Monday, June 28
We start our adventures by heading for a plantation- that wasn't. We found it on the internet, but there wasn't much to it, so we'll call it a nature hike. Nathan was in heaven. We kind of got mixed up and separated to start with. Brian and Michelle had to run some errands, Blake and Shonna forgot their stroller, so Blake, Kristen (who was having contractions and shouldn't hike), and I went back to get the stroller. Because the plantation was a bust, we all just met out at the East Petersburg visitors center. Because of a happy mistake, I got to see Fort Lee where my parents were stationed in the army back in the 50's- that's the 1950's. I tried to talk Blake into driving to the gate to ask the officer if he knew where the Gabrielsens used to live. He wouldn't.
Man, oh man was it hot. HOOOOOOT! We looked through the Petersburg visitors center and watched a movie about the battles fought there. My dad used to talk about seeing the crater where the Union soldiers tunneled under the Confederates, blowing a hole in their line. It worked, but the crater made by the blast trapped many union soldiers, making them sitting ducks for the enemy. It was sobering (and hot!) to see that tunnel and crater. My dad also used to talk about the two bullets that fused together mid-air- one from each side. We saw those bullets. We bought three audio tours for the three cars, and enjoyed learning and seeing the history.
Here's the bullets that met. It was neat to see the same thing that had so impressed my Dad 60 years ago.
The Crater at Petersburg
We stopped at a cemetery where there was a ranger station. William, the ranger told us many fascinating stories about the Civil War. He presented Jr. Ranger badges to all four kids, and even one to Kristen for her unborn son. He was a nice guy and told us it made his day to have people so interested.
Appotomax Court House- the ending place of the Civil War
General Grant's Cabin
Did I mention that it was unbelievably hot? That was the bad part. We went back to Williamsburg where Shonna and Blake made us yummy Cafe Rio burritos for dinner. Daddy and I went back out grocery shopping for more stuff after that.
Now click older posts to see the rest of our travels!
3 comments:
It was HOT!!!
Man, you did a good job at documenting the details. The one story that I'm remembering now is where Nathan proudly presented his newly-found worm to William to show it off. William thought it was an intruder and "saved the day" by promptly snatching it from Nathan's arm and tossing it out the front door. He looked very satisfied with himself until he looked back at Nathan's forlorn face and realized that "intruder" had been Nathan's pet.
Kay, Oh my gosh, what a great trip. We were back there with Aaron and Carina in late May....we went to Fort Lee, too. When we were at the gate to get special visiter passes to enter Fort Lee property, we were asked to show our drivers licences. I said, "Oh shoot, I left mine at the house!" The two big dudes at the gate started shaking their heads indicating that we would not be able to enter. Aaron said, "Well I think that you will really enjoy my mom's visiting with you while the rest of us go in...she is fun and not too crazy at all." I of course from the back seat said something like,"yeah we could have a good time getting to know each other...oh here is my costco card with my picture on it...will that work for a photo id?" The security guards took a brief look at the costco card, a fleeting look at each other, and flagged us on in!!" We loved that story and loved driving through Fort Lee thinking of mom and dad gabrielsen. We also went to the Petersburg site...wow, great history there!!! Love you guys lots and lots Cindy (and John who encouraged me to share the security gate story)
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