National Museum of the Marine Corps

The National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia, is south of Washington, D.C. We stopped in on our way back from Williamsburg, though we arrived late and it was only open for an hour. To maximize our enjoyment, we decided to focus on the World War II exhibit.

National Museum of the Marine Corps

The lobby features many vehicles (mostly aircraft) used by the Marines in their recent history. The lobby leads into the galleries along the perimeter of the museum. The exhibits run through the history of the Marine Corps starting with the War for Independence in the 1770s all the way to the 2000s.

The main lobby

More of the lobby

Before visitors get to the history, displays explain the experience of young men and women who join the Marine Corps today, including some interactive experiences of boot camp, where people learn the fundamentals. 

Marine hair cut

Getting chewed out by a drill instructor (not sure you get a choice in the real experience)

Sample of an obstacle course (not interactive)

We headed over to the World War II exhibit, called "Uncommon Valor." Most of the exhibit is focused on the Pacific Theater, where Marines were the first to storm many of the islands as the United States fought its way across the ocean towards the Japanese homeland.

Entrance to WWII exhibits

States of the nations going into the war

A bit on dancing back in the day!

This machine gun nest shows a M1917A1 Browning, a .30 caliber weapon that could fire between 400 to 520 rounds per minute. The effective range was 2,500 yards, just under a mile and a half. It was used for anti-aircraft fighting as well as ground fighting.

Gun nest

The Montford Point Marines exhibit talks about the training and deployment of African Americans as Marines during World War II. The 51st and 52nd Defense Battalions were, other than the white officers, manned entirely by African Americans. Segregation was still the status quo in World War II. A separate battalion allowed the men to serve. They fought in the Pacific theater, serving on Guam, the Marshall Islands, and various atolls.

Beginning of the exhibit

On a tank

Plenty of weapons from World War II were on display.

Various personal weapons

An artillery nest?

A jeep

The Marines expanded their recruitment to include women. During World War II, they did not fight on the front line but did take on other roles, especially in the United States, freeing up other Marines to be deployed. 

Recruitment poster

This Japanese flag was captured on one of the islands and many of the soldiers from the fight signed it.

Trophy of war

The flag raised on Iwo Jima is on display, along with some information about the event. Marines used a nearby water pipe as the flag post. Originally a small flag was put up, but then with a photographer nearby, a larger flag was raised and the iconic photograph was taken.

The famous Iwo Jima Flag

Another exhibit tells the story of the Navajo Code Talkers. These Native Americans were used for communication because the Navajo language was so hard for the enemy to decode.

The Navajo Code

Once islands within bombing range of the Japanese Islands were conquered, the end of the war was only a matter of time. To avoid a costly invasion of the Japanese main land, the United States dropped two atomic bombs, one on Hiroshima and one on Nagasaki, to convince the Japanese to surrender.

The ending

We still had some time left and look around some more. We visited the Korean War exhibit.

Helicopter used by Marines during the Korean conflict

Other weapons

Korean city simulation

Some of the winters were bitterly cold in Korea and one room is kept very cold to let visitors experience it. Since the museum was about to close, we assumed the air conditioning had been turned off because it was not that cold inside.

Experiencing frigid temperatures

At least my son put his hands in his pockets!

A landing vehicle, LVT-3, is on display and visitors can walk up into it. The vehicle is amphibious, allowing landings at different places and in different situations.

Boarding the vehicle

Ready to come off

As we were walking out, I saw this display of various insignia used by the Corps in the 1800s.

The museum has a lot more to see, including extensive outdoor displays. Maybe we will get back at an earlier time in the day, and in cooler weather, to enjoy more of the museum.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg July 2025

Using our summer pass that we bought back on a previous trip, we went to Busch Gardens Williamsburg again at the end of July. The previous trip was early enough in the year that none of the water rides were open because the weather was too cold. At the end of July, it was plenty hot. Also, The Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf's Revenge was not completed back in April. Since it was a brand-new coaster, we went there first.

The park entrance

The Big Bad Wolf ride redux

The line was not too long and the hanging coaster was a fun trip through a Bavarian town plagued by a wolf. At one point on the route, a trap is laid in the ground. After that is an Oktoberfest picnic, so a lot of thematic decorations before getting back to the station. My daughter and I enjoyed it a lot. My wife had to hold bags and my youngest was not comfortable enough to ride.

The front of the coaster

Side view

Another ride that wasn't open last time was Verbolten. The coaster's theme is a car ride through a forest. This is a more traditional sit-down coaster with one or two surprises along the way. It was a lot of fun but more than my wife was happy with.

Verbolten decor

To calm things down we rode the Wirblewind, a swing ride.

Ready to ride

Is there one of these in every theme park?

Fancy sign

Last time, we were unable to ride Apollo's Chariot because of high winds. This time, the weather was calm enough to let us fly up to the sun. The ride is pretty intense but not the most intense in the park.

Apollo's Chariot

Nearby is the Battering Ram, another ride we didn't try last time. It's the classic back-and-forth boat swing. One dad had a gleefully cackling seven-year old on one side and a huddling, frightened three-year old on the other. I was much more like the seven-year old.

Battering ram

We tried to ride our first water ride, Escape from Pompeii, but it shut down just as we got to the front. To get a little wet (and cool off), we went to Roman Rapids instead, which was just opening (some rides had signs saying "Opening at 1100"). Roman Rapids is a large, circular-boat ride with a lot of bumpiness and a leaky aqueduct. 

We saw the big splash but didn't experience it

Least exciting part of the Roman Rapids ride

To dry off, we rode Pantheon twice since the line was so short--well, my daughter and I. Mom and our youngest rode something else. The Pantheon describes itself as challenging five gods and is a very intense and delightful rollercoaster.

Why does the track just end in the middle of the sky?

Dramatic entrance

Another ride closed back in April is Alpengeist, which I assumed had some ghosts on it. No, it's just a ski-themed race through an Alps-like terrain.

Going for Alpengeist

A favorite from last time, Darkoaster, was closed for repairs.

A fun, indoor roller coaster

It was close to lunchtime, so we met up at the Festhaus in the German neighborhood, though we ate the bread and cheese we had brought into the park. The cold water was the best thing ever! We had a bottle that we kept refilling. In here, we refilled it four times! We did not time our visit right because there was no show on the stage.

Festhaus

In order not to lose our lunches, we took a mild ride on the Aeronaut Skyride, a way to travel across the park. 

We were too many for one carrier

As we walked around, we saw the wolves were out in their pen. 

Brothers in captivity

Toward the end of the day, I finally rode a ride that I rode last time, the Griffon. I only rode it because my daughter wanted to. That first drop from the top, where riders hang over the concrete below, made some extra grey hairs on my head (again).

"Experience the power and speed of the legendary Griffon!"

We decided to go out of the park for dinner and to check into the hotel. We took the Skyride though it didn't really get us closer to the exit (also, it was my second repeat ride).

One last ride across the park

We checked in at the hotel, swam in the pool, and went to dinner. The plan was to go back to the park for more rides and fireworks but storm clouds were brewing. My wife and youngest were tired too, so they opted to stay at the hotel. That left my daughter and I to return to the park for more fun. We wanted to ride the Loch Ness Monster first. On the way, we saw a Clydesdale on display. It was a photo op but we opted out.

Take my picture!

The Loch Ness Monster

Equipment from a previous attempt to find Nessie

It was a fun ride, then we headed back to the Italian section where we finally rode the Pompeii ride. It has a lot of cool thematics at the top with a trip through Pompeii as the volcano is raining down fire. We didn't get too wet on the big drop.

We headed over to The Trade Wind to dry off a bit.

Not so enthusiastic about the winds

We rode Verbolten again in the Germany neighborhood. I was surprised to see a sign for an authentic beer company. Maybe they've been bought by Anheuser-Busch?

German monk beer!

We rode The Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf's Revenge again at night, which was less impressive since they did not have enough lights on the ground decorations. It was still fun.

Worst time to run into a wolf

The promised rain storm started as we walked over to Invadr, a wooden rollercoaster that is an intense, fun experience. On the way, we saw a light shining on the Darkoaster castle.

Hard to see the castle in the dark without more lights

Invadr entrance

Invadr is a fun ride but it was more perilous because of the rain. Since it moved so fast, the rain drops felt like needles jabbing at out faces (and we had to take off our glasses for the ride, so no protection there). 

We went to the bridge between Germany and Italy to watch the fireworks, a popular spot that already had a bunch of people. As time approached and the rain didn't stop (though a lot of rides had been stopped), they announced a delay in the fireworks. We decided to head for the car, figuring the fireworks would not happen. Halfway to the lot, we heard the fireworks going off. We could sort of see them through the trees. By the time we got to the car we had a better view, though it was still raining.

Only decent pic of the eight I took

The park was fun to visit again though I don't think we will go back for the rest of the season.