Memorial Day Weekend 2008

Lisa and I are spending the Memorial Day weekend in Virginia this year. So far we have visited three national parks, traveled about 400 miles covering three different states and saw Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. It has been a mixed bag of delights and disappointments.

First we went to Gettysburg National Park. It's one of the places Lisa has always wanted to visit. It's only a two hour trip from Stafford to Gettysburg so we got up early and headed north. It was a nice cool day with light traffic so we were in high spirits. I have already been to Gettysburg once several years ago and was looking forward to seeing it again since I really liked it the first time. For some reason the minute we got there my mood sunk immediately. They have a new visitors center and grounds and the place was packed. The first thing I noticed was how it looked like the new Jamestown visitor center. I knew right away that the government was attempting to impose uniformity in National Park visitor centers. Don't get me wrong, it was a very nice building designed to handle the large number of tourists that were there. It's good for National Parks so many people visit that parks have to expand to meet the demands for space. The old building was centrally located next to General Meade's headquarters and across the street from the cemetery where Lincoln gave his address. You could basically park and walk a huge portion without the need for a shuttle bus or driving from one crowded parking lot to the next. All in all it wasn't a very fun experience. Lisa was a little disappointed too, and worst of all their passport stamp was broken and we couldn't stamp our books. Granted we should have expected large crowds on Memorial Day weekend but that wasn't even my issue. It just didn't have the uniqueness it once had.

The next day started off much better. We rode up to Baltimore and Fort McHenry. As with most National Parks there was a movie (which unlike a lot of parks these days was still free). The film was reminiscent of a Simpson's spoof. Some guy in a powder wig turns to the camera, feigns being startled and says, "Oh, I didn't see you there!" Cheesy, I know but the film had a lot of neat facts and a little old time political incorrectness. Dr Beane (a friend of FSK) smoked a pipe and had a little snort while he gave us our history lesson. The best part was at the end when Dr Beane explained the writing of the National Anthem and as the music started playing the curtain along the entire side of the wall pulled back for a panoramic view of the fort and the American flag flying above it. It was pretty stirring to think that that was a very similar view of what Francis Scott Key saw when writing it in 1814. We also went to Hampton National Historic Site, an old mansion that has supposedly been pretty well maintained since the late 1700's. I learned a few interesting things but something I realized long ago is that I always forget the stuff I learn the next day.

After a good start the day ended in tragedy. We went to see Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. All I can say is that I can't believe the same people from the first three movies were involved with this one. My inner child felt violated and I believe Steven Spielberg has been hanging out with Michael Bay too much.