This is a place where we can post information about the places we have traveled to and the experiences we have there. We wanted to use this for our own reference when visiting, and it may be of help to others as they make plans to visit these places. We have a goal to visit all the Virginia State Parks and enjoy the life God has given us. We will also be posting Day Trips here, because sometimes we will just need to get away for a day!!
We visited the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge to take the Blue Goose Wildlife Tram Tour. The tram is an open-air bus, seating up to 27 passengers. Tram tours begin at the wildlife refuge parking lot and start with a ride through the wildlife refuge to reach False Cape State Park. After a brief visit at the park's Visitor Center the tram continues deep into the state park, all the way to the site of the historic Wash Woods community. A one-mile, round-trip (optional) hike brings participants to the cemetery and church steeple, all that is left of this community. After returning to the tram, passengers are transported back through the park and the wildlife refuge to the starting point. Throughout the trip the tram driver provides information about the history, wildlife and management of both natural areas.
Our guide for the tour made the time just fly by. He could hear birds over the noise of the tram and the driver could spot birds with his naked eye that we would have to use binoculars to see.
Here is a list of the animals that I can remember seeing on the tour.
Turtles
Water moccasin or cottonmouth
1 in the canal
3 on land
Black racer
Bald Eagle
Vulture
Great Heron
Blue Heron
Ducks
All kinds of other birds
Just some shots of the refuge.
Stopped and picked up this fella so we could see it up close.
On the way back, we stopped at Sandbridge Beach. We parked at one of the public parking lots and you pay with your phone. NOTE: if you don't pay you will get a ticket. When we came back to the lot 2 hours later, the parking police was issuing tickets.
This beach, compared to others, was fairly deserted.
Beautiful weather and clean beach.
We ran into this fella on the way back.
For supper, we ate at Buoy 44 on the recommendation of a park employee. We both had the salmon and broccoli. I had mashed potato and Amy had tossed salad. I also ordered a side of bacon wrapped scallops and let me just say, they were delicious.
Part of my morning routine, whether camping or not, is to write in my journal. When we take trips, I have special journal that I write in. I purchase stickers for visual aids and just write what we did for the day.
For breakfast this morning, we had Protein Waffles, sausage links and strawberries.
Protein Waffles
Ingredients (per person)
1 egg
1 heaping spoonful of creamy peanut butter
Directions
Stir egg and peanut butter in a bowl until it forms a creamy smooth batter
After a 2 hour drive, we arrived at York River State Park.
We stopped at the Park office and talked to the staff about what trails to take. They had no large groups that day and they suggested we take the trail to Fossil Beach. Before we left, we ate our lunch which consisted of a Chicken sandwich and chips.
Our standard selfie!
We started on the Woodstock Pond Trail and here is a picture of the "Foot Bridge".
A shot of the River across the Marsh
Here is a view of Fossil Beach.
Hey, look up here!
Get down from there before you hurt yourself.
She looks so intently at the water.
Bird watching.
Man made bird!
We left Fossil Beach and walked the Mattaponi Trail, then the Backbone Trail, then the Meh-Te-Kos Bridle Trail. From there we caught the Backbone Trail back to the parking lot. In total, we walked about 3 miles and it was a beautiful day for it.
Here are some pictures of us on the Trail.
For supper we heated up some left over pizza and cooked some sweet potato fries in the air fryer along with a tossed salad.
Our last camp fire for the week, we were expecting rain the rest of the week.
Out camp site at night.
Had to have one more s'more.
York River Information
The park is open from 8 a.m. to dusk.
The park visitor center, office, and gift shop are open Monday - Friday, 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. The office may close due to staffing issues or during scheduled trainings.
York River is a day-use park with no overnight accommodations.
Hiking, bicycle and bridle trails. More than 40 miles of hiking, biking and equestrian trails provide access to the park’s beautiful and diverse natural areas. The park has ten multi-use use trails. There are five trails for mountain-bike use only, making up about half of the total mileage of our trails. Hikers enjoy challenging elevation changes and dramatic views along the Taskinas Creek Trail and discover the prehistoric past at Fossil Beach on the Mattaponi Trail. Equestrians of all skill levels enjoy secluded stretches of the Meh-Te-Kos Trail and test their skills on the Challenge Loop.
You'll find great fishing in three areas of the park. Freshwater anglers will find bluegill and largemouth bass in Woodstock Pond. A Virginia fishing license is required. Fishing is only allowed from the shoreline along the spillway and designated platforms.
Croaker Landing has a boat launch dock, a 360-foot fishing pier, parking and restrooms. The pier is licensed so those fishing on the pier need no salt-water license.
Taskinas Creek, which has catfish and white perch, requires either a valid saltwater or freshwater Virginia fishing license. Canoes and kayaks are available for rent at the creek. Weather and water conditions beyond our control may impact rentals. Call ahead to make sure they are available.
There are two bridle trails in the park. State law requires that visitors carry a copy of a negative Coggins report with each horse brought to the park.
Here is a video made by the park service that gives a really good overview of the park.
Machicomoco (Ma-chi-co-mo-co) is one of the newer state parks, dedicated in 2019. There is an old house there and large fields of crops. The land is flat and easy to hike or ride bikes. This park is dedicated to the Virginia's Indigenous peoples. We drove through the campground and it is mostly open sites in full sun. This is a picture of site #3, and to us it is the only site that offers any privacy or shade.
Here is a map of the campground. There are 13 tent sites, 14 Water and Electric sites for RV and 3 Yurts. You can reserve your spot HERE.
This is a picture of the open-air interpretive pavilion that provides information on the culture, landscape and movement of Virginia Indians through displays and a walking path in the landscape.
This is a wide shot of the field where the Oyster Trail is located and the trail we decided to hike based on the suggestion of the park ranger. The trailhead is at the base of the steps at the open-air interpretive pavilion.
At one point there was a wooden walkway out to the waters edge that allowed us to observe the local wildlife.
Here are some shots of the wildlife we observed. There was a crab on the wooden walkway, some great egrets flying around and the "snails" on the log. We just stood there in the drizzling rain and watched for several minutes and were in awe of God's creation.
We stopped at the selfie booth on the trail and made our selfie. Yes it was raining, but we have never let that stop us.
We walked on and there was an overlook that was higher up and looked out over the York River and you can see that the rain was picking up.
We headed back up the trail to the Timberneck House and because the rain was getting harder, we headed back to the parking lot and drove on to our next destination. Below is the hike we tracked using my Casio G-shock watch with built in GPS.
Our hike on the Oyster Trail was about .77 miles and took us 32 minutes, we did stop and gaze at the wildlife.
Trails
The park has a 3.3 mile paved foot/bicycle trail that circles the main road on the park site. A footpath of gravel, oyster shells and mown grass can be found at the interpretive area and totals .7 of a mile. The natural trail runs 2.4 miles from the interpretive area, through the car-top kayak launch, and near the campgrounds at the trailhead parking lot.
Fort Monroe
This is a National Monument dedicated by President Obama in 2011 and entry is free. We started at the Visitor Center and it was raining "cats and dogs". We walked around reading the history and obtained our free tickets to the Casement museum. While we were inside the rain stopped and the sun came out and we were able to enjoy our afternoon.
Here is one of the canons that was used in the defenses at the fort at one time.
This is a replica of the disappearing guns that were used at the fort and the metal rails are still on the ramparts of the fort (see below)
The word casement refers to the living quarters that were built into the walls of the fort. This room was the prison cell of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy.
Here is an example of the quarters that someone may have assigned to them. Keep in mind the walls were surrounded by earth and stone, buried beneath the fort walls.
This is what the outside of the casement looks like. The door with the sign over it designates the door to Jefferson Davis cell.
After we visited the Casement museum, we went up the steps to the top of the fort wall and walked the entire wall.
The oldest structure is the lighthouse which is still standing and can be seen from the wall with no problem.
Here is a view of the flag from the bottom looking up.
A view from the top of the wall of one of the entry/exit points through the wall.
We really enjoyed our visit to Fort Monroe.
Our hike at Fort Monroe was just over a mile and it took us about 40 minutes.
.png)