Sandy spent her morning reorganizing storage in the camper and vacuuming out the sand that accumulates regardless of how careful we are. Bill researched some hitch mounted platform style bike racks. Yeah, it was the plan to keep the ebikes inside the gear garage and went through a couple of iterations of how to do that. But in the end we find that it’s too awkward to get them in and out of the garage to be spontaneous about using them. So, a rack it will be. Now to find one that meets all our design requirements.
An issue we and others deal with is that the struts that hold our windows open fail to release properly when we want to close them. Bill removed one of the offending ones to see if it could be fixed. No success fixing it but he found that application of some WD40 seems to make it release a bit more reliably. So all 11 struts got the WD40 treatment.
We the left Jordan Lake and drove to Rock Mount, NC, and out Harvest Host for the night at Rocky Mount Mills. We knew that the facility housed multiple micro breweries and some restaurants but had no idea it would be this massive.
Founded in 1818, it was the second cotton mill in North Carolina and grew to become one of the biggest industrial complexes in the state. It was powered by water from a large dam on the Tar River which also powered a gristmill. Enslaved workers operated the mill until hired workers replaced them in 1852. White workers were housed in small white mill houses arranged as a small village during that time. The mill was burned by Union soldiers during the civil war.
Rebuilt of brick on the old foundations after the war, the mill turned out 500 pounds of yarn and 1,200 yards of fabric a day. Expanding and prospering, the mill finally closed in June of 1996 when low cost foreign competition reduced demand for domestic production.
Capitol Broadcasting Company (CBC) purchased the site in 2007, including mill buildings and other industrial structures (300,000 square feet), thirty mill houses, the seven-acre island in the Tar River that had once served as a recreation area, and 30 vacant lots in the mill village – a total of 60 acres. Officially reopening on its bicentennial in 2018, they have repurposed it as a home to businesses, residential living, restaurants and, yes, breweries!
There are already several independent breweries on site and The Brewmill operates as a start-up and growth accelerator for new brewers. They have extensive brewing and packaging available for new brewers to use to help develop their businesses.
We walked much of the complex and happened on a barber shop where Bill got a much needed haircut. Later, we sampled a couple of brew houses and ended up eating at the second place, Tap 1918. The food was very good and it was a perfect evening on their porch.
Sept 2, 2023 – Rocky Mount to Wilson, WV
We had breakfast at Books and Beans in the Rocky Mount Mills complex. Then drove around the mill housing village. These houses share a common style but come in several sizes. CBC purchased all that they could when they acquired the Mill property, restored them, maintain them and rent them long or short term. In addition, they have constructed a number of new homes that conform to the old style. You can tell them apart because the old ones all have brick chimneys. All told, they make for a very attractive community.
We got waylaid on our way out of town when we saw an open farmer’s market and just couldn’t resist. “Farmer’s Market” is a new, purpose-built, two hall facility with open sides that allow sellers to back their trucks directly up to the backs of their stands. We purchased some “must have” items like yellow grits, tiny eggplants, self rising yellow cornmeal and tomatoes. Where we’ll store them is another question.
We then headed to Wilson, NC, about 20 miles south to Kamper’s Lodge Campground where we’ll stay for several nights. We’d reserved the last available space, a full hookup, drive through site. After registering and walking the grounds we headed out to explore Wilson.
Everyone insisted that our first stop had to be the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park in the center of town. A retired machinist, Simpson turned his retirement energy into “making something out of nothing” by turning found junk into mostly wind-powered kinetic art called whirligigs that he installed on his own property. Reminiscent of kinetic folk art roof-top wind vanes, many of Simpson’s works are on a huge scale. By the time he was in his early 90s he declared himself too old to climb and maintain the ‘gigs which required periodic lubrication to keep moving freely. Happily, the Wilson Downtown Development Corporation took the initiative to dedicate the park and museum photographed below. The National Endowment for the Arts helped out with two grants, one to design the park and another to support the repair and the conservation of the rusting whirligigs.
Adjoining the park, Bill found Casita Brewing Company who delivered on an excellent orangey IPA. Nearby were several art galleries including Iconostr Art, Elizabeth Laul Healey’s answer to “What would my alter ego look like if it could come to life?” The artwork is characterized by a repeating “Circles of Life” motif that represent loved ones, animals, and our precious Mother Earth. She was a cool, funny gal who clearly loved what she does.
Next stop was the Wilson Botanical Garden, another free exhibit that featured a wide variety of botanicals. It appears that tending the gardens has suffered lately but there was still lots of neat stuff to see.
Sept 3, 2023 – Wilson, NC
This would be a big day in Kamper’s Lodge Campground. The campground planned to treat their guests to hot dogs and hamburgers for lunch and a pig roast for dinner. Guests would be welcome to bring a covered dish but that was optional.
A crew of people staying at the campground were up early preparing the pig and had it in the roaster by 7:00 am. They fired the roaster using coals taken from under the bottom of a barrel burning oak wood. The roaster was running about 225° and they expected the pig to be ready by 5:00 pm.
We decided on a walk at nearby Lake Wilson Park. The two mile loop took us around a really nice lake. It was uncomfortably hot and sunny but, thankfully, the trail was more than half shaded. There were lots of egrets, great blue herons and Canadian geese on and about the water. And there was a nicely landscaped disk golf course that wrapped nearly half way around the lake.
Returning to the campground at noon, the party was already underway. A crew was just finishing installation of a huge, inflatable water slide. Campers had set up a number of portable canopies and tables and people were starting to eat burgers and dogs. We grabbed our chairs and joined the group in the shade and ate our fair share for lunch. Afterwards we hit the pool for a refreshing dip. Sandy hung in the water talking to a couple of sisters we’d met the day before while Bill dried off and sat in the shade to read.
By 5:00 the pig roasters had begun pulling pork. By this time the water slide was finally getting busy with quite a few of the younger set joining in. We contributed cut up cantaloupe to the feast and joined the group working to consume the pig. Delicious!
The day ended with some ground fireworks set off by the campground host.
Sept 4, 2023 – Wilson to Fort Monroe, VA
Today would be our turnaround day. We said our goodbyes to the folks at Kamper’s Lodge and began slowly to wander back north. We were headed for Fort Monroe in Hampton, VA, at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.
This is flat country without much freeze-thaw action so even the “blue” roads were mostly flat with only long gradual curves; a far cry from western West Virginia.
Along the way we drove around Tarboro, NC. It’s a pretty town with many large, old homes. At the head of navigation of the Tar river, it was an important river port since 1730.
Across the Tar River is Princeville. Incorporated in 1885, Princeville is the first independently governed African American community chartered in the United States. It came to be when former slaves took refuge at a temporary Union encampment in the area. They developed their own settlement at the site and chose the town’s original name to be Freedom Hill in recognition of a small raised area where a Union soldier first announced the Emancipation Proclamation.
Nearly all the area we drove through is farmland. We saw the usual crops of corn and soybeans but there were a couple of crops we don’t see much in Lancaster County. One is the varieties of tobacco grown here. The plants are much smaller. Presumably, this tobacco is destined to become mostly cigarettes rather than cigar wrappers. The second crop was cotton, thousands of acres of cotton. Cotton was the mainstay of the economy here since colonial days and, though its importance has probably diminished, it is still a big deal.
Working our way past Norfolk and Portsmouth, we had to stop and turn off our propane tanks before entering the tunnel under the harbor. Then, passing the shipyards of Newport News, we finally crossed the short bridge across Mill Creek to arrive at Fort Monroe National Monument.
Newly designated park status, Fort Monroe guarded the navigation channel between the Chesapeake Bay and Hampton Roads harbor. There’s a lot of history here including, in 1619, the first instance of slaves being brought to a British colony in this country. Later, it became known as “Freedom’s Fortress” after Union forces decided that, since slaves were considered property by the south, they could be treated sort of like spoils of war and would not have to be returned to their owners.
Monroe is at least the forth fort at the site. Construction began in earnest on the stone-and-brick fort in 1822 and continued for nearly 25 years. The fort is surrounded by a moat that covers 63 acres. The fort’s walls were up to ten feet thick and the moat was eight feet deep. The design provided for up to 380 guns and would house 600 troops in peacetime and up to 2,625 troops in wartime. A string of gun batteries were constructed along the Chesapeake side of the beaches north of the fort. The facility was decommissioned as a fort but still houses many folks in houses/apartments within its walls.
We’d reserved a campsite in The Colonies RV Travel Park for several nights. The sites are named for the thirteen original colonies and we were assigned South Carolina. That pleased us because we were parked under the shade of a trio of live oak trees.
The temperatures were in the mid 90s so we drove to town for some groceries, came back to the site and turned on the AC. Although we spent time outside, we frequently found excuses for things to do inside the camper. This was the first night we slept with the AC on.
Sept 5, 2023 – Fort Monroe, VA
Our day started with a bike ride around Fort Monroe. We had a nice breeze but the predictions were for a very hot day. The fort is wide open to visitors. Each of the four original drawbridges have been converted to bridges but the tunnels through the walls a still narrow. So traffic lights are set up to control alternating traffic through the openings.
We spent time at most of the walking tour stops. The fifteen inch Lincoln gun, put in place near the end of the Civil War, fired 300 pound balls. The Algernourne Oak, a beautiful live oak, is estimated to be 500 years old. House Number One housed many notables including Abraham Lincoln. The Casemates Museum (Those are the rooms within the fort’s walls.) was closed so we’ll visit it tomorrow.
On our way back to the campground we rode the “boardwalk” along the beach. It’s actually cement and blacktop but it runs the entire Chesapeake side of the peninsula that the fort occupies. The beach is really nice and there aren’t many people, partly because there really isn’t much parking.
The heat kept us in the AC as much as possible but we did risk a stop in the campground’s facilities for showers. Then we made a run into town for a replacement water bottle cage for Bill’s bike and groceries from Food Lion.
People we met in Wilson had recommended the Deadrise as a good restaurant so stopped in for a drink. Looked like a good place but we really weren’t very hungry. Tomorrow, maybe?
20230905 Sunset Over Mill Creek
Sept 6, 2023 – Fort Monroe, VA
Firehouse Coffee is the site of the U.S. Army’s first ever fire department. Today, the building has become a popular area coffee and breakfast stop. We rode our bikes in to get our own second round of coffee and have something to eat. The place is pretty cool with lots of firehouse memorabilia to admire.
Next stop was the Visitor Center, just outside the fort’s moat. Visitors who want to visit the Casemate Museum have to stop there first to get tickets for their free admission. Interestingly, the Visitor Center is not much about Fort Monroe. Rather, it deals almost entirely with the site’s role in the beginnings of slavery in this country and the paradox of its role in the beginning of the end of slavery here. The presentation of the stories are first rate; well worth the time we spent there.
Then, of course, we headed for the Casemate Museum. A casemate is a place within the structure of a fort’s wall from which guns can be fires. In this case, the sections of the fort’s walls that face in directions from which enemy ships would fire were built with casemates. Fittingly, the museum about the casemates is housed within them. They are huge and massively built. Cut stone masonry form the six to eight foot thick vertical supports. More than ten million bricks form the arches and vaulted ceilings between the walls. It is hard to imagine the noise and shock gunners would experience while these guns were being fired!
Some of the casemates were converted for other uses. Early, one was taken as a barroom for officers. Later, many were used as officers quarters. One was specially converted to be a prison cell where Jefferson Davis was kept after the Civil War. Unfortunately, photography is not permitted inside the museum so you’ll have to make due with photos posted online by others.
The Oozlefinch is an imaginary creature dating back to 1905 that became the mascot of the Fort Monroe Officer’s Club. Today, a craft brewery just outside the fort has taken the name “drawing inspiration from its legendary status, the celebration of good times with friends and the traditions of Fort Monroe. We stopped at the place and Bill enjoyed one of their drafts.
That afternoon we spent time planning the rest of our trip and making a couple of reservations. Finally we made good on the notion of dinner at the Deadrise. Good food and plenty of it!