Last summer, ready to take Shirley Jean to the beach (some moments I miss our beach life so much it makes me catch my breath), I booked a campsite for a holiday weekend at Westmoreland State Park on the Northern Neck in Virginia.
As you likely know, a strange and unforeseen cause of the pandemic and lockdown is the explosion of popularity of parks (both state and national). They now book for camping so far in advance that it is almost to the absurd. Hopeful travelers get on sites as early as possible, refreshing, hoping to be the first when the window opens or to catch a cancellation. The process I once went through to get tickets to a hot concert I now do to find a place to park a 20+ year old pop up camper and cook Hamburger Helper over a propane stove.
As COVID has forced Americans to recreate more outside than in, the popularity of the parks systems has absolutely skyrocketed. (See our Smoky Mountains and Chincoteague articles for more on this.) There are mixed feelings about this I won’t get into (again) in this article.
But I booked Westmoreland State Park waaaaay in advance, gratefully the weather held, and we were on our way!
Westmoreland State Park was similarly crowded when we visited, but we enjoyed it a lot! It is certainly a place to be preserved and stewarded. We had some great family memories here.
Camping here was key. We had the ability to stay later on the beaches, and hike to a more remote beach, to somewhat avoid the large crowds. I highly recommend a camp trip here!
In non-pandemic times, Westmoreland State Park not only has beaches, but they also have an Olympic-sized pool. These two things combine make it a very fun and popular spot to beat the heat! (They did, by the way, close entry to the park the days we stayed due to the park filling up. So if you are going for the day, best to arrive early.)
There are fees to enter and fees to swim. See the link at the bottom of the post for the most up-to-date information.
We had an unreserved campsite (there are cabins for rent here), which meant that upon arrival we were driving around trying to decide which spot to pick out of the available ones left. It actually felt kind of stressful, but we were happy with what we ended up with. We were on Loop C, which was not within walking distance to the beach but, because of that, a little less crowded and a little less loud. And yes, we had full hookups so we could run the A/C. While we enjoy camping, I have some limits and sleeping in humidity is one of them.
Visiting George Washington's Birthplace and National Monument:
Unbeknownst to us prior to traveling to Westmoreland State Park, this area of Virginia is peppered with Founding Fathers’ birthplaces.
We made our way to George Washington’s Birthplace – Popes Creek. This was just a stretch down from Monroe’s birthplace AND Madison’s birthplace. Makes you wonder what’s in that sweet Potomac River water… (For a great post on visiting all three of these spots, I recommend this blog post by The History Mom.)
Washington is a fascinating case to me. He is clearly a legend yet historians don’t know a lot, really, about his youth (especially when you consider the stories of Lincoln). Even the National Parks literature admits that:
"George Washington is the most elusive of national heroes. His great achievements and the strength of his character led a grateful nation to elevate him to the level of myth. As his life was magnified with legend and held up as an example to schoolchildren, Washington the man began to disappear behind the model."
Sometimes I wonder if he looms so large in history and imagination simply because we are free to create him into whatever hero we want to. It feels like we cherry-pick which parts of Washington we like to elevate a father of the U.S. we have decided to celebrate mightily. (It reminds me a lot of royalty: mystery and adulation combined.)
We do know that Washington was born at Popes Creek in 1732 and lived there until he was almost four. He came back for periods as an adolescent, where he watched his father’s slaves work the tobacco fields.
But while the Washingtons continued to amass enormous land wealth, by 1815 the place had fallen into ruin. George Washington’s adopted grandson placed a small memorial marker where he thought Washington’s birthplace was (George Washington died in 1799), but other than that the land was basically abandoned. In 1858 the state of Virginia acquired the farm, planning to make it into a full memorial, which due to the Civil War and funding, didn’t really materialize until the place became a national monument with the help of John D. Rockefeller in 1930.
So we know Popes Creek is where Washington was born. But not in that house you see above! That is called the Memorial House. It was built in 1931 and is a very traditional Colonial style house, believed to be nicer than the home Washington originally lived in. (The Memorial House was closed during our visit due to COVID protocols.)
The Colonial House, as well as a Colonial Kitchen and a Colonial Garden, were built in the early 1930’s as part of a “living memorial.”
The foundation below, where the boys are standing, is THE house where Washington was born, but it wasn’t discovered until 1936. They know that in 1762 it was quite large (with 10 bedsteads) but it burned in 1776.
Interestingly, after they excavated the foundation in 1936, they reburied it and outlined it.
We spent some time walking around the grounds of Popes Creek. It is a really beautiful spit of land, and we could see why the Washington family coveted it and kept it. Popes Creek opens to the Potomac River, and the water is deep enough for large ships to enter.
But, as is usual with Virginia summer coastal areas, it was really, REALLY buggy.
We spent some time enjoying the Cedar Grove, a hemlock grove original to the land. We walked across the footbridge and it was our intent to walk the 1-mile loop “nature trail.” But the bugs made us hightail it back. We found “dancing marsh” to be aptly named as we danced our way through the marsh the bugs loved.
We drove a bit around Colonial Beach, happy to see it for the first time, but discovered what we were really craving was water and sand and Shirley Jean.
Heading to Fossil Beach:
By far, our favorite activity of the weekend was heading to Fossil Beach in Westmoreland State Park.
This park is accessible only by hiking. Big Meadow Trail is the easier of the trails that lead to this beach (the other is Turkey Neck Trail) at 0.6 miles. It is a little steep in some spots, but we didn’t find it painful. It was wide and well-maintained. That said, hauling coolers, strollers, wagons, etc. would be a tough task. We packed backpacks and carried towels and were fine.
Because Fossil Beach is harder to get to, it doesn’t have nearly as many visitors or crowds. And while the beach itself is smaller, and gets smaller as the tide comes in, it is nestled inside a cove swallowed by large cliffs. It was really beautiful.
And, yes, we found some cool stuff on the promisingly-named Fossil Beach:
Westmoreland State Park is one of the original six state parks in Virginia, with much of the original work done by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Murphy Hall, a restaurant on site, was built in 1936 by the CCC and the park is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Between that, a visitors center, campsites, fitness trails, beaches, pools, and 1,321 acres, there really is something here for the whole family.
For more on Westmoreland State Park:
For more on George Washington's Birthplace:
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