Baseball & National Parks

We left home around 7:30 am and headed towards Virginia.  We made our first stop at Bucees in Crossville to pick up snacks for the whole family.  We arrived in Christiansburg Fairfield Inn for the night.

• Friday:  We ate at the hotel, loaded up the truck and headed to Sterling around 8:00 am.  We arrived in Sterling just after lunch so we stopped off for a quick meal at Panera Bread before going to Jason’s and Shimul’s.
• Saturday.  Dylan had 2 baseball games; won them both.
• Sunday:  Dylan had 2 baseball games; won the first one in a nail biter going into overtime with him pitching; he lost second game.

We left Jason’s around 7:30.  We had breakfast at Joe’​s Café in Sterling and headed to Gettysburg.  We arrived at Gettysburg NMP around 1:00.  After watching movie and cyclorama we did the driving tour.  Dinner in the evening was at Garryowen Irish Pub in Gettysburg.

We left hotel around 7:00 am and headed west towards Flight 93 Memorial on Hwy 30W (Lincoln Highway).  We stopped in Chambersburg, got breakfast at Chris’s Kitchen.  Patsy had a pancake larger than her plate.  I had a ham and cheese omelet with home fries.  We left and stopped at Sheetz for gas (cheapest I could find at $3.89/gal).  The drive was slow on a 2-lane highway, going over at least 5 mountain ranges (like the Alleghenies). of 2,100-2,500 ft.  We arrived at the Flight 93 Memorial around noon.  The center sits on a hill and overlooks memorial site.  We walked out to the observation deck at the visitor’s center to look at the flight path, crash site and wall of names.  We toured the visitor’s center (pretty sad and humbling).  It is done so well to remember those heroes and their families.  We then drove down and walked the flight path, debris field and crash site.  At the end of crash site are the wall of names – those killed on Sep 11, 2001.  We left the memorial and went to a place recommended by a friend near Pittsburg (Ft Ligonier).  It is a museum and replica of the fort built there during the French and Indian War in 1757.  We then drove back to the hotel, but rather than taking Lincoln Highway, we took the Pennsylvania Turnpike and I-76.  Rather than going over those mountains we sped through tunnels at 70 mph.  It still took 2.5 hours to get back.  Tired we went the Sheetz in Gettysburg, filled up with gas and bought sandwiches for dinner.

We left hotel around 6:45 am to go to McDonalds for a quick breakfast.  Due to lack of staff, the dining room was closed so it was back to Sheetz for breakfast.  After a quick bite we headed north on PA 15 to pick up I-76/Pennsylvania Turnpike just outside Harrisburg.  We headed east towards Philadelphia to Valley Forge NP.  After crossing the Delaware River, Gen George Washington spent the winter in Valley Forge from Dec 1777 to Jun 1778.   We went to Visitors Center, watched the film and then purchased an audio guide for the park.  After driving to the locations within the park we left and headed west on Hwy 30, hoping to relive the great times we used to have going through Amish country near Lancaster.  Those memories from 20 years ago were crushed with heavy traffic and so much commercialism.  It seemed to take forever to get through Bird-in-Hand and Lancaster – saw no Amish buggies.  Maybe we were on wrong road.  Heading through York (with even heavier traffic) we finally made it back to Gettysburg where we got a great burger at the Blue and Grey Sports Bar.  You can pick your toppings for your burger based on being Union or Confederate.

We checked out of hotel around 7:00 am and headed south on 15.  We stopped in Thurmont, MD at Bollinger’s Family Restaurant for a great breakfast.  Rather than putting us back on 15, Waze took us through back roads, through the Catoctin Mountain Park (where Camp David is located), through West Virginia, and then onto I-70 to I-81 south.  We decided to stop at Antietam National Battlefield near Sharpsburg, MD.  It was a great location.  The Visitor’s Center was brand new.   Since I had left my Lifetime National Park Pass at home, the ranger offered me a Military Veteran Lifetime Pass for the National Parks at no cost.  We watched the film, got the stamps, and drove to some of the battle locations in the park.  Leaving, Waze again took us through back roads to get back to I-81 and then to I-66 to Front Royal.  Front Royal, VA is northern entrance to Shenandoah NP and Skyline Drive.  Normal entry fee per vehicle is $30 but since I had the Military NP Pass it was free.  We went to the Dickie Ridge Visitors Center, got the stamps, and then drove some 26 miles of the Skyline Drive before leaving at the Thornton’s Gap entrance.  We needed to get to our hotel in Charlottesville, so we stopped to put in address in Waze.  Since there was no internet, I turned right and headed south on 211.  I was wrong.  We used the truck GPS which had us turn around at foot of the mountain (10 miles out of the way) and come back up mountain.  We tried to put the address back in Waze but it wanted us to go back to I-81 to I-64 (107 miles).  We went back to truck GPS who found us a 58-mile path, although it was a 2-lane 50 mph way.  Out hotel was hidden behind some trees so we passed it twice before finding it.  Patsy had found a Wood-Fired Buffet Restaurant but we had trouble locating it 0.1 mile from hotel. We checked in and asked where the best place to eat and they told us the restaurant Patsy had found was a great place to eat.  Without unloading the luggage, we found the restaurant.  The place had the largest buffet I had ever seen and the food was excellent.  Since we go there at 3:45 pm they considered us lunch crowd so the food was $11.99/each.  You cannot eat at Sheetz for that amount.  We went back to hotel and unloaded the truck and lounged the rest of the night.

We left hotel in Charlottesville and drove to Petersburg National Battlefield.  There is a lot of history but the site itself could use some upgrades.  After completing the driving tour we drove to Chester (just south of Richmond) and checked into our hotel.  Jason and Austin arrived around 8:00 pm

• Saturday:  Austin had 2 baseball games in Richmond.  We had dinner at La Reina Mexican Grill near hotel.
• Sunday:  Austin had one game in Midlothian at 10:30 am.  We watched the first few innings of the game and started the 10 hour drive home, arriving around 9 :00 pm.