Cape May National Wildlife Refuge

Noelle, Sierra and I headed on a beautiful morning to explore part of the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge.

We drove north on Route 47 to Kimbles Beach Road and towards Delaware Bay. We started off with a hike on a portion of the Songbird Trail through the maritime forest.

We stopped every now and then to look for birds,

but we didn't see a whole lot.

After our short  hike we headed down to the beach.

It's a pleasant little spot

with lots of stones for throwing into the bay.

We found a few interesting shells, including this razor clam.

We walked to the point where a small creek flows into the bay

and turned around. It was a pleasant way to spend a beautiful day with family!

Cape May Point State Park: Blue Trail

After taking a day for relaxing yesterday, Noelle and I headed out to do some hiking. We decided to head over to Cape May Point State Park and take along our binoculars. Our first stop was the observation platform near the parking lot

where we saw lots of turkey vultures and a few hawks, ducks, coots, swans, and a great blue heron.

After looking at the birds, we decided to hike the blue trail.

The trail was pleasant and wound through lots of small wetland areas

on trail and boardwalk.

Every now and then we stopped to look for birds.

Besides birds we saw some hardy flowers still in bloom.

At the turnaround point of the loop trail we caught some nice views of the Cape May Point Lighthouse.

We had climbed to the top of it back in the summer of 2011, right before our move from Minnesota to New Mexico. When the blue trail got close to the beach, we opted to walk on the beach back to the parking lot instead of the trail. I found an interesting exoskeleton.

Could it be a skate?

We walked past the World War II era battery

on the beach and towards the lighthouse.

We used the restroom and then headed back to the observation platform where we saw lots more turkey vultures, but also a pair of bald eagles and a peregrine falcon!  We then got in the car and headed over to Sunset Beach to check out the shipwreck there.

After lunch at Wawa, we ended our date with a flight of beers each at Cape May Brewing Company.

Oxon Hill Farm

After waking up in a really nice hotel in Arlington, Virginia; we quickly crossed the Potomac River into Maryland for a visit to Oxon Hill Farm. Just a word of warning, the entrance to the park is a little bit tricky to find. After finding the park entrance we parked the car and bundled up for the brisk and breezy morning. We were greeted by some cows at the farm entrance

and walked an old farm road past a barn

to the visitor center where Sierra played with some farm-themed toys while the whole family warmed up a bit. There was a nice mural inside featuring different farm animals, including a sheep.

Sierra really appreciated the sheep!

After having sufficiently warmed ourselves, we headed back outside and walked through a few barns
including one that contained goats.

We then headed down to the dairy barn for the cow milking demonstration. We admired a few of the cows in their pasture before the demonstration.

The ranger giving the demonstration offered us an opportunity to milk the cow and I took it. It was my first time milking a cow! After the milking demonstration we wandered around the farm a bit more,

checking out the various buildings

and admiring the animals.

The old farmhouse on the property dated back to the War of 1812.

The occupants even saw rockets crash down in their fields during the war.

Once we had toured the grounds, it was time to hit the road. We headed north through surprisingly light traffic and into New Jersey to see Pop Pop and Ta Ta's new house near the beach. I even got to see the sun set over Delaware Bay.

Petersburg National Battlefield

Yesterday the Grunwalds started our Thanksgiving road trip. This will be our first Thanksgiving with family since 2 months after Sierra was born in 2012 when we drove from New Mexico all the way to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving. What a crazy idea that was! Here we are 3 years later doing it all over again. So far this trip has been much easier.

This morning we woke up, ate breakfast and headed over to the Eastern Front Visitor Center at Petersburg National Battlefield. We arrived in a light drizzle before the visitor center had even opened for the day and so we took the time to check out the small, but interesting, Jordan Cemetery near the parking lot.

When the visitor center had opened for the day we went inside and watched the park film. After the film had ended, Sierra found a place to color

and so Noelle and I took turns checking out the exhibits. After a trip to the restrooms we were off to walk the nearby Dictator Trail.

We followed the trail through Confederate Battery 5,

down to some railroad tracks, and then over to the Dictator,

a mortar used by Union troops to shell the Confederates.

After returning to the parking lot, we embarked on a drive of the Eastern Front Battlefield. One of the more interesting stops was #3, the site of Confederate Battery 9 and examples of siege fortifications. The fortifications consisted of wooden stakes called fraise, trenches, and cheveaux-de-frise.

There was also a soldier's winter hut

and the sutler's store.

We then moved on to Fort Stedman

and the site of Fort Morton which featured the remains of Taylor Farm.

The highlight of the Eastern Front was a trip to the infamous Crater. We walked the trail there

past the tunnel entrance

and up to the edge of the location of the mine explosion on July 30, 1864.

After touring the Eastern Front we moved on to City Point and Grant's headquarters at the Appomattox Plantation.

We started by watching a film about City Point in the plantation home, toured the exhibits and then moved out into the wind and cold to tour the grounds. We walked the crepe myrtle allee

and checked out the headquarters building itself.

This is supposedly the only headquarters cabin in existence that dates to the war. It was moved back to the site from Philadelphia in 1981. I wonder if it had been to Philly after the war for the Centennial Exposition of 1876? We concluded our visit by heading into town for lunch before making the drive up I-95 and into Northern Virginia.

The Roanoke Star and Mill Mountain Park

Today we started our road trip up north to Pop Pop and Ta Ta's new house in New Jersey. To break things up a bit we stopped at Mill Mountain Park and the famous Roanoke Star. We got a little turned around in Downtown Roanoke before finding the road that led up to the park. Once there we checked out the star

and the view of Roanoke

from the viewing platform near the star.

We then had a chilly picnic lunch at the picnic area which just happened to be near the playground. Sierra had a chance to play for a bit

before we headed up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and then over to US-460 for our drive east to Petersburg.