Cape Fear Museum

   Wilmington was North Carolina’s largest city until the late 1800s. It was important as the major port for raw materials, mainly naval tar and lumber, which were shipped to England. The phasing out of wooden ships caused it to lose some of that importance. The museum covers this early history plus events into the next century. An additional section, The  Michael Jordan Discovery Gallery, teaches children about the area’s environment.

  The museum is very accessible with push button doors and easy to see exhibits. Just a few of the exhibits in the environmental gallery are too high to view.

  The parking lot is small – short RVs and vans will fit ,large RVs may be able to park on the street. Museum
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New Hanover County Arboretum

    The purpose of this beautiful little garden is for the pleasure and education of  county residents and visitors. And it’s free!

    The main paths are smooth concrete. Almost everything is accessible including a short section of boardwalk and a children’s playhouse. The path to the greenhouses ( not much growing this time of year) is soft sand and difficult to push through.

  Small RVs can be parked in the main lot. Larger ones will fit in the additional parking lot. Garden
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Airlie Gardens

   The bottle house, with sun shining through over 4,000 bottles, is the highlight of these gardens. Like many other gardens this was once the estate of some very wealthy people. The dwellings are gone and the land’s been reduced in size but old live oaks, azaleas, camellias, fountains, a chapel, and graveyard still remain.

  The main path around the gardens is paved-easy rolling- but seeing everything requires some backtracking. Many areas are slightly off the path and the ground is soft so pushing along is difficult. A tram runs along the main path for a few hours almost every day. We didn’t get to check it out but I don’t think that it’s wheelchair accessible.

  The parking lot is large enough for any size RV.  Garden
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Moores Creek National Battlefield

    This is the site of a early Revolutionary War battle between North Carolina colonists, one side loyal to the British and the other fighting for independence. Many of the loyalist were recent immigrants from the Scottish highlands who fought with broadswords against musket and artillery fire. The battle was short, ending with the loyalists surrendering to the patriots.There’s a small museum with a good movie and a one mile walking tour through the battlegrounds.

  The museum is all accessible. The trail is a combination of asphalt, boardwalk, hard packed sand, and a new material that we haven’t seen before – a thick layer of compressed shredded rubber. The rubber sections of the trail are slightly spongy and require some effort to push along.

 RVs can be parked lengthwise  across the parking spaces. Battlefield
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Still Learning About Blogger

  Way back in May I decided to start adding little state maps at the bottom of each post so that readers could see exactly where the attraction was located. I didn’t realize then that I could attach a link to the picture. I’ve noticed clickable pictures which opened to more information on other blogs but for some reason I thought that it would be complicated to do. It’s easy!  So I’m going to insert links on all of the little maps. When they are clicked on, a Google Map will open in a different window with the attraction pinpointed on the state map. It’ll take awhile for me to finish all of them but it should make using the site a little easier.  As the blog grows the amount of links grow too so if you find any that are broken or go to the wrong place please let me know so that I can fix them.

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

   All of North Carolina’s diverse habitats are explored with life sized dioramas, some featuring live fish, amphibians, and insects.  There’s also a small section about fossils and dinosaurs.

   Everything is accessible.

   Parking is limited. See the North Carolina Museum of History post for parking information. Museum
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North Carolina Museum of History

   This is a very good museum, covering North Carolina’s history from the Native American tribes up to present times. Since it covers such a broad period, little is explored in depth but visitors are still given an idea of all of the factors that help shape the state.

  Most of the museum is accessible. Only a few of the exhibits are too high to view easily. One exhibit, a entire small house, has two sets of steps but no ramp to access the interior which contains artifacts and information about the former residents.

  Parking is very limited. A parking lot directly across the street, east of the museum, is available free of charge, on the weekends only. The entrance is a little tight. The exit is even tighter because of an overhang on the ticket booth so you may have to exit through the entrance lane. Large motorhome shouldn’t attempt to park in this lot but vans and small RVs should be fine.  The First Baptist Church,  one block west of the museum, has a small lot available during the week – $5.00 for all day. This lot isn’t suitable for large RVs either. There’s also on the street parking, one and two hour only, but most of it fills quickly. Click on the map to make it larger.  Museum
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Pamplin Historical Park

  In early 1865 the Union army had been holding Petersburg, Virginia under siege for nine months. The Union finally managed to break through the Confederate trenches on April 2 sending Lee’s army into a retreat which ended the Civil War.  The park has preserved portions of the trenches along with the original plantation house that was used for Confederate General Samuel McGowan’s headquarters.

  The park is partially accessible.  Both the Museum of the Civil War Soldier and the Battlefield Center are accessible but the path between them has sections of loose stone that is hard to push through. The basement of the Tudor Hall Plantation house has a ramp to the entrance but again the path leading to it is composed of loose stone. The entrance to the first floor of the plantation house has many steps and no ramp. One of the cabins in the slave quarter has a doorway which may be too narrow for many wheelchair users. The other cabin,which has a display about slavery, has steps and no ramp at the entrance. More loose stone in this area. The paved pathway to the Hart farm has a very steep section. The trails around the property are a combination of concrete, boardwalk, loose stone, and hard packed sand. Most wheelchair users will need to have some help.

   The  Museum of the Civil War Soldier has little written information, just numbered displays so that visitors can decide what they wish to hear about by punching the correct numbers into a provided MP3 player. I don’t know if a written brochure is supplied for visitors who can not use a MP3 player. The rest of the park has interpretive signs along with the recordings.

  The parking lot is large enough for RVs.  Pamplin Park

Richmond, Virginia

   We were planning on staying in Richmond for a few more days to see some more of the sights but we encountered a problem that isn’t very common for us – no place to park! Richmond has a very compact downtown. Besides being the location of the state capital ,it also has several hospitals and college campuses. There are parking garages but few street level lots. On street parking is always filled. We have successfully visited Richmond in the past so for now we’re just going to head south and save it for another trip. A weekend visit would probably yield more parking options.

Belle Isle hike

     Belle Isle is a small oasis of nature located within viewing distance of downtown Richmond. It hasn’t always been quiet and peaceful. It’s grounds have hosted a Civil War prison camp, a quarry, a power plant, and an iron foundry. Old equipment and building ruins are still visible. Interpretive signs are along the trail.

   This trail, which is about 2 miles round trip, is completely accessible but would be challenging to do without any help. The parking lot is just past the Tredegar Iron Works lot. RVs can be parked in the sandy lot under the railroad trestle. Follow the sidewalk to the right to a long ADA compliant ramp which accesses the bike/hike bridge suspended under the US 1 bridge. The pedestrian bridge has an unusual design with slight arches in the walkway. Another long ramp accesses the island. Once on the island the path is mostly hard packed sand and fairly level. Trail
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