that Washington was in during the battle. The picture isn’t that great because it was inside thick piece of glass.
George Washington’s tent and gear. I was told these are authentic but obviously repainted
There are still people living in Yorktown, which is a small village. There are some old houses, which are hundreds of years old, next to houses built recently for current residents. It is a great town to visit and I highly recommend it.
We only stayed a few hours, which wasn’t enough for me, but we had to get moving to the Outer Banks. The history of the site was amazing. To me, the best part was the welcome center, which had tons of actual artifacts from the war.
There is even a cannon that the Marquis de Lafayette hugged during his visit to the site during his tour in 1824. I was so focused on it that I forgot to get a picture, but you should definitely check it out during your visit.
