Unexpected Treasure

[GeneF]

You are on your trip and travelling down the road.  You see a sign for a place of interest.   This is a totally unplanned stop and you find it to be a very interesting place.

How about sharing one place on a trip that you did unexpectedly stop at enjoy and were glad you did?

On our last trip, it was time for a rest stop when we saw a sign for the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier near Petersberg, VA.

This museum opened in 1999 so it is realtively new

Main thing that impressed DW and I was that it did not give reasons for the war or take sides.

This museum was about the lives of the Northern and Confederate sodiers.  How they lived and spent their time.

Baseball was a favorite sport for both sides.

Very good naratives throuhout with excellent displays depicting how the soldiers lived.

When you entered, you picked a soldier and throughout the museum, you pressed a button to find out something about the soldier's life.

Very educational and interesting.

Highly recommend a stop there.

They also have a plantation style setting with demonstrations on how things were made.

http://www.pamplinpark.org/national_museum.html

[AustinBoston]

One of many for us was Newberry National Volcanic Monument in Oregon.

We only visited the Laval Lands Vistior Center and walk out to the foot of the cone, where 7,000 year old lava still has nothing growing in it except one tree.  

If you are so inclined, you can drive to the top of the cinder cone.  We chose not to because we would have had to drop the trailer.

We were driving from Crater Lake NP to Farewell Bend SP when we saw the sign and decided to stop.

Austin

[CampDirt]

One of my fondest memories was a quick stop-over at Navajo National Monument.  I was moving from Grand Canyon, AZ to Denver with a Uhaul pulling my car behind it.  I was tired and broke, so pulled out my map and drove a little out of my way to Navajo.  I got up early the next morning with a spectacular sunrise over the ruins.  Took a guided tour that morning and was fascinated with the history of the place.  The campground was very small but was a place to park the Uhaul, have a picnic dinner, and listen to the coyotes and crickets.  I never slept so well that night or woke up to something so wonderous.  It's very well worth the time and distance to Navajo.  It rejuvenated my soul... :S