No Labor on Labor Day!

Tom and I flew out to Virginia for the Labor Day weekend. We arrived on Thursday night, so on Friday, we did a little Richmond history tour. 

In downtown Richmond, right along the James river, is the Tredegar Iron Works

where most of the Civil War artillery was made. We had been by the Iron Works and the Civil War Center that is next door many times, but we decided it was time to check it out.

 

The Tredegar Iron Works was a historic iron works in Richmond.  It opened in 1837, by 1860 it was the third-largest iron manufacturer in the United States.

 

 Our tour guides, Eva and Sophie

  

  

This is a replica of the bridge that the Confederate troops used to evacuate Richmond at the end of the war.  Sadly, they set fire to everything so that the Union would have to rebuild.

  

Sarah took us to lunch at this yummy pizza place in downtown Richmond.

  

Tom and Devin went golfing in the afternoon, so Sarah was so nice to drive me out to Mechanicsville so I could tour the battlefield there.The battle of Cold Harbor occurred there at the end of the war.

We walked the battlefield trail. It was a perfect day.

 

Some of the trenches that were dug by the Union soldiers back in 1864.

 

Sarah got a babysitter on Friday night and while Devin and Tom were golfing, she and I went out to dinner at Eurasia Cafe.

This was the Caprese salad with fried green tomato and bacon.

YUM!

Whenever we are in the south we have to eat at Waffle House!

Pregame breakfast on Saturday morning.

Eva's birthday was on August 27, but we got to help her celebrate with a delicious chocolate toffee birthday cake.

 

We then drove out to Charlottesville for the 

BYU vs. Virginia football game.

It is so fun attending a game in the south.

They know how to tailgate but it was really hot and humid.

See the dark clouds coming in? Well, there was a storm brewing, so after the 1st quarter we were evacuated from the football stadium.

We took shelter in one of the buildings on campus and boy did it rain and blow.

After a two hour delay we were finally able to resume the game.

After the rain

Unfortunately, the rain delay didn't help the Cougars out with a win.

 

Notice all the blue in the crowd? There were over 12,000 BYU fans in attendance. 

 

On Sunday, we got up and drove to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Ever heard of Kitty Hawk, NC where the Wright Brother's flew the first airplane? Well, it is part of the outer banks.

We toured the National Parks visitor center.

The Wright brothers chose the outer banks because of the 

wind and sand for soft landings.

This is a replica of the first plane (the real one is in the Smithsonian)

Markers showing the distance of the first, second, and third trial flights.

 The community of Kitty Hawk was a great support and
help to the Wright Brothers.
Here they are cheering them on.

 Push Tom

 We then drove to the beach house that Sarah rented for us in Duck, NC

What a beach!

 Oops, there goes Eva

On the roof of our beach house. What a view.

Of course there are light houses on the outer banks

Maple Bacon donut from Duck donuts.  Need I say more?

The perfect picnic spot!!

We had beautiful weather

Then it was time to say goodbye, so Sarah, Devin and family drove to Richmond,

and Tom and I drove to Pinehurst 

so we could spend a few days with the Cardon family.

We went to lunch the next day at Panera

 

There's not much Civil War history in Pinehurst, but Sara found some for us.

We toured the Shaw house (one of Pinehurst's first homes)

We loved going to Rita's, another east coast treat!

Need I say more?? Zach got his Halloween costume in the mail from Grandma Cardon

Sara and I did a little crafting. We painted Zach's dresser. Sara just needs to buy some black knobs.

We also made these cute super hero masks. The kids LOVED them.

We had a yummy dinner at Bonefish Grill the night before I flew home.

We can't wait until our next visit!