It appears we forgot to post this, we were to busy to post this, or thought the postcard was enough. It was probably a combination of the first and second one.

When we were at Fairfax Lake Park, we stopped by Bull Run State Park to see if it would work as an alternate. This is one of the parks that Fairfax Lake Park told us to check on when Chippokes State Park kicked us out for paving. Bull Run State Park had one site that they thought would fit our RV, but not our cars. It was full shade with insufficiently trimmed back trees, so we are glad that we did not try to stay there.

Bull Run State Park is right near the Manassas National Battlefield Park, which is, you guessed it, a cancel stamp location. We planned this to be a relatively short stop, but we did walk around the visitor center and some of the grounds.

The visitor center building has a small theater, artifact room, walk through explanation of the battles and key people, and a store. The main room had some interesting artillery and hand weapon artifacts (or replicas).

There was also a miniature replica of a single gun and supporting baggage. The gun is on the left, the limber is the two wheeled cart attached to it, and the others may be caissons.

Just outside the store, they had an interesting room showing information about the casualties of the Civil War. There were more casualties during the Civil War than any other war that the United States participated in. The casualties almost match the casualties of every other war combined.

Another section of the visitor center had details about the battles, people, and troop maneuvers along with more artifacts. A serious issue with the First Battle of Bull Run is that no one took it seriously. Both sides thought it would be a single battle where the other side was trivially defeated. Civilians flocked down from Washington D.C. to watch the battle. When the union was defeated, their carriages clogged the roads and impeded the union retreat.

The green wore off fast.

Outside, they have a walking trail, but we had walked a lot the day before in Washington, D.C. We took a few pictures of the signs, monuments, and battlefield before leaving.