Attack and Surrender
Comment via blog
Prev
Next
|
Day 2: December 16, 2018 Attack and Surrender Comment via blog |
Prev Next |
|
|
|
Breakfast was at the Roanoker, a highly touted and highly popular
restaurant in Roanoke, VA. The food was quite good although I picked a
rather non-photogenic pecan waffle. The
popularity was apparent. I arrived around 8:30 and was immediately seated
in a busy but not overstuffed restaurant. When I left about forty-five
minutes later, the place was full and about a dozen people were waiting in
a line at the door. I'm sure it only got worse.
|
|
|
I spotted this sign from the expressway as I drove to breakfast and that
prompted me to learn that Roanoke is know as the "Dr Pepper Capital
of the World". It's not because Dr Pepper is headquartered in Roanoke
or has a museum there, it's because of the vast quantities of the beverage
consumed there. I returned to my route through downtown to get the
pictures.
|
|
|
With breakfast out of the way, I figured it would be a non-stop run to an
early arrival at my motel in the Outer Banks. The first crack in that
theory came from a sign advertising the National D-Day Memorial. It seemed like something I
should see, and before long I was in a one person tour group being led by
Joe. Joe's knowledge of the memorial, the invasion,
and the overall war was remarkable but the thing that impressed me most
had to do with flags. After explaining that the tall flag poles were empty
because of predicted bad weather, he recited the names of the nations
whose flags would be on those poles -- if there were flags on those poles.
The memorial occupies more than 50 acres. It's complex with areas dedicated to various aspects of the invasion and honoring its participants in different ways. I reference just a few. The first picture shows the Overlord Arch. Overlord was the code name for the operation. The alternating black and white stripes at its top recall the stripes painted on allied airplanes to help with identification during the assault. The second picture is of a statue of Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower with map of the invasion overhead. Many other key players are represented by statues and busts in the memorial. The last four picture are of the Gray Plaza which represents the channel crossing and landing. For the most part the solid and silent sculptures seem entirely inadequate in portraying the horrors of that day. Only in the faces can a hint of them be seen. The curved walls of the plaza contain the names of the 4,413 Allied soldiers who died that day. The Flames of Memory luminaries would be lit for the last time this year on the evening after my visit. |
|
|
The National D-Day Memorial wasn't my only unplanned stop of the day. I
hadn't been back on the road long before I saw signs telling me I was
approaching Appomattox. I pulled into Appomattox Court House National Historical Park about
forty miles after leaving the memorial. Much of the abandoned town of
Appomattox Court House is intact. Exceptions are the the two most
significant buildings. The county courthouse burned down in 1892. The
McLean house, where Lee surrendered to Grant, was taken apart brick by
brick with the intention of reconstructing it elsewhere as an attraction.
That never happened and much of the house was pilfered away. Both have
been reconstructed, and the front wall of the McLean house (first picture)
even has some of the original bricks. The furniture is all reproductions.
The oval table used by Grant is in the Smithsonian. The marble topped
table used by Lee is in the Chicago Museum of History. The fourth picture
shows the reconstructed courthouse on the right with the Meeks Store, a
survivor, on the left. The last two pictures are from the museum inside
the courthouse. When subordinates of Grant and Lee met the day following
the surrender to work out details, the tables and other furnishings had
already been sold as souvenirs, and the camp table in the last photo was
pressed into service.
|
|
|
It was after dark when I got to my motel and the person on duty had
contacted me to see what time I expected to arrive. I checked in and
headed down the street to Outer Banks Brewing Station where I took some pretty
crappy pictures. It's an interesting place and I may try to get some
better pictures later, but I'm posting these now so I can show you
what I had to eat.
|
|
|
| [Prev] [Site Home] [Trip Home] [Contact] [Next] |
