I like heading south and being a Civil War buff you kind of have to. So once again I am heading south but the big difference this year is that this we be an exclusively minor league trip. I was visiting or re-visiting some Civil War and Revolutionary War sites and taking in some new and old breweries. I also had a travel companion. His son lives in Myrtle Beach and just became a father, so as long as a stop in Myrtle Beach was on the schedule he was interested in coming along. I think I picked just about the right time as it seemed like every team in the Carolinas I looked up was home during this stretch. Gotta love when a plan works out.
I thought I would have a problem before I went. My digital camera that has served me so well in Atlanta and on my NYC trip last year died in early May. I didn’t really want to spend the money on a new one and I had just finally purchased a smart phone so I wound up using that for the trip. I think it worked fairly well but I will need a car charger for the future. Not really something you all need to know but I’m just putting it out there.
The first day, the Tuesday following Memorial Day, was getting down to Richmond. I stopped at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields to do some touring and hit some of the out of the way parts of the battlefields that I have been meaning to visit. I’ll be visiting more around here when the P-Nats finally move here in 2020. It was hot, about 95 degrees and I hiked around 4 miles of trails, doing the Gordon Flank Attack Trail at the Wilderness and the trail back to the Landrum House at Spotsylvania.
Then it was down to Richmond. Stopped in at Legend Brewing, Champion, Triple Crossing, Three Notch’d and Hardywood Brewing before taking in the Squirrels game on a hot and humid evening. Battlefield pictures have been added to the Wilderness and Spotsylvania pages. For baseball recaps click this link.
Wednesday presented me with a bit of a quandary. I have been saying that I wanted to go onto the USS Wisconsin for awhile now but it just hasn’t worked out (still hasn’t). I also wanted to visit some Tidewater breweries and the price of my brother taking care of the cats while I am gone is a case of beer from Young Veterans in Virginia Beach. So the Wisconsin will have to wait. Visited a few more battlefields, or what is left of them, at Fair Oaks/Seven Pines (click here) and Big Bethel (click here or visit the Battlefields section and Civil War section) and went to Fortress Monroe as well.
There was more at Big Bethel than I thought there would be which was a nice surprise. It was the first land battle of the Civil War. I thought there would be a sign, maybe a small monument but there was more than that as well as a short walking trail. And by short, I mean short. Like maybe 50 yards since most of the actual battlefield is under a man-made lake. I did this while fighter jets were practicing overhead. They are loud.
Paid visits to Wasserhund Brewing, New Realm, Young Veterans, Reaver Beach, O’Connor, Coelecanth and Smartmouth before taking in the Tides game on another hot and humid night. To be clear on most of these I just got something to go, I didn’t drink. Not that it would have mattered, I would have sweated it out in about a minute anyway.
This might be my last trip down this way for awhile. The Orioles did away with the Birdland Passport so there is no more incentive for me to go this way. Maybe they’ll resurrect it next year but I’m not holding my breath. I scheduled this trip out before learning that the Passport program was ended which is why it was on this trip. And it looks like the Atlantic League franchise in Virginia Beach is dead in the water.
Also as a bonus I found that Sirius XM was on its free preview week so I didn’t need to constantly change stations or hook up the iPad to play music. This came in handy driving from city to city.
Started my Thursday trying to visit the remains of the Siege of Suffolk. There’s one website devoted to this little known Civil War event and it looked like there was a monument there commemorating it. I thought I knew where it was but I guess not. Probably drove right by it too. There are also the remains of some earthworks but apparently its in a housing development and a golf course so I figured they wouldn’t want me snooping around there. Not wanting to waste any more time before making my way into North Carolina I gave up. For the most part this was the only miss of the trip.
Headed into Raleigh visiting some cemeteries finding numerous Confederate individuals, famed basketball coach Jim Valvano and a few other Civil War surprises. I didn’t know that the remains of the Hunley crew were buried in Raleigh, I figured they would be in Charleston. Then I headed to Raleigh Brewing to enjoy a cold one on a hot day. It was over 100 degrees at that point so a cold beer would taste good. When I got there I found the governor of North Carolina Roy Cooper signing a bill with all of the pomp and circumstance that comes with that while thanking everyone and their cousins in front of TV cameras so I had to wait for that to conclude before imbibing.
After leaving Raleigh I headed to the small battlefield at Averasboro (pronounced like Averysboro). I was pleasantly surprised that there was more there than I anticipated once again. Then it was down to Fayetteville. Parked downtown, had dinner at Lake Gaston Brewing and a pregame beer at Bright Light Brewing before taking in a game at the new Segra Stadium on a 101 degree day. Even the locals were complaining about the temperature and I hear it can get hot in Fayetteville. We just missed a thunderstorm by maybe 5 miles or less so we lucked out. I wound up staying just south of town and that area was drenched when I got to the motel.
This looked like a light Friday but I got everything in that I wanted. Started my day revisiting the Bentonville Battlefield taking in some of the parts of it that I did not get in the last time there. Mostly entrenchments so nothing too exciting. Then it was the somewhat long drive to New Bern via Goldsboro and Kinston. It doesn’t look all that far on the map but it is a bit of hike. Drove down to their new Civil War park that preserved the earthworks from the 1862 battle there, one of the early Union victories and an early effort in combined arms action. Click here or visit the New Bern page to see them. After that I walked around town for a bit. Saw the pharmacy where Pepsi Cola was invented before having a beer at Brewery 99. Betcha didn’t know that Pepsi was invented in New Bern!
Then it was the drive to Kinston on the future I-42. The first stop was at the new CSS Neuse Museum downtown where the remains of a Confederate ironclad is housed. Neat place. It used to be outside but Mother Nature was taking its toll on it. Love it or hate it, there’s not much left in the way of Civil War ironclads so to have one as well preserved as this is a must see for me. Then I walked a few blocks to Mother Earth for a beer before heading up to Grainger Stadium to watch the Wood Ducks. The previous night the game was suspended so I got a bonus game in!
In the second game the skies began to darken and lightning was all around. My traveling companion turned into a real weenie and wanted to leave so we did. When he gets nervous he has to pee a lot so I didn’t feel like stopping 10 times on the way to Wilmington where we were staying for him to pee. Apparently it didn’t rain in Kinston since they got the whole game in but it poured as we got close to I-40 near Wallace. I mean poured, I am glad someone was in front of me because it was easier watching their tail lights than finding the markings on the road.
Not much to do on a Saturday in Myrtle Beach. Today was the reason I had a traveling companion as he just became a grandfather and wanted to see his granddaughter. So not much to do other than enjoy a nice day in South Carolina. It was a perfect morning on the beach, warm but not hot with low humidity. Got 3 hours of beach time before going out to lunch at Oscar’s. Then it was down to New South Brewing for several pregame beers (I wasn’t driving) before taking in the Pelicans game. After than made the drive to Camden.
Why stop at Camden on a Sunday? I wanted to visit the Hobkirk’s Hill Battlefield. I did not know it was there the last time I was there so I made the quick trip into town to see it. Also got a picture of the Confederate monument in town too.
After that it was on to Columbia. First stop was at Elmwood Memorial Gardens to see the graves of two Confederate generals and then it was on to Twisted Spur (which opened at 10 AM!) before visiting River Rat. A train was parked on the tracks about a half mile from the brewery, which is right by USC’s football stadium, so in this instance the smartphone came in handy as I was able to navigate my way around it. Got to see a lot more of Columbia than I anticipated. Then it was up to the newly renamed Segra Park, the home of the Columbia Fireflies for their game.
After leaving Columbia I made a stop at Musgrove Mill Battlefield near Clinton before driving to Asheville to spend a relaxing evening. Today was a hot one making it to 94 at gametime but at least the humidity was low.
Started my Monday going to the highest point on the Eastern Seaboard, Mt. Mitchell. When I went to the second highest at Clingman’s Dome in the Smokies I scored with a clear view. Today not so much. It was nice and sunny in Asheville in the morning and even for most of the drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway but as I neared the mountain the clouds became thicker. Since I was there I made the short trek to the top only to find it shrouded in clouds. Fortunately after a few moments the clouds blew over. It was not a clear, picture perfect view but it was better than nothing and the clouds moved back in a few minutes later. Now that did have one benefit as the two other groups of people at the top left and for 15 glorious minutes I was the highest thing east of the Rocky Mountains. All in 49 degree weather. Glad I brought a jacket along.
Then it was into Asheville to visit the umpteen breweries there. Yep, now I was under no illusions that I would visit them all. There’s too many. It’s insane there. I tried my best though since they all offer half pours. I stopped at New Belgium, Wedge, Asheville, Wicked Weed, Bhrarami (lunch there), Catawba, Twin Leaf, Burial and Eurisko. I would have also added Hi-Wire and Archetype had they been open. Eurisko is right down the hill from McCormick Field so I wound up just parking there and walking to the game. For pictures of McCormick Field click here. By this point my liver was saying no more and I did need to get over the mountains into Tennessee too.
Went over the mountains via I-40 but it was at night so there was not much of anything to see. The first stop of this Tuesday was in Greeneville at Andrew Johnson National Historic Site. Got there early before they opened so I walked around downtown for a bit and visited his grave in the nearby Andrew Johnson National Cemetery. There were a few interesting sites (at least for me) by the courthouse. I didn’t know that Confederate raider John H. Morgan was murdered in town. Greeneville also had another interesting monument, a monument to the Union soldiers from the county. Guess that monument will be spared by the angry mob, if they bother to read it.
Then it was the short drive to Davy Crockett’s Birthplace. Contrary to the popular song of yore he was not born on a mountaintop. The site had a recreation of his parent’s homestead on the Nolichucky River which was neat to see but it was too early in the day for anything to be open there, though there were plenty of chickens there. There is also a large campground right by there too which seemed to be much more popular. If only I had a camper.
Finally in Tennessee it was a short drive to Johnson City for a brew at Yee-Haw before heading back into North Carolina. After that I had two options for today. The first was to go to see the Revs play at High Point. The other was to go see the Pirates’ newest affiliate in Greensboro. Which ever one I skipped I could do the following day as they both played early games. What made the call? Breweries! Greensboro had several open during the day wheras High Point had only one. Made stops at Natty Greene’s, Little Brother, Preyer and Joymongers before taking in the game at the newly renamed First National Bank Field. Don’t confuse this one with the stadium in Harrisburg.
My Wednesday started in High Point with the Atlantic League’s newest team playing a morning game against my York Revolution in their brand new BB&T Point Park. Made the short drive from Greensboro into High Point and found a nice spot to park just outside of the stadium on the street. I was there early since I read online that the parking situation was a problem and it could be but not for a 10:30 AM game. I was surprised to see some other Revolution fans in the park and one of the players had his family there so there at least were some cheers for my local 9.
Since the game was over by 1:30 I needed something to do for the evening. Greensboro also played a day game and Winston-Salem was on the road but Durham was home. So over to Durham I went. Now at first the weather forecast for this evening was not good. 80% chance of thunderstorms bad. Once again I dodged the weather. I am going to pay for this good luck at some point soon I bet.
First on arrival in Durham I stopped at Clouds Brewing for a brew and late lunch before stopping in at Ponysaurus, Full Steam and Durty Bull. Then finally to the game, where there is another brewery in the park, Bull Durham. Also saw the old Durham Bulls Athletic Park made famous in the Bull Durham movie.
Not really a lot of stuff to do on this Thursday and I did debate coming home today, or at least starting home, but I saw that the Myrtle Beach Pelicans played in Winston-Salem and since they are my traveling companion’s favorite affiliated minor league team we stayed one more day. Started the day at Bennett Place since it was right around the corner from our motel. I had been there before but it was not only closed but it was also raining so today was much better. Then it was a stop at Alamance, considered by some (North Carolinians) to be the first battle of the Revolution. I was pleasantly surprised with what was here. That sentiment seems to be a theme.
After that it was a brief stop at Red Oak Brewing to pick up some wares. Their location is right off of I-85 and I blew by it when I was down in 2017 so this time I resolved to stop in. Could only buy beer to go but oh well. Their hours said they were open but the actual taproom didn’t open until 4. Made the short drive to Winston-Salem then and with time to kill stopped in at Guilford Court House to tour the battlefield, or more accurately watch the films at the visitor’s center in air conditioned comfort. I did drive the tour road but only got out at one point since I had pictures from here the last time I was down this way.
Lunch was at Foothills Brewing in Winston-Salem and I also stopped at Wise Man, Fiddlin’ Fish and Incendiary before heading down to BB&T Park to take in the game. A bit hard to find Incendiary but I did after circling the block twice.
After the game it was time to head north. Made it to Salem, Virginia before calling it quits for the night. Could have probably made it to Staunton if I had really wanted to.
And last, a day of Civil War battlefield visiting. The first stop was McDowell, one of the battles of the Valley Campaign of 1862 (click here to visit that page). This is a battlefield that is way out of the way. Had to go over 2 mountains and some of a third before I found it and then it was a long and steep hike to the top. I’ll put it this way, I am glad I stopped but this one was a lot of work to get to and very little payoff so I probably will never be back. According to Google Earth I started at about 2,300 feet in elevation and reached around 3,000 on the climb. I was huffing and puffing by the time I got to the top and I can tell you I have much respect for the Confederate soldiers who climbed the same mountain path (and the Union soldiers who came up the other side).
Then it was on to Port Republic, the final battle in the Valley Campaign. After making a wrong turn based of of poor directions (my fault) I found the Coaling where the battle was fought. I tried to find Cross Keys nearby but suspect that I drove right by it (and on further review I did) before heading into Harrisonburg. Had a brew at Pale Fire before making the drive home. Made it home in about 4 hours including a stop for dinner in Chambersburg.
The cats were quite happy to see me when I walked in the door.
