THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 6, 1996 TAG: 9610040061
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: TRAVEL-WISE
SOURCE: STEPHEN HARRIMAN
LENGTH: 164 lines
IT WAS our first real war, and we won it - right here in Virginia, finally - and more than two centuries later we are still going to celebrate it and celebrate it and celebrate all we want.
The Revolutionary War ended, for all practical purposes, when British and Hessian forces under the command of Gen. Charles Cornwallis surrendered to an American-French force under Gen. George Washington on Oct. 19, 1781, at Yorktown.
What was accomplished there by Washington has long fascinated historians, among them the late Douglas Southall Freeman, who wrote a massive biography of Washington.
Freeman called Washington's concentration of troops against Cornwallis at the tip of the Virginia Peninsula the ``best 18th-century achievement of logistics'' and ``one of the most efficient concentrations of modern war.'' He went on to say that ``The Revolution produced nothing more remarkable.''
The 215th anniversary of the end of the siege will be celebrated Oct. 19 and 20 in and around the Town of York, a village perched on a low bluff overlooking the York River that is not much different today than it was then - except for paved roads and telephone poles. The 250 people who live here live in a time warp.
Festivities begin at 9 a.m. Oct. 19 with a commemorative ceremony honoring the French participants in the battle, followed by a 10 a.m. ceremony at historic Grace Episcopal Church honoring Yorktown favorite son Thomas Nelson Jr.
At the time of the battle, this signer of the Declaration of Independence was both governor of Virginia and commanding general of all the state's militia troops. He ordered the shelling of his own home when British officers tried to occupy it as a headquarters. Actually, a recent lightning strike did more damage to the Nelson House than did the Virginia artillery, although there is a cannonball still lodged in one wall.
After a 10:30 parade through Main Street, there will be a performance by the Third Infantry (Old Guard) Fife and Drum Corps on the Yorktown Battlefield, and tactical demonstrations at Yorktown Victory Center by reenactors representing Continental and Crown forces.
There are two principal sites for activities:
Yorktown Battlefield Visitor Center, headquarters of Colonial National Historical Park. The Visitor Center is at the eastern terminus of the Colonial Parkway and Old Route 238 on the east side of Yorktown. The park is administered by the National Park Service. Events here are free and open to the public. Info: 898-3400.
Yorktown Victory Center, a state agency administered by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. The Yorktown Victory Center is on Old Route 238 on the west side of the village. Admission is $6.75 for adults, $3.25 for children (6-12). For this weekend celebration, visitors who purchase an admission ticket for Oct. 19 will receive free admission on Oct. 20. Info: 887-1776.
On Oct. 19 the Yorktown Women's Club will be serving a Brunswick stew lunch at Grace Church. DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES
Resorts at Massanutten (540-289-9441) east of Harrisonburg and Wintergreen (804-325-8180) south of Waynesboro are operating their ski lifts for a foliage overviews during October.
Massanutten's lift is running Wednesdays and Sundays this month, plus Oct. 12 during the Autumn Peak Festival. Lift rides are $4 for adults, $2 for children under 12. Lift rides are free on Autumn Peak day, but admission is $5 per car.
Confederate forces used Massanutten Peak, at the south end of the mountain ridge that splits the Shenandoah Valley, as a lookout post during Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign, particularly before the Battles of Cross Keys and Port Republic.
You can hike up Massanutten Peak - you certainly can if I can - but I recommend the lift. On a clear day you can see about half as far as the Rebs could because they just don't make clear days like they used to. Or rather, 19th-century folks didn't make air pollution like we do. It's still a spectacular vista.
Wintergreen's lifts, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, are operating from 10-4 Saturdays and Sundays. Cost is $5. Wintergreen's Fall Foliage Weekend, Oct. 18-20, includes guided field trips for foliage and birding. CAROLINA HAPPENINGS
The 26th annual Indian Summer Days craft auction, show and sale will be held at 7:30 Tuesday and 10-9 Friday and 10-5 Saturday at Ahoskie National Guard Armory. No admission charge. Info: (919) 332-2042.
The fifth annual Scuppernong River Festival will be held Saturday at Columbia, east of Edenton and west of Manteo on U.S. 64. No admission charge. Info: (919) 796-1581. PLAN NOW AND ENJOY
The Thanksgiving holiday is nearly two months away, but if you're planning to fly somewhere then, NOW is the time to make reservations . . . if you haven't already. The span between late Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the following Sunday evening is the busiest travel time of the year for American commercial airlines.
The 59th running of the International Golf Cup steeplechase races (and tailgate party extravaganza involving about 35,000 people) will be Oct. 19 at Great Meadow near The Plains, Va., which is north of Warrenton in Northern Virginia.
For the horsey set, this is a very big deal. For party-goers, it ain't bad either. Gates open at 10 a.m. The first of seven races starts at 1:30.
Reserve tickets may be purchased in advance by calling (540) 347-1215. General admission for one car and up to six people is $40 in advance, $50 at the gate. ADVENTURE IN STORE
For hikers, mountain bikers, campers and other outdoor types, Seattle has a new tourist attraction: a new headquarters for REI, Recreational Equipment Inc., complete with 30-foot waterfall, seven-story climbing pinnacle, landscaped bike trail and 99,000 square feet of space. The store's mountain-lodge design is packed with features such as a 250-seat auditorium with big-screen TVs, Internet hookups for gathering information, a ``rain room'' for testing rain gear and a ``dark room,'' for trying bike lights and headlamps. BED & BLUDGEONING
In the ``No wonder people read the National Enquirer'' school of travel, we offer the case of the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast-Museum in Fall River, Mass. Lizzie, who was acquitted of giving her parents 40 whacks with a sharp instrument, lived in the home in the early 1890s when the double homicide of her parents took place.
Andrew Borden was killed in the sitting room; visitors can sleep in the bedroom where his wife, Abby, was killed. That room is the most requested room for overnight stays. FOREIGN FAVORITES
The favorite city to visit outside the United States, according to respondents in the third annual Cyberspace Travel Poll on CompuServe:
1. London
2. Paris
3. Vancouver
4. Toronto
5. Rome
6. Sydney
7. Hong Kong
8. Munich
9. Prague
10. (tie) Amsterdam/Bangkok HERE'S A TIP
Inter-Continental's top concierges have pooled their travel tips in a free booklet called ``Concierge Confidential,'' which has some dining, shopping and sight-seeing hints for major international cities where the chain has hotels. Here are a half-dozen:
When in Rome, rent a bike at the Spanish Steps and pedal through Borghese Park.
Turn a bad hair day into a good one at Berlin's Friseur Museum, where the featured attraction is the history of hair.
Gaze fondly at samovars, military regalia or Imperial jewels at the Izmailovo flea market in Moscow. And get there by Europe's grandest subway system.
Go really down under on the Egouts de Paris tour, which traces the history of the Paris sewer system.
Go back to the salt mines, literally. Take a privately guided day trip while in Warsaw to the Wieliczka Salt Mine, the world's oldest and still in operation.
Enjoy New York's most expensive and well-known restaurants at lunch when many offer an affordable prix-fixe menu.
For a free copy call (800) 615-6085. MEMO: Travel-wise is compiled from wire-service reports, news releases,
trade journals, books, magazines and the deepest recesses of the
writer's mind. Send comments and questions to Travel-wise, The
Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va. 23501-0449; phone (757) 446-2904. by CNB