Once we arrived, and were ushered into our parking spot, we unloaded the car and found ourselves transported back in time 148 years. We were surrounded by women in hoop skirts and gloves-with parasols and hair swept up off their necks. We mingled with men in uniform, unshaven and guns shouldered. We roamed their camps and listened as they played their marching band music, drums keeping time as they marched in formation.
We made our way up the gently sloping mountainside and set up our chairs to observe the re-enactments of the only three Civil War battles to take place west of the Mississippi. The children were in awe of the cannons and the loud boom they produced- and the repeat echo as it thundered down the canyon. And we watched as the Union cavalry marched in and drove the Confederate forces back.
After the battles, we roamed the shops and little son decided upon a wooden sword with a leather sheath. The man outside the shop burned his initials on the sword with a magnifying glass.
We were all entranced as we watched him burn the initials in less than a minute. Every boy should have a handmade wooden Civil War-era sword with his initials burned into it by a Civil War guy with a magnifying glass. I don't know how we ever survived without one.
The girls picked out pioneer bonnets. And they were deliberate in their choices. But we opted not to have their initials burned on the bonnet.
There were some very fancy ladies walking around, some in formal dresses and others in typical, everyday wear. The girls were impressed with the hoops in their skirts and loved how they swished when they walked.
After we left the battlefield, we traveled into the state park itself to enjoy the beautiful wildflowers and hike a few trails. With all the rain we have enjoyed this winter, the mountain is lush and green, dotted with yellows and purples.
It was a good day.
One of those where you fall into bed with a smile on your face.
7 comments:
wow that looks really cool!! and the burnt initials in the sword are awesome!! glad you guys had a good time :)
i was sooo bummed that we couldn't join you! especially with it being so close. but saturday was such a busy day for us and there was no way we could have fit one more thing in. ok well mostly it was a busy day for me. but i snapped some pretty great pictures as well! i'm glad you all had such a wonderful time!
I love Arizona. I would love to see a civil war reenactment. I think it might be too scary for my kids (who tend to take everything a little too literally). Jealous.
What a great weekend trip! Way fun..loved the pics and has the boy slept with the sword? WAY cool!
Tucson is so pretty but that was quite a show you saw. Brandon will be jealous, he's from the South ya know.
That looks awesome! We will have to plan on doing it next year. I just love history stuff like that. So fun!
Burning initials with a magnifying glass is one of those really random, cool things people do. Like burping the alphabet backwards or being able to juggle chain saws.
I don't see too many people able to make a career out of them, but wow, they're cool to watch.
That trip looked like a blast!
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