MJ Adventure Team Goes to MD - Day 6 - Ft. McHenry

It is taking me a long time to tell the rest of the stories about this trip but I want to finish. One reason I do this is that it makes me sort through my photos and jot down some notes before I forget. I also do a little more research into the history part to solidify that in my brain, at least temporarily. That is also why I don't get too it right away,  because I need the time. I left off in the last post seeing Gettysburg National Military Park and staying in the town of Gettysburg. We planned on two stops on Tuesday before getting to our final destination.

The first was Fort McHenry National Monument. It's on that point in the northwest quadrant of the map. Living on the West Coast I haven't paid much attention to the geography of the East Coast. Until I started trying to figure out where we were going on a map I hadn't realized how big Chesapeake Bay is and how much water is within the state of Maryland in the form of rivers and marshes.

I was driving this morning so just got a few shots through the windshield. Seeing signs for Washington stood out for me.

This is in Baltimore not far from Fort McHenry. I was surprised at how little traffic we had getting through this industrial area to the fort. In fact, we had little traffic and a relatively small number of people at all the national sites we visited. The wonders of off-season and mid-week travel!

We got to the Visitor's Center just in time for the 10 minute film about the Battle of 1812 and the writing of the Star Spangled Banner, originally called "Defense of Fort M'Henry", in which Francis Scott Key described the his sighting of the American flag over the Fort after 25 hours of bombardment by British ships.

The Star Spangled Banner was sung at the end of the film and people stood as the movie screen lifted, revealing the flag flying over the fort. My telling of this doesn't invoke much emotion, but the film was so well done and the ending so dramatic that when Chris and I looked at each other we both had tears in our eyes.

After that one of the Park Volunteers invited everyone to come outside and participate in a flag ceremony.

Everyone lined up in two rows facing each other.

A flag was brought out of what looked like a large duffel bag and was carried down the line of people. When the entire length was being supported then we all stepped back.

This revealed a replica of the 32' x 40' garrison flag constructed by Baltimore seamstress, Mary Pickersgill for Fort McHenry.

Major George Armistead, who commissioned the flag, wanted it to be large enough "that the British will have no difficulty in seeing it from a distance."

We learned that the original flag, which is in the Smithsonian, was made of dyed English wool, except for the stars which were cotton (and are 2' across!). There were 15 stripes, each 24", because in 1794 Congress had approved two additional stripes for Vermont and Kentucky be added to the original 13. It wasn't until 1818 that the stripes were reduced back to 13 to represent the original colonies and a star was added for each new state.

As the Park volunteer tested our new-found knowledge of the flag we rolled it back up stripe-by-stripe. We were then encouraged to learn more at the Fort.

Mary Pickersgill made two flags, the large garrison flag and a smaller storm flag, 17' x 25'.

That was the one flying on this day. They use the larger flag on days with less wind.

As we walked to the fort we saw this couple, an interesting contrast with the buildings in the background.

Inside the Fort, many of the rooms on the lower floor have more information and interpretive displays.

I wonder what how you'd know!

I thought it was interesting to get this perspective. The glass case encloses part of the original oak cross-brace that was underground and anchored the original flagpole. The replica cross-brace above gives perspective of the size and the depth of the lower section.

The fort is star-shaped. These cannons point down the Patapsco River where the British bomb ships were stationed and toward Chesapeake Bay beyond.

We could easily have spent more time at the Fort, absorbing more of it's history, and driven around Baltimore to see the other relevant sites, but that will have to be on the list for a future visit.

Places to go. More things to see. Stay tuned.

MJ Adventure Team Goes to MD - Day 5 - Gettysburg

After a fabulous time at MDSW the fun wasn't over for three of us.

This is the house where we'd stayed for the last 3 nights.

We left Dona and Mary at the bus station in Frederick where they would take a shuttle to the airport, and Chris, Kathleen, and I drove on to continue the adventure.

Today's plan was to see Gettysburg National Military Park.

A chat with Abe outside the Visitor Center.

Chris took a selfie with him.

We spent a short time in the museum before entering the theater at our ticketed time for the presentation of a film about Gettysburg. This was a powerful film narrated by Morgan Freeman.

I must say here that I continue to be impressed with the modern visitor centers in our National Parks and Monuments. The presentation of history, natural history, collections of artifacts, etc is superb.  If you take the time to absorb all that is presented there is a lot to learn.

After the film we were ushered into a circular room to see the Cyclorama. . It is a painting depicting Pickett's Charge that was completed in 1884 and is 42 feet by 377 feet! The overhead lights go dim and you watch the sky lighten as dawn comes. Then you hear the story while different portions of the painting are illuminated, changing as the day (July 3, 1863) goes on and ends in carnage.

Here's a refresher for those of you who remember as few details of U.S. history as I do.

The Civil War began in 1861 and the Battle of Gettysburg, fought from July 1-3, 1863, is considered the most important engagement. Troops commanded by General Robert E. Lee battled the Union Army, led by General George G. Meade. The two armies were on parallel ridges about a mile apart and on July 3 12,000 Confederate soldiers were sent across the open fields in an attack known as Pickett's Charge. Over 5000 soldiers were killed within an hour and Lee retreated towards Virginia. This marked a turning point in the war and was (I think) the northernmost point reached by the Confederate Army.

The Park encompasses the land upon which the battle was fought, located around the town of Gettysburg and there are signs that point out all the critical places that armies occupied and where battles were fought.  There is a 24-mile Self-guiding Auto Tour with opportunities to stop all along the way.

You don't have to have an Auto to take the Auto Tour.

At first i took photos of all the statues we came across but I soon learned that there are over 1300 monuments and statues in the Park. Each regiment has their own and there are many markers that explain  the significance of some of the sites.

We looked specifically for this one because Chris has an ancestor who was represented here.

We had bought an audio guide to be downloaded on a phone and listened to while we drove through the area. We couldn't make it work and Kathleen did a great job of narrating the tour using the accompanying book. Kathleen is wearing her MDSW awarding-winning handspun Jacob sweater that I mentioned in one of the previous posts.

This is the Virginia Memorial, including a statue of Robert E. Lee, at one of our first stops. I love horse statues.

At this site we saw a couple of groups of school kids having a lesson in Civil War history. We listened awhile to the guide who explained things that I never thought about (importance of flags and drummers as a way to signal, for instance) and then had the kids line up in formation and "right face, left face, etc" It was cute to see most of them turn together but there were always a few that went the opposite way. Watching them reminded me of when my oldest son was in middle school and his history teacher, who was a film buff in addition to teaching history, led the kids in making a film of Pickett's Charge. The kids were dressed in home-made or scrounged clothing to look the part and carrying home-made weapons (that wooden rifle is still around here somewhere I think). The school band participated as well as some of the kids who owned horses. They played out the event and made the film out in a field owned by a local farmer. I took a photo of these kids to send Matt as a fun reminder about that, but it became less "cute" and more sobering the more we read and the more we delved into the history of what actually happened here. This is a view from where the kids are standing and where the Confederate troops were positioned on Seminary Ridge. Union troops were across the valley on Cemetery Ridge. This is part of a Valley that extends a couple of miles and there are significant points to the Battle of Gettysburg throughout. It is incongruous in this beauty to think of thousands of dead and dying men. And no one ever says anything about the dead and wounded horses. Add that in to the scene.

In this idyllic view you can see the Pennsylvania Memorial across the field and to the right. There are places along the route where you read (in the guidebook) about what the aftermath of a battle looks like--the biology of death--blood, flies, bloated bodies, etc.  I think that people need to hear that--does it help if we (they) are given mental pictures to try and  internalize the horror of war?  If kids hear that? What it really looks like? In person? Does it sink in at all what it means to kill another person? To be a bully in the most final sense?  This kind of atrocity is being played out in other parts of the world now. Do kids realize how lucky we are to live here? How about us adults too?

Traveling through history in such a vivid, visual way brings this out in me I guess. It seems that most historical events have to do with someone winning, someone losing, someone conquering. Kind of  like the newspaper. There isn't much to say about normal people just living their lives. Off the soapbox now.

There were observation towers at a few places that allowed us to get an overview of the whole area and visualize the events that played out.

This is a view from the tower that includes, in the foreground, the Eisenhower National Historic Site, the home and farm of Eisenhower that he bought in 1950. We ran out of time to visit that.

This view is from Little Round Top, a point controlled by Union soldiers. The rock formation below is known as Devil's Den and the foreground is Slaughter Pen. There was fierce fighting as Confederate soldiers in a line a mile long approached from the far ridge and the Union soldiers tried to defend it. That description is too simplistic; there is detailed documentation about each battle site and each battle.

I don't remember details of this house but it is along the tour route.

Near the end of the tour we were at what is known as the High Water Mark, the farthest point reached by Confederate soldiers during the Battle of Gettysburg.

From the Park brochure: "July 3...Some 12,000 Confederates advanced across open fields toward the Federal center in an attack known as 'Pickett's Charge'. The attack failed and cost Lee over 5,000 soldiers in one hour. The Battle of Gettysburg was over."

Completed in 1914, the Pennsylvania Memorial is the largest State Memorial in the Park and is near the High Water Mark.

Union General Meade's statue is nearby.

The auto tour was almost over. Instead of the 2-1/2 to 3 hours described in the brochure I think we were there for about 5 hours.

The tour ended at the Soldier's National Cemetery, created after the battle, and where 3500 Union soldiers were later buried. Remains of 3,320 Confederate soldiers were removed from the battlefield to cemeteries in the South. Veterans from 1898 War with Spain to the Vietnam War are also buried here.

Graves of unidentified Civil War soldiers.

This cemetery is also the site where Lincoln gave his famous speech, taking two minutes  to speak these profound words, following a 2-hour speech  by Edward Everett, a well-known politician and orator from Massachusetts.

Whew! This was a sobering day. It was also very windy and tiring and we were ready to find a hot dinner and warm bed.

Dinner first. We tried one place that looked good but there was a 45 minute wait. Chris and Kathleen found another and we eventually had hot showers and warm beds.

Next post: Ft. McHenry and Harriet Tubman's Underground Railroad.

MJ Adventure Team Goes to MD - Day 2 - Harpers Ferry

Here is Day 1--getting to Maryland. On Day 2 we woke up early with places to go, things to see. Our plan today was to take our fiber entries to the fairgrounds and then go to Harpers Ferry to explore some of the Civil War history of this area. Chris drove and I got into my usual Road Trip mode--Map Book and phone.

Here is the destination. Harpers Ferry is situated at the confluence of the Potomac and  Shenandoah Rivers, where Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia meet. It is the easternmost town in West Virginia.

We were driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains and every time I said the name Shenandoah I felt like breaking into song (John Denver style).  Wikipedia says: "The Blue Ridge Mountains are noted for having a bluish color when seen from a distance. Trees put the "blue" in Blue Ridge, from the isoprene released into the atmosphere, thereby contributing to the characteristic haze on the mountains and their distinctive color."

Also from Wikipedia: "Isoprene is produced and emitted by many species of trees (major producers are oaks, poplars, eucalyptus, and some legumes."

We were looking for Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.

The whole town is in a National Historic District, but it is the lower part that is the National Historic Park.

The Park is spread out in non-contiguous sections and we did cross state lines a number of times.

We finally found the headquarters and Visitors' Center where I got my lifetime pass to all the parks, monuments, etc in the National Park System. (That's the only good thing about the last birthday.) Kathleen and I bought the National Parks Passport book that shows all the parks and historical sites region by region and has places to include commemorative stickers and "postmark" stamps. We took a shuttle to Lower Harpers Ferry where there many restored old buildings, some preserved as museums and others with modern shops inside.

One of the buildings on Shenandoah Street houses a bookstore and the others are set up as they would have been in the 1800's or as museums.

We climbed the path past the ruins of the Episcopal Church...

...and the Catholic Church that was built in 1833.

This route happens to be part of the Appalachian trail so we were able to stamp our  passport books with the Appalachian Trail stamp!

The shops on the left in this photo are all occupied with modern businesses, mostly souvenir shops or cafes.

I saw this in one of the windows. As creepy as it is, it's not nearly as bad as a doll in another window that looked like a crime victim or a participant in a horror movie. I took a photo but am creeped out enough by it to not want it in my blog post. Some of the people in this part of town have an interesting sense of humor.

This is a detail of the stone wall in the photo above.

The town became an industrial center between 1801 and 1861 with the construction of  the U.S. Armory and Arsenal. Below is a detail of the sign in the foreground.

Just below (in relation to this photo) is where the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers meet, the Potomac cutting through a slot in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

This is the confluence. There is a railroad bridge here and now a foot bridge that across the Shenandoah River.  The foot bridge is part of a system of trails including the Appalachian Trail, the north-south route along the crest of the Appalachians, and the 184-mile C & O Canal trail.   From the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal NHP site: "Preserving America's early transportation history, the C&O Canal began as a dream of passage to Western wealth. Operating for nearly 100 years the canal was a lifeline for communities along the Potomac River as coal, lumber and agricultural products floated down the waterway to market. Today it endures as a pathway for discovering historical, natural and recreational treasures!"

This is the view from the western end of the bridge showing the old towpath and here is a link from a bicycling guide which states "the canal's towpath remains a favorite of hikers, joggers, and bicyclists".

The overlook from the eastern side.

Mary and Chris are not checking their stock portfolios here. We have a group of friends back home who want to travel with us vicariously. We all have been sharing photos and updates.

We drove to another part of the park to see the Civil War battlefields and another view of the town.

I noticed this flowering tree.

Green flowers are so unusual. This is a tulip poplar which is actually more closely related to a magnolia than a poplar.

We spent only a few hours at this park where you could spend days exploring. But we made this trip for the FIBER. Next stop was a yarn shop in the town of Frederick where there was a sale promoting some well-known yarn dyers.

Mary  found one of her favorite indie-dyers there...

...who dyed these yarns. While she stood in line (a very long line) to make her purchases the rest of us walked around the area.

I enjoyed this window scene more than a couple of those in Harpers Ferry.

Preview of the next day.