- We've made it a little farther north.
And this time we stopped in Fort Monroe, Virginia.
- [Phil] And today is the warmest day
of the four days that we've been here.
So we're taking advantage of it.
- [Stacy] That's right.
Now, this is a pretty cool place.
We actually haven't stayed exactly here before, in Virginia,
so we thought we'd shake it up.
This is actually an old army base that closed down in 2011.
But now it's a national monument.
It's also loaded with history.
It's the largest stone fort
built in the U.S?
- Yeah, and the construction on it,
Stacy just told me this, so,
(Stacy laughing)
it was finished in 1834.
- Right, so we're gonna go check out
some of the old buildings.
There are a couple people that have been through this base,
including several presidents.
- [Phil] Yeah, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson.
- [Stacy] And Davis was actually imprisoned here.
So, we're gonna go check out some of these
old, old buildings from the 1800s.
- More history.
You know, I love that.
(Stacy laughing)
- Of course the best way to start
is always the visitor center.
♪ What a perfect way to spend the day ♪
♪ Just dreaming ♪
♪ Way to spend the day ♪
♪ Just honey dew, baby boo, sugar bee, love me ♪
♪ Way to spend the day ♪
♪ Just hoping you feel the same ♪
- [Stacy] This fort is the largest stone fort
in the US.
And in comparison, Fort Sumter is about 2 acres.
- [Phil] This is 63 acres.
- So it is much larger than all the other little
baby forts we've been to, I should say.
- Yeah.
And where we're walking now
we're on top of the fort
and we're walking next to all the cannon placements.
And there must have been a cannon every 12 to 15 feet
that swung in a 180 degree arc.
All firing that way.
So any of the ships that were a threat out here
in the Chesapeake Bay, they felt the wrath of Fort Monroe.
That's for sure.
- A cool fact about the army base here
is where we're standing actually became
a pet cemetery for the army.
So if you walk through here, you can see little headstones
from pets of the military that were stationed here.
(soft music)
This place is definitely worth the stop.
It's pretty cool.
- It is pretty cool.
And it's interesting, the architecture.
But the arches,
you not only see the top of the arch,
but what you don't see is the bottom of the arch.
And that was key in holding up this fort.
- [Stacy] Which is sitting right on the coast
on a high water table on sand.
So the fact that the architects knew way back in the day
how to construct this building that is still here
is pretty crazy.
- It is.
And walking through here, you could tell that
back in the day, there weren't many tall fellows.
(Phil and Stacy laughing)
Because I think the highest point walking through the arches
is just 5'9".
- [Stacy] It is the highest arch.
- [Phil] Yeah.
So if you were tall, you had to get to that
before you could stand up.
But this is a must-see if you're in this area
- And it feels great, all the stone, you know,
even in the heat and humidity of Virginia
in the summertime, it is nice and cool in here.
- Yeah, this is nice.
I mean, it's pretty interesting architecture when you
get in and start going behind the scenes and underground.
- [Stacy] Although Davis might not have thought
it was so nice while he was imprisoned here.
Although it was only a few days.
So really it wasn't that bad.
(soft music )
- Interesting fact about Battery Irwin
is that it was constructed in 1901
and the guns were placed in 1903
at a cost of $12,500,
that I'm sure was a lot of money back then.
I'd be interested to know
what that cost equivalent is today.
- This battery behind me is Battery Parrott
and it was built just 2 years
following Battery Irwin,
and this bad boy cost $211,000.
So that is a steep price back in 1904.
(upbeat music)
Behind me, you'll see Quarters Number 1.
And this house is very significant.
Thankfully, they're gonna restore this house
and eventually you'll be able to tour it.
But this is the house president Lincoln stayed at
when he was making plans to take back
Norfolk from the Confederacy.
One of the cool things about Fort Monroe
are all these beautiful houses
that were left behind from the army.
So if you're looking for somewhere to live in Hampton Roads,
there's 170 houses here on this old army base
that they are renting out.
I don't know if any are for sale,
but I know they rent them out,
and some of them are beautiful.
♪ The best is yet to come ♪
♪ Are you ready or not? ♪
♪ Ready or not ♪
♪ Are you ready or not? ♪
♪ The best is yet to come ♪
♪ Are you ready or not? ♪
♪ Ready or not ♪
♪ Are you ready or not? ♪
- [Stacy] We're down here by the seawall
and you can see our RV and the campground
is right behind us.
So one thing to know about this campground
is it's not very large
and it will fill up quickly in peak time
during spring, summer and fall.
- Yeah, we're in a temporary spot.
So meaning we only have water and 50 Amp,
which is not bad.
We're only here for a few days
and the park does have a dump station.
So we'll hit that on the way out.
But you could tell from our rig to the seawall
we've got a pretty good view.
- [Stacy] And there's nothing like seeing the sunrise
coming up right outside your window.
It was phenomenal this morning.
I just parked Phil in a Dollar General parking lot.
So I can walk down here to Walgreens
to pick up his prescription.
We've done this a few times along the way.
The more we RV, the less afraid we are
to find a parking, walk over and pick up whatever we need.
All right, we are all set.
I have Phil's script
and I just have to walk about 2 blocks down
to where the rig is.
And we are back on the freeway.
After our quick jaunt into Walgreens,
we figured, hey why not make another detour?
So.
- We found a renovated or under-renovation, Burger King.
They have a parking lot right next to the Chick-fil-A.
So we pulled in there real fast
and I thought I could go all the way around
and come back out.
Not so much.
So we're going to see how well
Ruby really turns in this parking lot.
See if I can turn, do a 180
and go back out the same way we came in.
I think I can.
- Without taking off the Toad.
- So yeah, that's the goal.
- Yeah. Let's see if we can do this.
Of course, if it was up to me,
we would not have turned in here
because I didn't wanna have to take off the Toad.
But Phil is definitely willing to risk the biscuit.
Although it looks like we have a ton of room now.
Oh, no, you're gonna hit the curb!
Okay, you just missed it by about 6 inches.
He missed that curb by like 6 inches.
I just knew that front tire was gonna go over it.
(unintelligible speech)
- Woo. Woo.
Ruby is one sweet machine.
(Phil and Stacy laughing)
- All right, Chick-fil-A, check.
Walgreens, check.
(upbeat music)
- So it's $69 for the regular wash of the rig
because it's over 30 feet.
If you're less than 30, then it's $49.
We're getting the works.
So that's undercarriage, wax, roof,
attendant brushing if need be, that's $84.
The Jeep will be an additional $20.
Not bad for a one-stop shop.
- [Stacy] Typically when we go to a Harvest Hosts,
we are normally showing you breweries and wineries.
But did you know, that's only 50% of Harvest Hosts.
The rest of the Harvest Hosts are places like this.
This mega car wash.
There's also farms and museums and all kinds of places
that no alcohol is involved.
So when you're thinking about joining Harvest Hosts,
just know there are a lot of options out there for you.
So this Mega Wash can host 3 Harvest Hosters.
And this is why we really love Harvest Hosts.
As a matter of fact, if you wanna see our top 5
Harvest Hosts that have nothing to do with alcohol,
I'll put the link down below.
That's what I call one-stop shopping.
- Yeah, there she is.
All clean and wet.
However, they said that the water will bead up and dry,
and it should be spot-free.
More to follow on that one.
'Cause everybody knows, or should know,
I don't like spots on my rig, so.
- This is true.
- I hope I don't have to get up there and wipe it all off,
but it was a pretty good setup.
You know, I didn't have to take the Jeep off.
They did pre-soak it,
and then they scrubbed the windshield to get the bugs
and stuff off.
So pretty easy.
And I would say we were only in there about 15-20 minutes.
- Yeah, and there wasn't a line here, like there normally is
when we go to the Blue Beacon.
Normally we are sitting from 30 minutes
to up to an hour waiting behind trucks.
♪ The best is yet to come ♪