Day 55, D-Day: Dad, Driving, Devils Backbone Brewery

When we lived in the Washington, DC area, we came to the Shenandoah Valley area a few times. I'm sure one of the times must have been in the autumn. This area is thick with deciduous trees and is noted for its fall colors. I also remember coming one winter - maybe it was to celebrate our birthdays, to stay and eat at The Inn at Little Washington. Today, we came to visit the National D-Day Memorial. I am not a history buff, which is kind of a shame since there is so much history of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars in this area. But, as I mentioned earlier, my dad served in World War II. Years ago when the Memorial was being built, my brother, Peter's, in-laws purchased a brick for my dad, George Militello, Armored Field Artillery Battalion. My visit here was to see the brick with his name and to honor the service and sacrifice made by all the men and women to secure our freedom.

Part of the reason the memorial is in Bedford is because 44 soldiers, sailors, and airmen from this small town were involved in D-Day. Of those, 20 were lost in that campaign. That was the highest per capita D-day loss in the nation. The total loss that day among Allied forces was over 9,000. I have a hard time comprehending those numbers. 

The centerpiece of the memorial is Gray Plaza which represents the beach landing on D-Day. It is very moving. Everything in the plaza has meaning or is symbolic, down to the beach that includes sand from Omaha beach.

We took the hour-long tour given by a retired fifth-grade teacher. She was extremely informative and entertaining, even in the heat and humidity. 

There is a statue of General Dwight D Eisenhower talking to a soldier when he addressed the soldiers before they were deployed. Imagine the enormity of that moment. He knew he was sending young men into a situation that many would not return from. Yet, that was the turning point in the war.

I sat for a while reflecting on how fragile our democracy is. This was especially poignant in light of the California recall attempt last night. 

I asked a local where to have lunch. She said there was a place that was popular with tourists but that she would eat at the Town Kitchen. I guess you already know what we chose.

We spent a lot of the afternoon driving the Blue Ridge Parkway. It truly is road on a ridge between two valleys. The Great Valley extends through the Appalachians from New York to Alabama. There are few places to get on and off the parkway (we went 27 miles between crossroads). All along, we couldn't help but wish we were there with the fall colors but knowing that the road would be FAR more crowded than it was today. These pictures were taken from the same place, facing the two different valleys.

We ended the day sampling beer at the Devils Backbone Outpost Brewery. We sat at a "QR table" where we pulled up the menu, ordered and paid by cell phone with very little contact from the staff. Denis got a little carried away with ordering...

While we enjoyed taste testing, we decided there were none we needed to carry back to the RV with us - a first.