“For those who have fought for freedom it has a flavor that the protected will never know”. I loved this quote….anonymous source.
It is a pretty cool approach they have taken with this restoration. They seem to have integrated the authentic trades work directly into their renovation work and do nearly all of the rebuilding much as was done originally, with Williamsburg labor and skills. It is also amazing the 100s of millions of private dollars that have been poured into rebuilding and refurbishing this place.
The overall experience makes a strong impression and brings the time in history to life. It is all very well done.

Right here in town is Newport News Park. We are camping among Civil War earthen fortifications in an area that changed hands a bunch of times in that war. It was a bit of a surprising find.

Oh, what a hundred miles or so does for you. We are out of the mosquitoes, at least for a while. It’s wonderful to be able to stroll without swatting!

Statues of shells, tropical fish, and miscellaneous crustaceans and…..Neptune. Virginia Beach had them all.

What do you do when you have a kite festival, Virginia Beach, with no wind? Well, one choice is these really cool ultra light kites made of graphite rod and super light nylon fabric. These things fly in nearly still air. Pretty cool.

Like ballerinas or synchronized swimmers three kites flew in beautiful choreographies patterns over head. I have no idea how they managed not to just end up in a knotted mess. That was the work of three members of the TWM.

A huge red squid barely rose up off the sand. It was one of a number of big kites that they had on the beach but couldn’t show off without more wind. They would have been impressive.

A dainty white-gray wisp swirled over our heads as we drove in the growing dusk. It was a little eerie, we didn’t see any source for the smoke. It trailed long behind us and ahead as far as we could see to the next turn. THEN, the headlights hit it just right. That wasn’t smoke; it is a continuous streak of mosquitoes. Millions of them swirling in the thermals some 15 feet above the road. We were oh so thankful that we had the top up.