Peaceful Tribute

We took advantage of a recent no school day get the boys down to the Pentagon for a tour. We were in luck this time--the weather was nice and the Pentagon Memorial was open!



The Pentagon Memorial commemorates the victims of the events at 9:37 AM, September 11th, 2001, when a hijacker flew American Airlines Flight 77 into the side of the building.  184 lives were lost that day, some on the aircraft and some on the ground.

The memorial is a collection of individual memorials to each victim, and is arranged by date of birth, from the youngest, aged 3, to the eldest, a 71-year-old Navy veteran.  The memorials are cantilevered benches with a flowing pool of water underneath.  If you face the end with the name of the person, you look either at the Pentagon, if that person was there, or the ridge over which the plane came, if the person was on the plane.  125 people in the Pentagon were lost that day, and 59 on the plane.

It’s an elegant, simple memorial, interspersed with Crepe Myrtle trees still in their youth, which one day will shade the etched stone and steel names of those that lost their lives that fateful day.  It's an incredibly peaceful place to just sit and reflect on the enormity of what happened and pay tribute to the souls who were lost.



If you look closely, you can tell the new stone from the building's original stone, which gives you an idea of the area of impact and amount of damage to that side of the building.

If you haven't seen this memorial and you're anywhere near the Pentagon, you should definitely make time to go.

O'er the Land of the Free

We had a day trip to Maryland planned a few weeks back, but we weren't sensing a lot of enthusiasm from the boys when it came time to depart.

What?  Only four months into our trip and they've already lost their sense of adventure?  Where was their carpe diem spirit?  How could mountains of homework possibly keep them from the adventures that were awaiting us, just outside the door?

It was definitely time for a reset.  Leave it to hubby to have at his fingertips a YouTube video that was just what we all needed to put it in perspective.  For those of you needing some inspiration, CHECK THIS OUT.  (In case the link doesn't work, it's a young Robin Williams' Carpe Diem speech to his students in "Dead Poet's Society.")

If that doesn't get you going, I don't know what will.  Three minutes later, with a rallying cry of "CARPEEEEEEEEE DIIIIIIIIIIEMMMMMM," we were tripping over each other to get out the door, leaving our cares and worries behind for a day of exploration!

Our general destination was Baltimore's Inner Harbor, where we wanted to check out Fort McHenry, a star-shaped fort that was the site of the British Naval Bombardment of Baltimore Harbor during the War of 1812.  It was those bombs bursting in air that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner, the song that would eventually become our national anthem.

Although it was a beautiful day, it was COLD, and the winds were brisk.  The little "storm flag" they were flying at Fort McHenry was getting a workout in the 40-60 mph gusts.

We oriented ourselves with the brief NPS video at the Visitor's Center, and then we braved the winds outside and headed up to the Fort.

The Fort lies at the entrance to the Baltimore Harbor, and thus was the key to defense of the city when the British came to attack and burn Baltimore in 1814.  The British Navy bombarded Fort McHenry for 25 hours, and it's estimated that between 1,500 to 1,800 shells and rockets were fired at the fort during that time.  

Fort McHenry was defended by a thousand brave men, its gun batteries protecting the river channel that led to the city.  

When the smoke cleared the morning after the bombardment, Francis Scott Key was on a ship in the Chesapeake Bay, straining through his telescope to see whose flag was hoisted over the fort.  When he saw that it was the stars and stripes of Fort McHenry's flag, he was so overjoyed he was inspired to write the poem the "Defence (sic) of Fort McHenry," which grew over the years in popularity until "The Star-Spangled Banner" later became the National Anthem of the United States in 1931.

If you need a patriotic shot in the arm, go see Fort McHenry.  I dare you not to cry when everyone stands at the end of the video shown in the Visitor's Center to sing the Star-Spangled Banner.  Proud American moment!

We were glad to leave the bone-chilling winds at Fort McHenry.  After feasting on some surprisingly delicious seafood at one of authentic eateries at the Inner Harbor, we headed off to our second major stop of the day:  Fort Washington!

Fort Washington is the military fort you can see when you're on the Virginia side of the Potomac, just north of Mt. Vernon, looking over at Maryland.

Originally Fort Warburton, the United States began constructing a fort on this location in 1808 to defend the river approach to Washington D.C. from the British.  That original fort was destroyed in 1814, but it was replaced by a new fort that was completed in 1824.

The fort has been many things over the years, housing many troops and reinventing itself as the needs of the coastal defense changed over time.  It played a role in defending the nation's capital in the Civil War, and it has played a key role in the coastal defense of the nation's capital for almost 200 years.

The fort became part of the National Park Service in 1946.

Bye, Maryland!  Look forward to seeing more of your hidden treasures another day.

First Impressions

You may recall in an earlier post that two members of our corp were "outed" as being the newest recruits in the First Virginia Regiment of the Continental Line, a Revolutionary War living history group.

Samuel has written this blog post to share some of their impressions thus far:

My dad and I have joined a local Revolutionary War living history group.  It’s a longstanding non-profit organization committed to education, often doing living history demonstrations and events around the community, in the schools, and at local historical sites.

As such, it’s important to make every attempt to accurately portray the clothing, equipment, and life of the Revolutionary War soldier and his family as far as is possible. * This is called the “impression” – as it’s subject to some interpretation.

My dad and I have accumulated a little bit of kit, but are using some loaner gear, as much of the gear is hand-made and needs to be acquired slowly and thoughtfully.  It’s also a wee bit more expensive than your average Halloween costume!

It is known that the continental troops all over the American colonies were undersupplied and starving until the intervention of foreign powers after the second battle of Saratoga.  This is very true but the regulars still tried to maintain a bit of uniformity among its privates and officers.  First starting with the hunting frock and then moving to a mix of regimental frock coats (what we see a continental soldier look like today) and hunting shirts.

We have been outfitted with loaner hunting shirts with a fringe on the collar as well as red on the cuffs and collars.  It was thought that the initial uniform of some Virginia Regiments was a hunting shirt with some sort of red cuff and collar although there are no surviving examples or pictures.  The standard regimental frock coat with red cuffs and red coat facings was later introduced.  The hunting shirt is lightweight and very large but serves well when you stand in the hot summer sun.  The regimental coat is made of wool and uses British blue coloring and other British and Indian dyes for the wool, making it warmer and yet still free and open to movement.  We don’t have one of these yet but we hope to obtain or make one or two someday.  Below are a few photos of Dad testing his sewing skills by making a new linen Haversack.

The shoes are a fun little aspect of the reenactment since they feel uncomfortable and can hurt if you walk too far in them without getting used to the feel of them and break them in.  Luckily we don’t have to march 20 miles in one day!  Though they can be a curse to your feet they look very cool and make you feel like you are really livin' the dream!  Dad has acquired a pair and we are considering options for me but trying to find reasonably priced shoes are hard when you have a growing teenager.  

In any case, in early May we expect to be encamped at a couple of historic sites, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our fellows wreathed in smoke from our musketry, and in the evenings gathered around the campfire singing songs and eating some sort of salt pork or beef.

We’ve done a little training, but this will be the first big event.  We are excited . . . HUZZA!

For those of you interested in learning more about the First Virginia, check out its website or "like" it on Facebook if you want to keep track of what the group is up to:

Website:  http://1varegiment.com/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/1varegiment/timeline

Winter's Last Gasp?

Could it be that we've seen the last gasp of this bone-chilling East Coast winter?  

Last week was a doozy! Freezing rain put a glaze over the snowy remains of the last storm to start off the week, followed by another six inches of snow and temps falling to the high teens and low twenties as the latest winter storm blew through on Thursday and Friday. School was cancelled for three of the five days last week, which made the kids deliriously happy.  I guess being out of school never gets old when you're a teenager.

Today, the birds are chirping, and the great melt is underway!  The big piles of snow that have been around for weeks will probably be a distant memory by the end of the day. The forecast is calling for a gorgeous day with temps in the high 50s and maybe even low 60s!

Dare we hope that Spring is right around the corner? Am I jinxing it by even thinking about it?  

Ever the optimist, I've got my sunglasses ready, and the dog and I will be heading out for a walk soon to soak up some rays. March definitely came in like a lion.  Here's hoping the "out like a lamb" part will come true, too!  

Hangin' with Gramma C

And the honor of second overnight houseguest . . . and first Grandma in da house . . . goes to Gramma Carol!

This fearless flyer braved winter storms, treacherous travel conditions, peak flu exposure and more to come for a visit.  We all loved having her with us for a few days!

Gramma C spent the first part of her trip visiting Jim, Sara, Lyla and Stitch down in North Carolina.  By some miracle, she managed to get from there to here in between winter storms, with only one cancelled flight causing a one-day delay.  

Our time was slightly shortened, but we made the most of it, cramming in good food, games, sightseeing, movies, naps, visiting and more!

We had lunch and a tour of the Pentagon one day with our favorite tour guide (sorry--no photos allowed!). 

But by far one of the best things we did was to take a double-decker bus tour of the National Monuments. Temps were dipping into the mid-teens when she was here, so the thought of sitting in an open-top tour bus was pretty chilling.  However, we found a bus company that covers its open top busses with a clear plexiglas top in the winter to chauffeur you around in style and heated comfort. If you find yourself in DC in the winter with only a short amount of time, we highly recommend it!  

In about two and a half hours, we got a toasty warm, narrated driving tour of about 18 key sites around the National Mall.  With busses running every half an hour, we were also were able to hop on and off the bus if we wanted to spend more time at a particular site, which we did.  

It doesn't get much better than that in DC in the winter!

Thanks for coming to visit, Gramma Carol, and can't wait to see you again soon!