Oct 17th
We are driving into North Carolina today, to stay at Pettigrew State Park. On the drive we passed a sign for Colonial Williamsburg. Several people have told us that its something worth seeing, so we stopped. For those who don’t know, Colonial Williamsburg is an entire town preserved in the 1700’s. All of the people that work there, dress and act as if they are from that period. They set up demonstrations to show how things were done, and there are sometimes historical events acted out in the streets. Due to COVID, there are much fewer people roll playing, and a lot of the buildings are closed. In order to see a lot of the demonstrations, you must purchase a ticket. We opted to walk around the town without the ticket. When we hit one end of town and it turned into a shopping mall, restaurants, jewelry stores, clothing stores and more. It went from history lesson to tourist attractions in a matter of feet. We went back to the more authentic part of town, and did see some interesting demonstrations. Kathy sat and talked with one of the employees, and they confirmed that before COVID, the streets would be filled with roll players. We left a little disappointed. On our way back to the highway we passed a sign for the National Monument of Jamestown, the original English settlement. We should have gone there instead. Heading south, we passed by Norfolk, and we could see two aircraft carriers sitting in the port. Once we crossed into North Carolina, we turned off the interstate and started driving on country highways. There were very few cars or people anywhere. Pettigrew State Park is in very rural country, and it sits right on Phelps Lake. The campground is very small, with only 14 campsites. It’s a nice change of pace from NYC and Washington DC.
Oct 18th
After some morning school, we hiked one of the trails in the park today. It took us six miles (round trip), beside the lake, through very dense forests. Along the way Kathy found a massive black snake lying on the side of the trail. I had to google it to make sure it wasn’t poisonous. Black racer, not dangerous. When I approached it, it vanished instantly into the brush. Kathy kept her eyes to the ground for the rest of the hike. The end of the trail turned into a board walk that went out over the lake, through an amazing cypress forest. The water around the cypress trees is crystal clear, and there were a lot of little fish swimming everywhere. On our way back, we found another snake (much smaller), this time a plain bellied water snake. Kathy was also uneasy with the size of some of the spiders we came across.
Oct 19th
On the other side of the lake, there is a nature preserve for carnivorous plants. The lake is very big, and it took us 30 minutes to drive there. We hiked along the trail in the preserve, and found a sign telling us about the two species of carnivorous plants that live here. The trail turned into a raised boardwalk above the swamp, and ended at the lake, with a viewing platform and steps leading into the water. We were a little disappointed because we could not find any of the meat-eating plants. The view from the platform was stunning though. We took off our shoes and waded out into the clear water. It was so peaceful. There was no one around for miles. On our way back to the campground we stopped in the town of Creswell for some groceries. The “supermarket” had a total of 5 shopping carts. In the fresh food aisle, the only fruit was bananas. Yes, it is a small town. Back at the campground, we hiked another trail, that led to the Somerset Place Historic Site. It was one of the largest plantations in North Carolina before the Civil War. Quite a few of the original buildings have been recreated or repaired. From the plantation house to the slave homes. It was more interesting than Williamsburg.
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