Camping at Westmoreland State Park – August 2024

After doing a multi-state road trip by myself in July, I planned my second solo camping trip of the summer for August. While there are many beautiful campgrounds in Virginia, I opted for Westmoreland State Park because I also wanted to do some genealogy research.

Somewhere over the years I’d heard that a 5th-great grandfather on my mother’s side was born in Westmoreland County in the mid-1700s. When I learned that the county courthouse in Montross had records dating back to the mid 1600s (which is very unusual!) I hoped I would find documents to confirm this.

The weather was delightfully pleasant on the morning of August 20th, and it took me just under 3 hours to get to the campground. Wayne and I did several day trips to Westmoreland State Park, but we never had the opportunity to camp there.

I’d reserved a pull-though site in campground A near the camp host’s site. Since so much of what I do now is still way, way out of my comfort zone, I liked the idea of being close to a campground volunteer who would likely be a good resource if I had any problems.

There are 3 different campgrounds at Westmoreland: Campground “A” offers a lot of shade, but sites are fairly close together; “B” is recently renovated, with less shade but better able to accommodate large RVs; and “C” is for tent camping only.

As I was getting everything set up, the hosts from A and B stopped by to welcome me. By camping midweek–especially after many schools were back in session–there were very, very few campers and lots of empty sites. (Weekends are a different story!)

Much of the appeal of this particular state park is its location on the Potomac River. The river isn’t visible from any of the campgrounds, but it’s a short drive–or long-ish walk–to some amazing views.

On previous day trips, Wayne and I made the half-mile trek down to “Fossil Beach.” Aptly named, as many shark teeth and other fossils get washed up by the Potomac, the trail starts near the visitor’s center and winds down to the river. Once there, the scenery is just stunning; these pictures are from our day trip in 2017:

While I didn’t plan to go to Fossil Beach this time, there was also beauty at another beach and picnic area in the park:

Sometimes it’s hard to believe–with the waves and the width–that this is “just” a river! These pictures and video were taken at the main beach and picnic area.

The next morning, August 21st, I went back down to this beach, and it was another gloriously beautiful day! (Temperatures topped out in the mid 70s during my stay!)

On each of our day trips to Westmoreland, Wayne and I saw several Bald Eagles. While I did see a couple of them this morning, I wasn’t able to get good pictures because they were too far away.

Ready for the next part of this trip, I drove to the small town of Montross where the courthouse for Westmoreland County is located. My first stop was at the Westmoreland County Museum in the old courthouse building.

With the help of a young woman at the museum, we went through various books and documents–and found absolutely nothing. My next stop was the new courthouse, but once again there were no records–no wills, deeds, marriage licenses, or anything else–to indicate that my ancestor or his family ever lived in Westmoreland County. Alrighty…

I’ve also seen some research that says this family might have lived in Dorchester County, Maryland, so maybe I’ll go there on a future trip! Before that, though, I hope to go to a courthouse in a small town in central Pennsylvania to look for records for some of my paternal ancestors. (Yes, genealogy can be addictive!)

After leaving the courthouse in Montross, I decided to check out George Washington’s Birthplace–a national park–that I’d passed on my way to the campground. Despite our other trips to Westmoreland, Wayne and I had never gone there.

Interesting place, and lovely location at the confluence of Popes Creek and the Potomac River.

After a quick look in the visitor center, I decided to walk on the “Memorial Interpretive Trail” near the water.

The first wildlife I spotted was a skink–and all I managed to photograph before it disappeared was the last bit of its blue tail.

Further up the path, I startled a Great Blue Heron that squawked and flew out of a tree to my right. I was startled, too, but I did NOT squawk–ha. Sometimes I think that Great Blue Herons are my “totem” or “spirit” animals given the number of unusual and significant “coincidences” that I’ve had involving them. Long stories there…

Along the pathway were several signs that talked about the history of the area or about (in this case) the significance of one’s birthplace.

The house on the property was built in the 1930s during the Colonial Revival movement. As such, it is a very romanticized “memorial” house that is likely far, far grander than the dwelling the Washington family would have lived in during the 1700s. This picture is the back view of the house as I continued my walk along the trail.

A longer hiking trail could be accessed on the other side of this bridge. While I wasn’t interested in that (and I was dressed more for going through courthouse records than for an extended walk through the woods), I did go out on the bridge.

Almost immediately I heard some screeching, and an Osprey landed on a tree on the far side of the bridge. My camera has a pretty good zoom lens, but it was still too far away to get sharp pictures or videos.

I’m not sure if there were other farm animals on the property, but I did see this cow with twisty horns posing in front of the monument.

I went back in the visitor center to look at some of the displays again and to see what items they had for sale, and I was surprised to see a pair of Great Blue Heron earrings.

Despite my encounter with the squawking Great Blue earlier, I wasn’t going to buy them–until I saw this on the back:

Remember what I said about Great Blue Herons and “coincidences”? And remember what I said about how I want to go to a small town in PA to do genealogy research on one of my paternal ancestors? Bellefonte is that small town! This was the only pair of GBH earrings in the display, so yes, I bought them.

This made me think about an earlier “coincidence” at the courthouse in Montross when one of the other researchers in the records room mentioned something about the Nelson County courthouse. As we talked, he said he used to live in the town where I live. Curious.

And right then, a couple that I’d seen at Westmoreland’s visitor center earlier that morning walked into this visitor center! I’d first noticed them when they drove into the campground the previous evening. We both commented that it was funny to run into each other again, in a different location and several hours after seeing each other earlier in the day. The woman said they’d already checked out of the campground and were heading to Maryland to do (you guessed it) genealogy research. I asked which surnames they were researching (because you just never know…), but there was no connection.

As I walked out of the visitor center, ready to head back to the campground, there were several park rangers standing together, looking across the parking lot at a crowd that was gathering. I asked what was going on, and one said there was going to be a Bald Eagle release. What?!

I hustled across the parking lot, and sure enough there was a display set up for the Wildlife Center of Virginia. While Ed Clark, the president and founder of the Wildlife Center used to do the releases of birds of prey, his successor, Meg Gammage-Tucker, was doing the honors this day.

One of the women who was positioned along the fence with a camera told me I’d gotten there just in time. And indeed I had…

I WISH I’d set my camera to VIDEO instead of trying to get still pictures of a moving bird!

Bald Eagles don’t get their classic white head and white tail markings until they’re several years old, and this young bird apparently hatched near Colonial Beach early this spring. More about her care, the release, and more pictures from the Wildlife Center can be found here.

I was delighted to have been able to witness this event, especially since the Center (where over the years I’ve personally taken a young injured Redtail Hawk, a Barred Owl, a Black Rat Snake, and–most recently–a young Blue Jay) is just about 15 miles from my house.

Back at my campsite, I read and crocheted for a while, then fixed a very simple dinner. (I don’t guess there was any true/traditional “camping” this trip, given a working fridge, freezer, and microwave… Hey, no apologies!) While I haven’t been able to use it as much as I would have hoped this summer, I do love this little Coachmen Clipper travel trailer…

I went back to the river later that evening to have an hour or so before dusk, as this is when the beach and picnic area close. The cliffs were lit up by the soon-to-be setting sun, and there were several types of gulls circling around, looking for their dinner.

I picked up a couple of could-be fossils, wondering how many sharks would have been in these waters 50+ million years ago for their teeth to be found so frequently on the beaches of the Potomac River….

While many people go to Fossil Beach with colanders to sift through the shells, sand, and rocks, Wayne and I never did that. However, he was all about hearts, especially when he could draw them in sand….

And so that was my mission on my last evening at Westmoreland State Park… A heart with our initials–drawn in the sand–and with some of Wayne’s ashes sprinkled inside.

I intentionally drew this close to the water. The Potomac is a tidal river, and I knew the tide would be coming in before too long.

When I returned to my campsite, the camp host invited me to come sit a while by his campfire, and I enjoyed talking with him about his travels and adventures. He also hosts each year at Grayson Highlands State Park before returning to his homebase in Florida for the winter months. It was a nice way to end the evening.

I don’t know that I was necessarily ready to go home–maybe I would have enjoyed going to a couple more campgrounds in the eastern part of the state–but I was really starting to miss my cats. Before packing up the next morning, however, I drove down to the beach again. Another incredibly beautiful day was underway, with the moon and the sun both visible in the bright blue sky.

I walked eastward to where I’d drawn the heart in the sand, and–of course–it had been washed away overnight.

It’s so strange to think that fossilized pieces and parts of sea creatures from the Paleocene-Miocene Epochs–literally millions and millions and millions of years ago!–still wash ashore on the beaches of the Potomac River. And by contrast, we humans–with all of our love and passion and intelligence–can be gone in the blink of an eye, sometimes leaving behind only intangible echoes in the minds and hearts of those who knew and loved us.

Is it a matter of permanence vs impermanence? No, not really because the ancient sharks that swam in these waters aren’t still living sharks; they’ve been fundamentally and repeatedly changed and changed again over countless centuries. For better or worse, wanted or not, change/impermanence is inevitable.

I’m still finding my way through this strange landscape, often pushing myself to do things I’m not truly comfortable doing. I don’t know yet if my memories will serve as stepping stones or stumbling blocks….

For now, though, I will continue to make the effort to move through–which I’m finding is quite different from moving on–and perhaps that–for now–is enough.

~ Sharon