After leaving the Washington, D.C. area, we headed to new-to-us areas of Virginia and North Carolina. With a short one-night stop in Williamsburg, we made our way to North Carolina for a week. Along the way, we visited a very disappointing museum and met up with dear friends in the elusive “East” Carolina area.
Williamsburg, Virginia
It was only about a three-hour drive from our campground in the Haymarket/Manassas, Virginia area down to Williamsburg, in the southeast corner of the state. The Thousand Trails park isn’t quite all the way out to Yorktown, but it’s an easy trip over. This is definitely an area we’d love to return to and spend more than just a single night.
We loved the fall scenery at the Thousand Trails in Williamsburg, Virginia. This is a “green dot” property, a full Thousand Trails location. The facilities were well-kept. The roads were tight in and out, but since we were only staying one night, they made sure to give us an easy pull-thru site near the office. This location is a great launching point for several Colonial-era historic attractions in the region.The American Revolutionary Museum at Yorktown was one of our biggest disappointments across the country so far. Each exhibit was packed with small-font reading and jumped from topic to topic and period to period within just a few feet. The narrative also felt heavily set in the past, as if more than 200 years of progress hadn’t occurred—justifying slavery as beneficial, for example.
Chocowinity, North Carolina
We spent a week enjoying the fall beauty of Chocowinity, North Carolina, just outside of Greenville. We met up with some longtime friends, one of whom recently retired from East Carolina University. We had some great seafood in Washington, North Carolina, located across the bay from the campground. Navigating the area was a bit challenging due to the many little bays jutting in from the ocean.
We had some electrical issues upon arriving at the Twin Lakes Encore in Chocowinity, North Carolina. Since we arrived “after hours” (apparently, we were the only ones arriving on Sunday, so the office was closed), they did have an on-call maintenance person to assist us. Unfortunately, after about an hour of troubleshooting—first trying to prove our motorhome was the issue—he was unable to repair the electrical pedestal, so we had to move to a different site. So far, our power management system has never been wrong and has saved us every time.The Washington Crab Shack in Washington, North Carolina, was a repeat stop for us to enjoy excellent seafood at great prices and in generous portions. Unfortunately, like much of the Southeast’s seafood, it was breaded and deep-fried. However, it was lightly coated and very tasty, without the greasy texture you sometimes get.
Advance, North Carolina
As we made our way from the ocean to Windrock Park in Oliver Springs, Tennessee, we made it a point to stop at Thousand Trails Forest Lake, just outside of Advance, North Carolina—home territory of Cheerwine! We thought we were arriving early in the day, but there was only one spot left that we were supposed to fit into. As it turned out, the slope made it impossible for us to park there. Fortunately, they found another spot for us, and it was an easy pull-in. We spent two nights here so we could tackle the local Jeep Badge of Honor trail.
With Cheerwine on tap, Hendrix Barbecue in Salisbury, North Carolina, was an excellent Saturday afternoon lunch stop on our way to the Jeep Badge of Honor Trail in the area. This place has earned the coveted “must-return” marker on our map!Unfortunately, much of the Uwharrie National Forest’s Dickey Bell Jeep Badge of Honor Trail (North Carolina) was closed, likely due to damage from Hurricane Helene further west. We made the best of it, and since we had checked in at the trailhead, we still earned the badge for the day. This trail is fairly remote—about 90 minutes from the Thousand Trails in Forest Lake to the national forest.From this photo, it’s hard to grasp the sheer size of the penguin—until you look to the left and see the house in the yard where it’s standing. As we flew by the first time, there was a huge “penguin squeal” from the passenger seat, so of course, we had to stop on the way back for a photo op! Later, when we passed an “inflatables” manufacturing business, we realized this might have been one of their creations.
