VA5 to Yorktown, VA May 18, 2014)

 Nice day for a long ride....headed out via VA5 which is a great road...lots of twists and turns, past farms and plantations (one was the home of President John Tyler) and a number of Civil War battlefields. It is some 60 miles to Yorktown from my apartment, and it was a great ride.
This photo at left though is from the Colonial Parkway, and that is a great road. Reminds me somewhat of the Blue Ridge Parkway except the views are the thick woods and soon in rather dramatic fashion....the York River. Three cool places are there...Yorktown, Jamestown and Williamsburg.    

Yorktown was my destination though, and I have a lot of photos on my Photo Page, Richmond and me blog and also photos such as this one. This is the monument to the victory of the Continental Army under General George Washington over the British Army under the command of General Conwallis in the Revolutionary War. I have in the past toured the battlefield-it is a very interesting place.
This monument is very old, it was built shortly after the war ended and it is a rather imposing statue. I have been to Yorktown four times but this was my first time to see it up close (got a quick look on my last trip there).
One thing about Yorktown is there is a lot of things to see and do there, history is one, food is another (some great places to eat) and many of the buildings are original and very, very old (one church was built in 1697). I always have a great time there, and this was no exception.  

 Course I mentioned the beach, which (considering it was around 70 degrees) was not packed but nonetheless had a good crowd. It is about 60 miles closer than Virginia Beach and also tends not to be quite as packed even in the summer. Sure it is not on the ocean, but the York is a very big river and...well, its got sand.
Fun to walk along it and check out the sights (some of those are very pretty) and there is also a pair of sailing ships to get out on if that is something on your list. Have a great time just exploring the area, and in four trips always see new things to check out.   

One of those was the Yorktown Pub which is popular with motorcyclists (as you can see here) but also has some nice prices in food and drink (I did check out a local beer....though the local beer was from Richmond, VA).
During the ride down I passed a lot of motorcycles, had a pair of BMW's I followed most of the way, and was passed by a number of bikes including a few large groups of motorcycles. Got to do a lot of waving. VA5 is a great motorcycle road.
The entire trip covered very close to 150 miles though a lot of that was on the Colonial Parkway as it is a fun road to ride, and the 60 miles each way to and from Yorktown. It is a great trip and one that I am sure to make again in the near future.