Guilford Courthouse National Historic Battlefield and Charlotte, North Carolina

We left Shawboro aka Shiloh, North Carolina this morning heading the "scenic route" to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, Tennessee via a few more national monuments and battlefields to see on our route after taking a few last photos.  Since we left a bit later this morning and had to wait for the guy in the unit next to ours to move his truck that was blocking our exit, we got on the road about 9:45 a.m. this morning.  We took the ever used old back roads by Lisa's house, Hwy 158 and Hwy 343 that we had become accustomed to and hooked on Hwy 17 South.

An Old North Carolinian House

We drove through the MANY busy interchanges of Rocky Mount, Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Greensboro traffic, which slowed us down. I was hoping to get down to the border of North Carolina and South Carolina and see the other 3 sites we had listed for today, but the traffic and congestion and road construction really had us at a stand-still in many locations.  It was a slow drive. I finished my audible book, The Spymistress, by Jennifer Chiaverini this afternoon in the car.  Very good and applicable to all the history we've been seeing the past week.

I enjoyed the Solar Eclipse traffic warning signs on the freeway and had Scott take a photo of one.  The eclipse will be in right at the peak in this area next week.

At Guilford Courthouse National Military Park Visitor's Center we stopped for our first tour.  It is a lovely, serene wooded area, however the road are very narrow and tree filled for people with RVs such as ours. We had to go into a residential section to see if the visitor's center could accommodate our rig and they said they had 2 places for us.  What they didn't say is that it's a drive into spot on a curve meaning I would have to back up the RV on a curve to get out!  YUCK!  It took about 10 tried before I cleared the curb because of the Montana's low stabilizers, which drives me crazy.  Why does a company make stabilizers so low to the ground?  I hope they address this at some point in the future...or the next RV we get won't be this kind.

Welcome!

Beautiful brick entrance with placard.

That placard

Lovely, serene location.

Visitor's Center

What is Guilford Courthouse battle?  According to history, on March 15,1781, the battle held at Guilford Courthouse was one of the most hotly-contested of all the Revolutionary War's Southern Campaigns.  It was led by Major General Nathanael Greene who, with 4,500 men defended the sight against a smaller British army of 1,900 commanded by Lord Charles Cornwallis.  The fighting lasted for 2 1/2 hours and Cornwallis forced Greene to retreat to preserve his army's strength. For Cornwallis, he lost over 25% of his army which cost him dearly and he abandoned the Carolina's and headed to Virginia instead thinking it would be an easier victory.  With his weakened army, he went to Yorktown where he ended up surrendering to General George Washington, defeated, seven months later.  While Guilford Courthouse retreated, Cornwallis is known to have recorded that "I never saw such fighting since God made me.  The Americans fought like demons."

Major General Nathanael Greene

Here is a map of the Revolutionary War in the South.

The visitor's center was large, spacious and very insightful with a very lovely museum with authentic pieces many of which were found on the property from the Revolutionary War! They even had a security guard. That's the first time I've seen a guard at any national park setting.  There were also many portraits in the center...one of which is shown of Nathaneal Greene.

Scott and the park ranger trying to figure out if our RV could handle
the 2 miles drive around the park with the low hanging trees.

I loved this cannon.

Lovely bookstore and artifacts.

The other side of the bookstore.

There was also clothing, shells and cannons, balls, muskets, flint-lock guns, surgical items, etc.  Enjoy these photos.

Half way through the exhibit you come to a glass wall that exposes the outside
and wooden soldier forms to show how it would have been during the time of the revolution.

Authentic balls.

Book of Common Prayer, 1770.

Surgical tools...very scary!

After much discussion, we decided not to gamble with the RV and do the loop of the park.  We enjoyed the museum and the displays so much and the wooded area surrounded the visitor's center so we left it at that.  For those wanting to do it, you could also walk the 2 mile loop and dogs are allowed on leash.  I would suggest that if you do have an RV to unhitch your truck and drive in.  The parking at the visitors center is quite tight, but doable.  If you have a Class A - the pull ahead parking will be a breeze for you. We really enjoyed our visit here.

The other wonderful party of today's drive was that we only had a few sprinkles of rain! YEA!  But, alas, as we drove into Charlotte tonight where we are staying, storm clouds are rolling in.  BOO!

Tonight we are staying at a little dive of an RV park called Fieldacres in Charlotte, North Carolina. It's located right next to the airport and just a block off I-85.  Needless to say, it's quite noisy, but this will afford us an early rise, easy access to the freeway and a fast trip to our next locations of King Mountain National Military Park, Cowpens National Battlefield and Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site before driving to Pigeon Forge for our next couple of nights.

The freeway is right next to us and the planes fly right above us.  Plus, we're on a 4-lane road. Oh well.

The "office".

Our spot - #54A

The park.  It's tree lined but packed in like sardines.

Fieldacres does not describe the spot at all. There are no bathrooms, no laundry, no pool, no nothing but a spot and 30/50 amp, water and sewer.  Pets are allowed and their isn't even a pet area.  It's just parking...one step above boon docking in that you get electric so you can sleep with cool air in the coach. Plus, their power lines are so low, it caught on my air conditioner on the coach.  I'll have to get away from that when we leave.  The cost is $30 cash and there are no discounts...hmmm.  Strange to me.  My rating is a 1.

And, alas, as I close this blog, it's raining...hard...and thundering...  Oh boy!