So a blog friend of mine has time warped me back into the ’90’s.
No, not that far.
Although the hair is close….
He’s started an old fashioned chat room and we’ve been playing around with it for the past few days.
Damn.
Now that I think about it… he does have a Golden.
But if you have a minute and want some less than stimulating conversation, drop by and say hello!
We were beginning to discover a strange thing about the Historic Triangle area in Williamsburg ,Virginia…. everything is done in triplicate. National Parks, State Parks and tourist venues all cover the same history and it can be a bit confusing when choosing a place to visit. So after finishing the Revolutionary War Museum and the Yorktown re-creation, we headed to the actual Yorktown site and found a National Parks visitors center.
It had a small museum with most of the same information we had just seen… and a broken heating system which rendered the building slightly less cold than the Arctic tundra. Needless to say, we didn’t linger.
There was a ship.
A one fourth size replica of the one that sunk in the neighboring York River.
So we boarded her…
Explored… and then moved on.
To some tents.
But not just any old tents.
These were literally George Washington’s tents.
Delivered by Philadelphia upholsterer Plunket Fleeson in May 1776, Washington’s original set of campaign tents included a large dining tent — which also served as his headquarters and meeting room — and two additional tents that provided space for the general to sleep and store his baggage.
Though made of rugged worsted wool and linen, several of these tents succumbed to rough treatment during the war, requiring Washington to order replacements. Still more abuse took place after the deaths of the general and his wife, when their stepson — George Washington Parke Custis — began snipping off pieces of the historic fabric to give to guests at his celebrated outdoor parties.
Later, the tents accompanied the Marquis de Lafayette on his triumphant 1824 tour of the nation he helped create. Yet even at historic Fort McHenry, where they were reverently displayed under the original Star-Spangled Banner, the increasing fragile artifacts were handled with a recklessness that’s hard for curators to imagine today.
Greater still was the threat from Union Army pillagers who seized the Arlington estate of Custis’ heir — Mary Custis Lee — and her husband, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, during the Civil War. Only a word of warning from a Lee family slave named Selina Gray persuaded federal officials to seize them for safekeeping, thus saving the irreplaceable relics.
Returned in 1901, the outer elements of both the dining and sleeping tents were quickly sold; they ended up in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution and what is now the American Revolution Center at Valley Forge, Sundberg said. The Park Service acquired the dining tent ceiling and sleeping tent chamber from the Lee family in 1955, putting both on display at what was then the new Yorktown Visitor Center.
And pardon my geekdom, but I think that’s pretty damned cool!
Heck, they even had Lord Cornwallis’s table he used during the war.
But by that time we were freezing and had to go outside to warm up. Wanting to see the actual Yorktown battlefield…. we started the driving tour with directions from the park rangers.
I’m not quite sure what I was expecting.
But what I got were a bunch of humps.
Humps here.
Humps there.
Humps everywhere.
Apparently they’re called redoubts.
|
Cornwallis had his men construct a main line of defense around Yorktown that consisted of ten small enclosed forts (called redoubts), batteries with artillery and connecting trenches. The Americans and French marched from Williamsburg to Yorktown on September 28 and began digging a trench 800 yards from the British defense line to begin a siege. By October 9, the allies’ trench was finished and their artillery had been moved up. Firing at the British continuously, they had virtually knocked the British guns out of action by October 11. Cornwallis had the additional misfortune to learn at that time that Clinton’s departure from New York had been delayed. During the night of October 11, the allies began a second trench 400 yards from the British. The next days were spent bringing up artillery and strengthening the new line. The new line could not be completed, however, without capturing British redoubts 9 and 10. On the night of October 14, 400 French stormed redoubt 9 and 400 Americans stormed redoubt 10, capturing them in less than 30 minutes. Nine Americans and 15 French died in this brief and heroic action. |
And not be outdone, we had humps as well.
I believe there were 10 of them on the tour, but come on. Once you’ve seen a few humps?
You’ve seen them all.
Though this one had cannons, which I photographed from the top of a hump……
Before realizing you weren’t supposed to climb to the top of the humps.
Oh, we weren’t talking about ice? Well, I am now.
We had ice this year.
Lots and lots of ice.
The shovel the snow off the driveway, watch your feet slide out from under you and land smack on your ass kind of ice.
Everything was covered in sheets of ice for weeks on end.
Of course this made for some pretty fabulous icicles.
On the garage, they started out small.
But then they grew.
Which made getting in and out of the garage rather perilous.
Did I mention this was the section of the garage I was nagging the husband to put a new gutter on all last summer and fall?
Maybe now he knows why.
The end of our living history tour was a typical Yorktown, Virginia farm of 18th century.
It re-creates the life of Edward Moss, and you can read a little about it here.
The house was simple, but comfortable enough for the time…
Or so Edward told us.
There was a separate building for cooking… where they were currently following old recipes and baking pies.
Apparently you used to be able to sample the food, but the health department put the kibosh on that and now you can only drool.
And although the pie smelled great, I can’t say I’d be too eager to try any of these recipes.
Calf’s head surprise…?
No.
Transmogrified pigeon?
Yeah… I’ll pass on that as well.
I did get a kick out of this spice jar stopper though.
As promised….
Some chickens.
Because no matter where I go, I tend to find fowl.
There was candle making.
And slave quarters.
Complete with….
You guessed it.
Shoes.
There was a tobacco drying shed, because back then tobacco equaled money.
And if you’ve never had occasion to be in one?
Trust me… it smells wonderful.
A few more buildings…
A lot more fencing…. and we were done.
Well…
After I said goodbye to the resident ducks.
I do love me some waterfowl.
Even with the milder winters we’re having, we still see our fair share of snow, ice, and sleet. But temperatures are warming and we’re not seeing those epic dumps of the white stuff like we used to.
This used to be a normal February.
Tunneling was a way of life.
Now? We get a few inches and it melts.
Then it freezes.
I am so done with ice.
Yes, it’s pretty.
But when walking to the mailbox means you might slip, fall and crack a rib?
You can have it.
Give me a foot of snow over pretty shining crystals any day.
And with all that snow, melting and ice?
This –
A leak in the roof.
And what looks like an expensive repair to the ceiling.
It’s the worst possible time of year for it.
So from now until spring, when we can get it fixed, I’m going to cringe every time it rains.
Good times.
The second half of the American Revolutionary War Museum in Yorktown, Virginia is the interactive outdoor exhibit re-creation.
First up…. the soldier’s encampment.
It’s one thing to read about these things and see them in your mind’s eye….. quite another when you can physically touch and experience them first hand.
See those little tents? 4-6 men slept in there….. and let me tell you, it wouldn’t have been comfortable for one.
Meals, such as they were… were cooked here.
And the fire was kept burning 24/7.
There were few doctors as we think of them today, and the surgical tent more than likely contained a barber with a bag of torture implements like these. Please note the large bottle of laudanum in the back. I’d be chugging that like iced tea, thank you very much.
Though if you were bitten by a mad dog?
They had you covered.
The General’s tent was a bit larger….
And served as his office as well.
The laundromat was a bit primitive.
Though you did get a discount if you brought your own soap.
And the entire camp was ringed with wooden spikes to repel attackers.
As well as providing excellent selfie backgrounds.
But there was so much to see and I’m not even covering an eighth of it.
Oh, stop.
A little knowledge won’t hurt you, although these might.
While I’m not a general fan of firearms…
Even I had to admit they were beautiful in the 18th century.
The silver work was lovely.
And the under sides of the butt caps really did have grimacing faces… but the lighting, the glass cases, and the reflections prevented any of my pictures from being post worthy.
Everywhere you looked you were surrounded by history.
Which is basically my nerdy idea of heaven.
When I die? I want to find out who killed JFK, how the pyramids were built and the location of ancient Troy.
And trust me, I have a lot of shoes.
Impressive, right?
There was even a tree of knowledge. If only I could spread some of it’s seeds in our nation’s capitol today…..
Naturally we had to check out the surround sound movie.
Complete with battle scene sequence smoke rolling by on the floor.
And in my experience?
There are very few museums who actively instruct you to touch their balls.
Yup.
Seriously big balls.
This now concludes the indoor museum section of our trip to Yorktown, Virginia.
Well, wait….
Maybe just one more thing.
Because who doesn’t love 244 year old rat skulls?
Really, they can.
For example…. is it me?
Or is Paul Revere a dead ringer for Jack Black?
See?
Fun!
America looked a little different in the 1700’s.
Back when this fellow was in charge.
And who knew ole Ben was a songwriter?
Not exactly top 40 material, but hey… he had other things on his mind.
We spent hours exploring…..
And were very impressed.
They brought history to life.
And there was even a little Revolutionary Name That Crap!
Can you guess?
And how about…..
Can you guess?
One more.
This was rusty so you know the husband loved it.
We learned a lot… and I won’t bore you with it all.
But it was a fascinating place.
Filled with fascinating things.
Admit it, you started humming Yankee Doodle Dandy when you saw that drum.
They even had shoes!
How great is that?
Our last night with our special visitors ended at Jose Tequilas because…. well, you knew it had to.
Greeted at the door by this…..
And this….
I knew it was going to be a fun place.
The colors were bright and cheerful.
And the margarita list was a mile long.
Heaven, I tell you…. pure heaven!
I started with the Prickly Pear and Destiny had the Mango…. we both said large, and yes they were.
The Dia de los Meurtos theme was fabulous… and everywhere you looked.
After a few of those large (and quite potent) margaritas? I wouldn’t be surprised if someone asked those chicas to dance.
I tried to persuade our table to order grilled cactus, but there were no takers.
Though a second round of medium sized margaritas was approved for us girls.
Purple Gecko for me, Cool Cucumber for Destiny.
And yes, Martin… there was food.
Although Mexican food never looks as good as it tastes.
Chicken enchiladas, Spanish rice and re-fried beans….
Quesadillas….
And churros.
A good time was had by all.
There was a third round of margaritas…. the Tamerindo Guava and a Coco Loco respectively…. but yours truly forgot to photograph those.
And to be honest? By that time I was very glad the resort was only 2 minutes away.
Making our way inside, I was surprised by the number of dead things at the Virginia Living Museum.
And to be honest?
They didn’t look too happy about the fact either.
Look at the stink eye on this owl.
Clearly he’s not pleased with that skeleton placement.
The woodchuck has a piece of wood.
A bit too on point…. no?
And Bambi?
Well, he looks like he’s ready to bite off a curator’s finger…. or two.
Even the turtle you climb into wasn’t immune from the specter of death.
But what really took the cake?
The Christmas tree….
Complete with a fish skull angel topper.
If that doesn’t give junior screaming holiday nightmares… nothing will.
Thankfully there were live creatures as well.
Though little people had to be talked into petting them.
Horseshoe crabs used to wash up on the Jersey shore by the dozens when I was a kid and they always fascinated me.
A more prehistoric sea creature you’re not apt to find.
There were interestingly set up exhibits on multiple levels.
Where the husband practiced his fish whispering again.
Various tanks contained the beautiful…
And the bizarre.
I couldn’t quite figure out this crab.
Was he picking his nose… or giving me the finger?
Tough call.
I was pleased to see my favorite Lionfish again….
Spiky venomous fins and all.
Gracie fell totally in love with a puffer and sang songs to it…..
Though she got yelled at by a volunteer for being a little too physical with the tank.
I’m not sure why disco colored lights ruled in the jellyfish area.
But we enjoyed the aquarium and it’s funky residents.
There was an odd cave like area….
That was very dark and next to impossible to take pictures in… so I can’t share the bats and snakes and reptiles we saw.
But I did manage a shot of the sign for my husband’s spirit animal.
Yup… change the shiny objects part to rusty crap? And they’re his people.
Gracie enjoyed the interactive children’s section where all the other kids were making plates of plastic food for their parents.
My contribution to the meal she was making for her mother?
What can I say?
You just can’t beat a nicely roasted rat.
