9/6/15 - Blackstone, VA

We drove to Booker T. Washington National Historic Site today.   This is where Booker T. was born and freed.  He was a slave on a small tobacco plantation. There is a reconstruction of the home he lived in with his mother.  She was the cook for her owners. After emancipation he went on to educate himself and he became the first leader of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.  He was also an author, orator, and adviser to presidents on African American affairs.  After leaving here we stopped by Apocalypse Brewing for a beer.  Then we went on to Appomattox Court House National Historic Park.  This is where Lee surrendered to Grant, bringing an end to the Civil War.  We watched a film and went in several of the old buildings there.  One of them was the McLean House where Lee surrendered to Grant.  The Visitor Center museum had many artifacts, including the desk on which the surrender was signed.