Tag Archives: museum

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Yes, another Revolutionary War museum post…..

February 28, 2020 Rivergirl 24 Comments

But there was so much to see and I’m not even covering an eighth of it.

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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.

nerd girl

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?

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Revolutionary War Museums can be fun.

February 27, 2020 Rivergirl 33 Comments

Really, they can.

For example…. is it me?

Or is Paul Revere a dead ringer for Jack Black?

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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?

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Day 10… A little revolution now and then is a good thing. Or so I’ve heard.

February 26, 2020 Rivergirl 26 Comments

We said goodbye to our company early on the morning of vacation day 10, promising to think about joining them for Christmas. The plan was to head down to Yorktown where I’d heard their American Revolution Museum was quite something….. but first, a Golden Corral buffet breakfast.

Biscuits and gravy and cheesy hashbrown casserole.

Long live the artery clogging south!

The museum?

Was everything they said it was…. and a little bit more.

A sprawling place chock full of fascinating history.

(If that’s not your thing? Leave now… I’ll try not to hold it against you.)

2019 was the 400th anniversary of the arrival in America of the first enslaved people from West Africa and the museum devoted an entire section to the subject.

Most of it was hard to read.

To view.

And to understand how seemingly otherwise good people could think this practice was just.

But though horrible, it is a part of this country’s story.

There were many free people of color during the Revolutionary era, and a large number fought alongside the patriots who would later come to own them.

A reprehensible thought.

One of the most stunning documents was this:

Seeing it in black and white gave me a chill.

And the descriptions?

Heartbreaking….

I can’t even imagine.

Even the father of our country wasn’t immune.

I certainly never read that in any school textbook.

Liberty… yes.

But not for all.

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For a Living Museum, it sure had a lot of dead things…..

February 24, 2020 Rivergirl 25 Comments

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.

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Dead things, live things and lots of things in between.

February 23, 2020 Rivergirl 17 Comments

After we settled into resort #2, we tried to pick a day’s activity that we could all enjoy… because yours truly was not visiting another theme park, no matter how much I loved that child.

Hence the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News. Part zoo, part aquarium and lots of interactive children’s exhibits.

Because who doesn’t love a velociraptor Santa Claus?

An extensive boardwalk wraps around the wildlife enclosure where little people can run to their heart’s content.

And the old folks can enjoy the beauty of a red fox…..

And a bobcat.

Who even though a wild cat, still enjoyed a cardboard box.

Insert required cute group photo here.

There was a plastic dinosaur section…..

Where little hands could get filthy excavating some plastic bones.

Injured vultures…..

And bald eagles were next… this one with a clearly broken wing. And if you’ve ever wondered how large an eagle’s nest is?

Yeah. They’re pretty damned large.

More boardwalks, more running.

And some shore birds…

Whose antics I could easily have stood and watched all day.

Did she see anything?

No, but she had fun trying.

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Museum oddities, death, Pocahantas, a scenic drive and some vultures.

February 17, 2020 Rivergirl 23 Comments

I could bore you to tears with all we saw that day, but let this suffice..

A portrait of an evil cherub who looks like she’s ready to stab Fido with an already bloody knife.

But no.

It’s just a 17th century pacifier. “Your mouth is sore sweetie? Here… suck on this metal and coral pointy thing.”

No wonder she looks pissed off.

“Inveterate dysenterical fluxes”.

Doesn’t that sound like fun?

The museum was filled with artifacts unearthed from the original site.

And things thrown down the communal well.

Naturally, the husband was appalled at the waste of all those perfectly good rusty tools.

The takeaway from most of the history we read?

We might romanticize the idea of the first settlers… opportunity, adventure, a brave new world etc., but in reality? It was starvation, illness and death.

And Pocahantas…. of whom much is written and little is really known.

The only actual image drawn during her lifetime is this English portrait:

A much later Anglicized version of her true self.

Child trading. A fact of which I was heretofore unaware.

So there you have it, historic Jamestown.

Where a t shirt we saw in the gift shop said it all…..

Leaving Jamestown, we got back on the Colonial Parkway…..

And saw some deer.

Some swamps.

And a whole bunch of these strange mounds.

Too small and numerous for beaver.

Any southerners care to weigh in on what constructs them?

The Parkway slides along the James River….

And was a lovely, peaceful, traffic free drive.

Except for the black vultures.

Which are neither lovely nor peaceful….

And often cause their own traffic jams when they discover a fresh kill.

And no, I didn’t include a photo of the canine corpse.

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Historic Jamestown Museum.

February 16, 2020 Rivergirl 21 Comments

Through with our outdoor touring of the site….

We found the museum.

An odd looking building we were assured was totally green.

Although it looked pretty brown to me.

climate change

Although I called it a museum?

They call it an Archaearium.

Technically that means an archeological excavation covered by a glass building.

Which it was.

Because the remains of the first government building was literally under your feet.

The exhibits were well done and history rich.

And it shouldn’t surprise you that we spent a good couple of hours here.

They’ve apparently taken a good deal of flack over the display of actual remains.

But to be honest, it was fascinating.

Granted if JR was my 10th great grandfather I might feel differently….

I mean, it doesn’t look like he died peacefully.

But then again, this poor fellow had to be in dire need of some Excedrin as well.

Early surgical instruments?

Or the Marquis De Sade’s toy chest?

Tough call.

I’m guessing this poor soul didn’t get any Novocain either.

Of course back in the day…. this pointy little piece of metal?

Yeah.

Not your average Q Tip.

Way.

And if you remember my post from yesterday about the hardships the settlers endured?

This 14 year old girl was eaten.

It doesn’t get much harder than that.

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Mariners’ Museum 4…. in miniature.

February 7, 2020 Rivergirl 17 Comments

The next section of the museum was fascinating if you’ve ever been a fan of model ships.

Growing up I had a friend whose father had a passion for it, and while his were lovely….

There were nothing like the ones on display here.

Case after case of fabulous ships.

Even the most famous ship of all.

Complete with icebergs…

There was even a model of a ……

Yeah, I had no clue what it was either.

Anyway you look at it, they were all impressive. But when the docent asked us if we’d been in the masterclass room yet…

I realized there was a whole other level of craftsmanship.

These models?

Were simply works of art.

The detail was almost unbelievable.

I’d never heard of Mr. Crabtree….

But my proverbial hat was off to him.

I can’t even imagine the patience it took to create these beauties.

They were exquisite.

And if that doesn’t knock your socks off?

Oh, come on.

That’s crazy!

Bravo August.

You certainly did that…

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Cape Cod Day 6… Sandwich Glass Museum oddities.

January 14, 2020 Rivergirl 31 Comments

Day 6 found us in getting a late start in Sandwich.

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At a museum filled with glass.

For 62 years beginning in 1825, Deming Jarvis’s glass factory put this little Massachusetts town on the map.

The history of glass was on display…

And some of it was fascinating.

Parts of the museum are interactive…

And we timed it just right to witness a glass blowing demonstration…

Which I thought I’d videoed, but apparently didn’t.

Either way, the chandelier hanging overhead was impressive. Though I’d hate to have to dust it.

Glass..

Glass.

And more glass.

Well, what did you expect…

Yes!

Chickens!

Lots…

And lots of glass chickens.

Clearly they knew I was coming.

They were salts…

And paperweights…

Art glass…

And breast pipes.

Yes.

There was even a bosom shell….

Which I’m sure was very comfortable.

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There was also a lily foot shoe..

And the chance to have dinner with a dead man.

Who could pass that up?

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Cape Cod Day 5…. P’town, sand and a museum.

January 10, 2020 Rivergirl 25 Comments

Day 5 of our Cape Cod vacation found us driving to the Outer Cape. About as out as you can get and still be on the Cape actually…

p.town

Provincetown.

Or P’town as it’s known to the locals.

I’ve heard it’s the place to be in the summer, but it was November and the wall to wall tourists were long gone. Sadly, so was most of the fun as many places were closed for the season. But we managed to have a good time all the same.

As you draw near, you realize it’s unlike other sections of the Cape.

John F. Kennedy designated a National Seashore here…

And there are miles upon miles of unspoiled beach.

As well as some pretty impressive sand dunes along the road.

But it was cool, foggy and threatening rain so we kept driving… keeping an eye out for this:

Thankfully it’s hard to miss on the skyline. Wanting to climb to the top for the fabulous views, I was unaware of the museum at it’s base.

Never one to pass up a museum, we began strolling.

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The first thing you notice? Pilgrims.

And Pilgrim history. Figuring it was because they landed up the coast at Plymouth… I had to admit I was shocked.

Whaaaat? You mean my grade school teachers got it wrong…

And I went all the way to Plymouth to photograph a rock for nothing! Yes ladies and gentlemen, the Pilgrims landed in P’town first. And believe me when I say they take that fact very seriously at the museum.