August 19, 2012 by Rae

Fort Chambly (and a Bonus Side Trip to Downtown Montreal)

Canadian history is a bloody mess of conquests, racial tensions, thrilling battles, crushing defeats, and centuries-long grudges. How anyone can call our history boring is beyond me. It is such a shame that many Canadians know about, say, the battle of the Alamo or Custer’s Last Stand but know nothing about the raid on Deerfield or why the political situation in Quebec is as it is.

Canadians need to go to places like Fort Chambly and read the placards or to sites like Fort Lennox where history is brought to life. Our country was born here, along the Saint-Lawrence, Ottawa, and Richelieu Rivers. You can’t understand what it is to be Canadian today without understanding how it is that we got here. I believe that if more Canadians knew and appreciated their history, we would be able to get over our linguistic and cultural grudges and form a strong, united, country. But as long as we keep this nearly four-century year old resentment alive without understanding its basis, there can be no resolution.

Fort Chambly sits at the heart of Canadian history, rooted in the French-Indian Wars of the 17th century, the English conquest of New France of the 18th century, and the 1812 war against the United States.

Located on the banks of the Richelieu River, an important north-south link with New York state, Fort Chambly is now a park where families come to picnic and I used to spend long hours up a tree writing, reading, and day dreaming. I spent my late childhood and adolescence just a few blocks away and the grounds of the fort were like my second home

I’d been meaning to return to the fort all summer. Since I was due for a date with my grand-mother, I proposed that we go to Fort Chambly today. I felt a little trepidation at coming back for the first time in 15 years, but I was glad to see that it was the same place. The trees have grown a little, but that’s it.

I’ll put all the information in the photo captions, but will say that after we toured the fort, we enjoyed a picnic under the trees. Then, we drove to Saint-Lambert to drop off something for my aunt and I got spirited away on a short jaunt to downtown Montreal to see my cousin’s loft; hence the bonus Montreal pictures.

Merci pour la belle journée, grand-maman!

Fort Chambly from the parking lot. You used to actually see the Fort; the trees have grown!

The bridge from the parking lot to the Fort, looking towards the Bassin

Looking up towards Bourgogne Avenue (I took the bus to high school up there for a year).

I couldn’t believe how much the trees have grown!

the Bassin de Chambly (a large spot in the Richelieu River), with the marina (the water is FILTHY, so while there is boating, there’s no swimming)

The Bassin de Chambly

approaching the entrance to the fort

looking up river

entrance to the fort

names of some of the major military leaders who commanded the fort in the 17th and 18th centuries (names added at the end of the 19th century)

inside the fort

map of New France

most of the exhibits are about the fort in the late 17th century at the time of New France before the British conquest

Fort Chambly was built along the Richelieu between Albany and Montreal

map of the Iroquois Wars/French-Indian Wars, 1641 to 1701

looking downriver from Montreal to Albany

at the time, it took four hours to go from Chambly to Longueuil (now about 20 minutes!)

I remember this pottery

Fort Saint-Jean was the next fort south of Chambly

Fort Chambly was the last defensive outpost of Montreal

I remember this pottery

Albany and Montreal were rivals in the fur trade but Canada never attacked the city. In the 18th century, it took eight to make the journey by canoe. I made this route in just a few hours northward this spring.

from Albany looking up towards Montreal

Albany, 1760

Montreal, 1760

looking out towards the middle of the fort

Lake Champlain

I still love the plank floors

wow, this place hasn’t changed!

fierce Iroquois warriors

his tattoos are impressive!

He was a Mohawk chief known as Brant

the fur trade was the pillar of the New France economy

reasons for Fort Chambly: in short, to prevent invasion and to provide a staging ground for invasion

a tomahawk

a variety of snowshoes

remnants of a shovel

The population of New France was 4,415, of which the split was 30% soldiers, 30% women, and 40% civilian men. In other words, women were a commodity in short supply!

a musket

the raid on Deerfield was in 1704

New England prisoners from the raid were forced marched back to Fort Chambly with the woman forced into arranged marriages and the children given to French Canadian families

18th century wedding bands

18th century children’s clothing

children were stolen from their families and brought back to Canada to be raised French

17th century toys

a key

17th century tools

the existing fort was rebuilt from 1750 plans

how the fort was constructed

powder magazine

view from the powder magazine

powder magazine

we’re now on the second story and I am showing how the wooden turrets seen from outside are decorative (save one)

looking out over the Richelieu

the fort is square with loopholes and other defense mechanisms at each corner

I’ve always loved his sneer!

soldiers at work

that drum looks heavy!

sword

a 17th century screwdriver!

17th century personal effects of a soldier

a 17th century shoe

soldiers having dinner (the corn still looks good, the stew still looks like dog food)

in the 17th century, the daily ration was about 2,000 calories while today the military rations are about 2,500 calories

modern rations have changed!

soldiers grooming (there’s even one sleeping in the bed)

soldiers with families billeted in the village

soldiers at rest

a soldier “enjoyed a good life and a bad reputation”

tobacco

an imposing commander

Fort Chambly was surrendered to the English in September of 1760, just before the capitulation of New France

In1763, the King of France conceded defeat and handed New France to the British. Two hundred years later, the French would take back their country during Quebec’s Quiet Revolution. Two centuries of English oppression cannot be forgiven and now the English in Quebec are paying for the sins of their ancestors. How many generations will it take for this rift to be healed?

“All conquests go deep — they are among the deepest of human experiences.”

a dormer window looking into the courtyard

comparison of the population in different years

lovely window

a typical French Canadian homestead (seigneurie) was 10 times as long as it was wide and was set against the river

sample 18th century homestead

bread was a staple food, with wheat comprising 50% of the diet

other grains, like rye and corn, comprised 10% each of the diet

toys

we are about to go up to the watchtower (watch your head!)

it’s very claustrophobic up there!

gorgeous view from the watchtower

I always thought this model of a bird was pretty

entering the Albany room (named for the singer Albani), which holds temporary exhibits (currently about the War of 1812)

“For Canadians, the War of 1812 was about the successful defense of a small colony against attack by a much larger neighbor.”

a cocky 13-year-old boy did not believe the Americans would win

“For the United States, the War of 1812 was a second successful war of independence from Britain.”

I am really amused that the US thinks it won the War of 1812 because Canada didn’t conquer it.

Tony Blair apologizes for the British/Canada burning down the Library of Congress during the War of 1812.

While US and British relations normalized after the War of 1812, Native Americans were left vulnerable.

modern Britain has almost completely forgotten the War of 1812

back in the courtyard, we’re heading towards the luxurious (for the time) privies

this luxurious privy was over fast moving water, meaning no smells or diseases

looking up the rapids

looking towards the rear of the fort

Grand-maman packed lunch. It doesn’t look like much, but it got me to dinner, which is no small feat! We had crackers, cheese, almonds, a fig, half a banana, and a couple of bite-sized oatmeal chocolate chip cookies each, plus water. We ate on the grass in the shade of a big tree.

the watchtower we visited

the rear of the fort (with fake watchtowers)

In 1775-1776, during their War of Independence, the Americans invaded Canada. In 1812, we finally had enough and burned down their White House. 🙂

Saint-Jean was favoured over Chambly for defense starting in 1840

I used to climb this tree and read in its branches for hours!!!

The big hole was smaller back then, but the seat-like branch where I’d make myself comfy is still there

the tree looks a lot worse for wear now!

🙁

the father of one of my high school friends was the reverend of this church

the guard house (closed to visits)

my grand-mother thought it was hilarious that my best memory of this park and community centre was of the time I stepped in dog doo there!

The Ducharme residence (formerly a garrison, then converted to a stately home)

it’s for sale!

the house was bought in 1908 and used as a saddlery, then was converted to a residence in 1938

Fort Chambly is a National Historic Site

intersection of Bourgogne and Langevin, the street where I grew up. I took my bus here one year and resented it badly since I lived on the opposite end of the street (quite a distance) and the bus passed just a block from my house.

looking down Langevin street

I lived here from 1987 to 1998 (age 8 to 19). It’s not a mansion! There are three apartments; we lived in two and rented the third. The joke was that the guy who built it was missing only two tools: a level and a square. The house was a bunch of rooms added to each other and we actually discovered a secret room off the garage (cold cellar) and there was a secret passage going from my room to the downstairs apartment!

Bourgogne Avenue (further back, the street has really been developed into a touristy strip)

downtown Montreal, place Ville-Marie (building that looks like a carpenter’s pencil)

Place Bonaventure (the train depot, mega shopping centre, and the hub of underground Montreal)

the hideous Palais des congrès

we’re on the roof terrace of my cousin’s loft (shared space) looking at the Hôtel Inter-Continentel

church from the terrace

water tower?

National Bank headquarters (on the right, behind the crane)

close up of the Hôtel Inter-Continentel

closeup of the church

I like churches 🙂

Hydro-Québec headquarters (they have the monopoly to create and provide electricity)

July 9, 2012 by Rae

Fort Lennox, Saint-Paul-Île-Aux-Noix

My dad took my sister and me many times to Fort Lennox. Last time I was there was surely going on 20 years.

The brochure sums up this place much more eloquently than I ever could (great job, Parks Canada!):

Located on Île aux Noix, an island on the Richelieu River, Fort Lennox is one of the jewels of the Parks Canada network…. There is no bridge linking this fabulously destined island to the mainland, it can only be reached by boat. The crossing takes five minutes, which is just enough time to travel back a few centuries and tread the very earth that was fought over by the French, American and British.

Once you step across the drawbridge at Fort Lennox, you will discover one of the most authentic British fortifications in North America. The stone buildings and defensive structures are of exceptional beauty. They were built between 1819 and 1829 to protect the colony against an eventual American invasion by way of the Richelieu River.

Your guide will help you discover the amazing history of Île aux Noix as you walk in the footsteps of the soldiers and officers of Fort Lennox. Once inside the barracks, the guard room, the jail, and the officers’ quarters you will get a fascinating glimpse into the daily military life of days gone by.

To access the Fort, you park in the parking lot in St-Paul-Île-aux-Noix, pay at the information centre, and then take brief ferry ride to the island. Admission is $7.80 or about half that if you get across on in your own boat (the region is a haven for boaters).

There is a small canteen on site, but I opted to bring my own food. So by the time I did a detour to Napierville to get some, it was 11:00 when I bought my admission ticket. The ferry runs on the half hour, so I had just enough time to take a couple of pictures and then it was time to cross the river.

The pictures below will have more information, so I’ll just give some general insight into the fort and my day there. While the island is a really nice place to spend the day as a family, there really isn’t much to see in the fort in terms of museum exhibits. You can easily go to Fort Lennox for an hour, which is about how long I expected to be there. But if you go on the weekends, there are guided tours and reenactments, which really add to the experience. I wound up staying for almost five hours!

I started by exploring a little on my own then stopping for lunch in the very little shade the island offers. I did the last exhibit and was going to call it a day when I found the media room where I got sucked into some movies about a shameful part of Canadian history that I knew nothing about: the internment of Jewish refugees at Fort Lennox in the 1940s as prisoners of war. They were Germans who had fled to Britain and then been deported to Canada where there was no understanding of the distinction between Nazi sympathizers and Germans who opposed the regime.

It took a few years for the status of the Jews to change from prisoners to refugees and even longer for the Canadian government to allow the men to remain on Canadian soil. You see, Canada didn’t want any Jewish refugees during World War II. This is the same country that interned its Japanese citizens during the same conflict, but I digress.

The video presentation was very good and it was a shock to realise that the men talking were featured in the photographs of the island at the time. These men do not begrudge the initial rough treatment by Canadian authorities because they were provided with excellent schooling and eventually allowed to stay. Sure, Canada didn’t want Jews, but it came around. That sure beat being unwanted in their own country and being sent to a concentration camp. All is relative…

Anyway, by the time I finished the videos, the first guided tour was underway so I joined in at the powder magazine, a vaulted and sealed building set apart from the others where the black powder was stored. We continued past the officers’ quarters, the guard house, and the jail, where the tour ended.

It was then time to join a session about the uniforms worn at the fort in the 1830s. They were red and white with apple green accents to mark that they were the 24th regiment. The interpreter said the coats were red so that the soldiers would be visible and impressive, adding that the rifles of the day didn’t allow one to aim so, no, the red didn’t make the soldiers any more of a target.

After the uniform demonstration, we moved on to the impressive firearm demonstration. When that was done, a tour with a costumed interpreter started, so I thought to join in so as to see the section I’d missed on the first tour. As it turned out, there were so many visitors we were broken off into smaller groups who did the tour in a different order. I wound up starting again at the powder magazine and had to go through everything again to get to the general barracks.

This was no hardship since the costumed tour was entertaining and had extra information. Plus, I took the costumed tour in English since the group was much, much smaller than the French ones, so I got to hear the bulk of the information in both languages.

When the tour ended, I was beyond ready to get out of the sun, so I got an ice cream from the canteen and headed back to the dock to await the next ferry, pleased that the locale had lived up to nostalgic memories.

one of Saint-Paul-Île-aux-Noix’s many marinas

This sign makes me appreciate French’s numerous verb tenses a lot more. The French sign is definitely an order to slow down while the English is ambiguous; is it an order or a description?

the landing on the island

the ferry

approaching the landing

getting closer

Welcome to Fort Lennox!

the impressive entrance to the fort

pond with lots of waterlilies (I much prefer the French word, nénuphars, for the flowers)

close up of the waterlilies

on the drawbridge

History of the site. The present fort was built between 1819 and 1829.

The barracks are above in this building. The ground floor has the canteen.

Inside the guard house where 20 soldiers would do a 24-hour shift every three days. They would rotate one hour outside, one hour inside during the winter, and every two hours in the summer. They had to be quiet when inside to hear any warning calls, had to stay in almost full uniform, and could only sleep lightly.

The captain of the day had this more luxurious room with a comfy bed.

The captain of the day would do his paperwork here.

a corner of the lovely grounds (pardon the glare; the sun was brutal!)

looking towards storage buildings

another view of the barracks building

entrance to an exhibit inside the Commissariat Store

I love spiral staircases and was disappointed I couldn’t go up these. 🙂

Around the time of the War of 1812, the British wanted to use the strategically located island to protect Canada from a US invasion, but the defense works were in poor condition. The solution was to build a new fort.

Naval officers suggested that Île aux noix was the most strategic place to build a fort.

But military officers felt that a land invasion was more likely and that St-Jean-sur-Richelieu should be fortified instead.

The goal was to defend Montreal from American invaders because of its strategic location at the confluence of the Ottawa, St Lawrence, and Richelieu rivers.

the fort was built to take advantage of the island’s natural features

The fort was designed as a square but looks more like a five-pointed star.

defense works include parapets and moats

This exhibit had some of the surveying tools used in the day; I took a picture of this folding ruler because I used to have one just like it. 🙂

The construction of the fort took about 10 years. It was named after Charles Lennox, duke of Richmond and Lennox, Governor-in-Chief of British North America from 1818 to 1819.

The clayey soil meant that a traditional foundation wouldn’t have worked. The foundation essentially floats over the ground.

model of the fort

This graphic shows how the fort was built in stages. First, the powder magazine and other defense works, then the guard house, then the officers’ quarters, then the general barracks.

After the fort was abandoned for military purposes, it was used as a summer camp, picnicking ground, a POW camp (the sign says refugee camp, but I know better now thanks to the video), and then a historical interpretation site.

Most of the fort’s hardware was forged on site. Lots of it was excavated, but some 19th century pieces, like hinges, are still hard at work.

some of the hardware, included a padlock and key

aesthetics and availability were considered when choosing materials to build the fort

The design wasn’t perfect. In 1824, the eastern rampart slide into the ditch!

window in the store

shooting ground with cannons and cannon balls

more cannons

I like cannons?

walkway to the south side of the island (the US is about 12KM thataway)

pond on the south side

south side entrance

Looking at the fort from the south side entrance. To the left are the general barracks. Then, clockwise, the officer barracks, the guard house and jail, the stores.

yet another view of the south side barracks

entrance to the canteen, where I got an ice cream for the trip back to the mainland

These arched walkways are my strongest memory of the visits to the fort as a child

these beautiful arched walkways make me think of a monastary!

another sign about hardware, saying that most was brought in from Great Britain, but a lot was forged on site

more hardware

Entering the luxurious officers’ quarters. Officers in the British Army would pay for their commission (equivalent to the cost of buying a house today) and would hire soldiers to act as their valets or batmen. The officers had much nicer quarters and could bring personal items to make them homier.

The valets had to do the work for the officers in addition to their own duties.

The officers ate much better food that was supplemented with local game and fish.

A lot of alcohol was served with meals that were prepared in casemates (more on those later).

The army furnished the quarters with Canadian-made furniture to reduce costs, but there were still a lot of British imports.

The games room where officer played cards, backgammon, chess, other games, and drank more alcohol.

Another view of the game room.

These rooms were for officers only!

How the British Army was organized in Canada, basing itself in all the major cities.

I love this style of portable writing desk.

Montreal was a large territory to defend and so the area is dotted with forts. There is a reference to Chambly, a hint to a future post.

Nice fireplace!

skate blade

confirmation that the aforementioned piece of metal is a skate blade

original die, domino, and game piece made of bone

reproduction of a deck of cards

How to become an officer. Step one: be rich.

The cost of becoming an officer.

Advancing in ranks was otherwise very slow. The purchase of commissions was abolished in 1871.

the officers’ quarters were upstairs

on the top landing

officers would bring spices and sauces like mustard to make their food more palatable

personal items, like a bone tooth brush and a clothing brush

The army provided basic furnishings. Officers supplied first aid and hygiene kits and items to decorate their quarters, the only place they had privacy.

Still from the movie about the Jews at Fort Lennox talking about Rabbi Erwin Schild.

Another still providing a little bit of context.

An officer’s bedroom.

These rooms had closets!

A casemate, which is essentially a pantry. Officers had their own separate from the soldiers and even converted one into a wine cellar.

inside the powder magazine

These jail cells are more modern than the interpretative areas of the fort, which were set up to show life in the 1830s in the fort. The cells date from the 1870s, when prisoners had a few more rights, including a larger space and a window. Prisoners could only be held here for up to a week and had to stand all day. For more serious crimes, they had to be taken to martial court in Montreal.

close up of the heavy door

detail of the wall

Note the wooden pegs in the floor. These were brought to my attention in the powder magazine. The soldiers had iron bits attached the heels of their boots. Wooden pegs meant that they would not strike a spark as they walked, especially important in a building used to store black powder!

at the fire arm demonstration; the man in blue played the part of the powder magazine man

The man looking down gave the demonstration about the uniforms and was the ‘husband’ of the woman who gave the guided costumed tour.

at attention!

aim!

fire!

I wasn’t quick enough on the trigger; can you see the wisp of smoke?

got it the second time!

We are behind the general barracks looking at a row of casemates for the soldiers; the last few have windows and are ‘kitchens’

looking into a casemate

these stairs lead up to the barracks

Inside the barracks, where the soldiers slept two to a bed. If they weren’t at capacity, a man could share his bed with his wife while the children slept on the floor. If they were at capacity, then the wife slept on the floor, too. Wives did cleaning, laundry, and helped with food preps, but were not cooks. They were given half of what their husband got for food and the children got a third. The army only provided breakfast and lunch and soldiers were on their own for dinner!

back on the dock looking at the ferry on the mainland

the ferry on its way to pick me up

I drove back to Chambly long the canal and was stopped for a while at the one-lane bridge. I’ll get back to the canal in a future post.

June 8, 2012 by Rae

Through the U.P. Along the Shores of Gitche Gumee

I made it to the Soo Ontario!!!!!!!!! I left Thief River Falls, MN, at 5:45AM CST and pulled into my final destination at the Soo (no room at the first inn) at about 9:00PM CST (10:00PM EST). It’s been a very long day, not aided by the fact that the fastest speed limit all day was 55MPH. At least, most of it was through the U.P., the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a gorgeous stretch of country.

This long day was soooo scenic. I love northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan! I went through a little bit of this area between the western and eastern tips of Lake Superior back in ’05 when I did my grand tour of the Great Lakes. I highly recommend making that road trip once in your life!

I really wanted to get across the border tonight to get it done, figuring that a couple more hours waiting to cross and then being interrogated wasn’t going to kill me at this point. So, of course, I only had to wait a minute and I got the nicest Canadian Customs officer I have ever dealt with!

Her: “Where are you from?”
Me: “Lethbridge, AB.”
Her: “My God, dear, what are you doing all the way out here?!” (that is verbatim, LOL!)

I explained that I was coming to visit family. She asked where I crossed and then we had a discussion about the fact that Montana extends into Saskatchewan. Bla bla.

Her: “Did you buy anything en route?”
Me: “I didn’t have time; I just drove straight through.”
Her, handing me back my passport: “Well, you be safe now. Have a good trip!”

No questions about booze, drugs, guns, nothing. She made my day. I wish I could have hugged her. 🙂

Tip: Like at Sarnia/Port Huron and, presumably, Detroit/Windsor, there is a bridge connecting the US and Canada. You will need to have some small change with you as there is a fare. Today, it was $3 both CAD and US. When I crossed at Sarnia/Port Huron in ’05, the dollars weren’t close to par so the amounts were different and I remember opting to pay in US dollars as it was better value!

My destination tonight was the Super 8 motel. That chain is my standby on road trips as it is always clean and sometimes is very nice. But they were full and told me to try the Comfort Inn across the road. I did and blanched when I entered the lobby in my super casual skirt and tee-shirt to discover this is a much more luxurious hotel than I normally stay at. Everyone in the lobby was dressed to the nines and the next person in line with a suitcase had on a business suit. But I was there and the clerk didn’t even blink when she saw me so I figured I might as well inquire about rates even though I was sure I’d be turning around and sleeping in my truck at the casino.

I asked about a single, non-smoking, and was told that the singles were actually mini-suites with king beds, and their least expensive option at $99. What?! Had the Super 8 had room, it would have been $88. What was an extra $11?! I took a room, went back to the truck to get all my valuables, and then hoofed it to my ‘tower’ room. Pictures are below. It is insanely luxurious. I love the shower and that there is a proper work desk. I actually feel comfortable walking barefoot in here.

First order of business was a very long shower, which included a test of all the bath products available. This is such a fancy place that there is both body and facial soap. 🙂

I’ll be heading to bed shortly. It’s 11:15 here, so I’m pretty sure a super early start tomorrow is unlikely. I have another 14 hours or so of driving to do, but it’s all familiar territory, so I’ll get home when I get home.

Driving the truck for such a long day has really made me see my Accents in a new light: I’m not even remotely sore. Moya pretty much drives herself, making her name very appropriate! I laughed when I stopped for gas just before lunch when a guy came up to me and said, “So, how do you like YOUR Ranger?” I looked up and saw Moya’s fraternal twin, a dark green topperless 2000 ‘sport’ Ranger. Not sure what makes it ‘sport’ since it’s not a side step model.

The pictures below are out of order as I finally got my camera pics dumped onto the laptop. So far on this trip, you’ve only seen what I’ve taken with my iPad. Tomorrow, I will see if there’s anything worth sharing from the phone since I didn’t bring the mini card reader adapter. That’s a crazy number of camera options, but I finally learned how to add pics to my posts from the iPad, so I’ve been favouring that camera since I’ve only cracked open the laptop a couple of times.

nice to land here tonight!

I gave a lady toilet paper at a rest area and she felt obligated to reciprocate with a box of Raisinets. Raisins and chocolate, I could not refuse. As for the drink, McDonald’s sizes are ridiculous! But all the sizes were $1 and I wanted a big cold drink. So half the cup is ice, two thirds of the rest is water, and there’s a shot of juice. 🙂

bird near Donna’s RV park

park near Donna’s RV park

lovely bridge in Stettler

the spiral maze

this reminded me of the pingo in Tuk!

looking at the spiral maze from the top of the hill

Stettler sunset

Stettler museum

the Roving Acres + half of Travels With Miranda 🙂

Rugby, ND, the geographic centre of North America

entering Minnesota

the truck ahead of me is one step up from the Ranger, the F150. Same colour as my truck but definitely beefier!

entering Wisconsin, a sorely under rated state

I love the French names in Wisconsin, like Eau Claire and Fond du Lac

It was noon when I hit the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center in Ashland, WI. I had a nap, then took the time to tour the museum before grabbing lunch and dinner (a Subways sandwich) down the road

Monarch butterflies land in Wisconsin in droves during their migration

more about Monarch butterfly migration

Lake Superior has the largest surface area of all the fresh water lakes on the planet

“The oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it.” Aldo Leopold

Lake Superior

Lake Superior from a viewpoint where I had my dinner

Lake Superior

I’m a direct descendant of Grosseillers, a French-Canadian explorer of this area

a hole in the clouds after an impressive storm (had I been an hour behind where I was, in Marquette County, MI, I would have had to find shelter because of a tornado warning!)

May 12, 2012 by Rae

Pamplin Historical Park and The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier (Petersburg, VA)

As the morning marched I, I could see that I was going to waste the day moping. I decided that I was in Petersburg and surely there had to be a Civil War battlefield or monument or something where I could go spend a few hours. I went on Trip Advisor to look up the area attractions and the first thing that came up made me giddy. In less than 20 minutes, I was on my way to the Pamplin Historical Park and The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier, site of the last big battle of the American Civil War, The Breakthrough.

This major battle of April 2nd, 1865, isn’t well known, but it was the death knell for the Confederate Army. The war ended just a week later with the surrender of Confederate soldiers, including General Lee.

The words to describe this incredible facility almost escape me. There is the museum, but also a plantation, a second museum about the Breakthrough battle, and finally there is a walk through the battlefield. I arrived at noon and the park closes at 5:00. I was the last guest off the property and got back so close to 5:00 that they were literally about to send a search party for me. And after five whole hours there, I didn’t see and do everything!

Regular admission to the facility is $12. This includes an audio tour of the entire facility. This gadget is what made the visit so memorable and ensured I spent as much time there as I did. Photography is only allowed outside, not in the two museums.

The first thing to do is tour The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier. You are asked to pick a soldier out of a group and the tour will be personalized with his perspective. I was amused that my randomly selected ‘comrade’, Sergeant Peter Welsh, was originally from Canada! His letters were read by an interpreter, adding a personal touch to the exhibits.

This museum was really, really well done, with lots of artifacts and the audio track being a combination of narration and reading of period documents. One exhibit had three men playing poker and the audio track was of their conversation, a clever way to show the drudgery of daily life in camp.

My favourite exhibit in this museum was one that is optional because it is so intense. You are sent into a battlefield. I shut my eyes for most of it and was completely transported. The ground shakes and bursts of air brush by you, simulating a volley of bullets. By the end of it, I actually ducked and cowered when a shell went off right beside me!

After this museum, I headed outside to tour the Tudor Plantation, a fairly typical tobacco plantation that was occupied by the army. You can tour the house itself, restored to period looks, the kitchen, the tobacco barn, the kitchen garden, and the slave quarters. The slave quarters have a really good movie showing the perspective of six (fictional) people from the 1850s who share their ideas about slavery.

By the time I was doing with the plantation, I had already been on site for three hours! I ate my picnic lunch (bring food!) then continued to the Battlefield Center. On the way there, you can see a reproduction of the trenches used to fight in the area, the sight of which will remind you of World War One.

There are just a couple of exhibits at the Battlefield Center as well as a few movies. It was 3:30 by the time I was done with the exhibits and I had to make the choice between watching a movie or walking through the battlefield. I decided that I wanted to spend some time outdoors.

Before getting to the battlefield, you have to cross a military winter camp. I was disappointed that I’d missed the period reinactors, but they finish for the day around 3:00.

I decided to do the big loop through the battlefield, including the detour to see the Hart farm and the site of a modern camp where people can go recreate the days of the Civil War. But I was too short on time to do the Heartland Trail.

It was amazing to see the Civil War-era ‘works’, the dirt berms built as fortifications. I found it very difficult to believe that at that time, there was nothing in the area but barren ground and mud. While the area is filled with trees today, there was no place to hide except behind the berms during the Civil War.

I had an amazing day at Pamplin Historical Park and am almost grateful that the circumstances have been such lately to have brought me to this memorable facility. I would have really missed out on something special had I been on schedule today.

The pictures below have more information.

map of this impressive facility (it’s HUGE)

walking out of the first museum towards the plantation

that’s the tobacco barn, where the tobacco leaves were cured over a fire

first glimpse of Tudor house

the tobacco barn

Tudor house, a fairly typical plantation house

lambs

inside the laundry/kitchen building; house slaves slept upstairs

the stairs from hell

the kitchen (in an outbuilding to keep heat and odors out of the main house)

family cemetery

the laundry/kitchen outbuilding

Tudor house (home of the Boisseau family, pronounced not Bwa-so but Bo-saw)

Tudor house

the outbuildings

work shed

the parlour as it might have looked under army occupation

a box that once held breakfast cocoa

interesting wallpaper

I liked the wallpaper in this less formal parlour/dining room

staircase to the second level

Love this bed, but imagine the dust!

dressing table

closeup of 19th century toothbrush

the trim was a bright aqua colour

a bedroom imagined as an officer’s quarters

the children’s bedroom as barracks

the kitchen garden

herbs

onions

I was leaving this area when the audio invited me to in and see what was growing. Here, it’s radishes and onions.

cayenne peppers!

these cabbage are coming up nicely

the watermelons are starting

a ball and chain serve as a reminder to keep the gate shut

the lambs liked the shade provided by the fense

heading to the slave quarters

approximate walking times to the various areas (very generous; I must be a fast walker)

the field slave quarters weren’t as luxurious as those of the house slaves

approaching the slave quarters

an interesting lock; if you try to open the door, the chain goes through the whole until it gets blocked by the padlock

this rooster was very chatty

entrance to the museum about slavery

the movied showed the perspective of a wealthy slave owner, an abolitionist minister, a freed slave, a slave cook, a farmer, and yeoman (all but the rich lady felt slavery was wrong, but the white except for the minister felt that blacks are inferior and should be segregated)

inside slave quarters

children slept up in the rafters

slaves ate what their masters provided and what they could forage

field slaves had one set of clothes for the year while house slaves had new clothes more often

day pass for a slave to serve at a wedding

the end of the American Civil War started here

walking towards the Battlefield Center

trench

the Battlefield Center was built to look like the pointy wooden structures (not the fence in the foreground) called ‘abatis’, the Civil War equivalent of barbed wire

canon

looking towards the winter camp

the Battlefield Center

walking towards the winter camp

winter camp quarters were given funny names

map of the Breakthrough Trail

the site of the battle is now a National Historic Landmark

these berms were built by Civil War soldiers

map of the trail including the optional detour to the Hart farm

these berms were built by Civil War soldiers

the Hart farm

site of a camp where recreationists can live the days of the Civil War

the Hart farm (the area around it was occupied by soldiers, but not the house itself, inhabited by a widow who hid in the cellar when there was shelling)

the Hart house is a gothic cottage complete with gingerbread

it’s really rather lovely!

description of the army camp set up in the Hart orchard

another view of the modern camp for recreationists

canon

starting on the main loop path

this small ravine was the setting for the events that gave the Union the edge it needed to win the war

part of the strategy involved the building of a dam; you can see a break in it here

the battle came to a head here

the neat little audio gadget; when you got to a placard with a number on it, you could enter the number and get a few minutes of audio about the area

looking up a berm at a canon (really)

can you see the canon now?

many minutes later, I’m up the berm by the canon

the Breakthrough Battle was fought on April 2nd, 1865 (entrance to the Battlefield Center)

April 28, 2012 by Rae

Into Kentucky

I am parked at the Cracker Barrel in Shelbyville, Kentucky, and looking forward to the parking lot clearing out so I can get myself on some levelers!

Part of the trouble with figuring out tonight’s overnight spot was that Google Maps kept routing me out off of I64 and around Louisville. I did some research and learned that the Sherman Minton Bridge, which connects I64 in Indiana to I64 in Kentucky at the western edge of Louisville, was shut down due to maintenance concerns for several months. Even though the bridge has now been reopened for two months and Google knows this, it has failed to update its mapping application. Once I knew that I could stay on I64 through Louisville, it completely changed how far I felt I could get today. None of the Louisville overnighting options were on I64. It made sense to get clear of the city and then pull over. Shelbyville had a number of options, with the Cracker Barrel the only sure bet.

Cracker Barrel is a restaurant I have mixed feelings about. I love their food, but it is so unhealthy that I feel guilty when I eat there. But tonight I had a good reason to do so and I savoured every bite, including their OMG crustless coconut cream pie (which is actually a toasted coconut custard).

But let me go back to the beginning of the day. I didn’t want to get to the Cracker Barrel too early, hoping to miss the dinner crowd (that plan failed), so I had a slow mo morning in St Louis and pulled out at 10:30, with my ETA being 6PM. Huh? Oh, I was going to cross into EST today!

Miranda at Harrah’s St Louis

I did a double take when I saw this rig pull in last night!

Getting through St Louis this morning was much easier than it was at rush hour on Thursday. I was glad to be going eastbound because check out the westbound lanes:

Shortly after crossing the Mississippi into Illinois, I got off the freeway to get fuel and have visual evidence of why I loathe getting gas in the motorhome with the car attached. Why do some fuel stations have those stupid useless cement bollards at each end? Let’s just say I miscalculated my turns. A good Samaritan tried to warn me, but I saw this happening in the mirror and knew I couldn’t stop it:

I drove another 100km to the Goshen Road rest area for lunch:

Goshen Road Rest Area

After lunch, I put a capful of Turtle Wax car detergent into a bucket and diluted it with a couple of cups of water. Armed with a soft green scrubby pad, I spent at most 15 minutes vigourously scrubbing away the remnants of the bollard’s attack on my car:

There’s still a very faint line on the door and one by the wheel well, but you have to know they’re there. I’m glad that my cursory assessment at the gas station was correct; I just scrapped the paint off the bollard but didn’t do any real damage to the car. You can all start breathing again. 😉

Now, I’m going to say something that is going to leave some of you in disbelief and assured that I am a couple of cards short of a deck: the east smells different from the west. I really noticed it at the Goshen Road rest area; there was this humid scent of humus that I haven’t smelled for years. It could be that the vegetation is different.

I drove some more and crossed into Indiana:

My only experience in Indiana was at a really horrible rest area. The welcome centre on today’s route was much nicer:

I found this map interesting. I drove on the northwestmost red line on this map and was traveling on the southwestmost red line:

The Indiana welcome centre had information about the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial. I think he looks very handsome without his beard:

Lincoln is an historical figure who feels very real to me, not legendary. I think it’s because I saw the place where he died. There was a pillow on the bed that was supposedly stained by his blood. I don’t know for sure if that was real or not, but it made an impact on me.

Lincoln’s mother died of something I’d never heard of:

The NPS has a very informational page about milksickness.

The overpasses in Indiana, like those in Michigan, are painted sky blue:

About 10 miles from Louisville, it became imperative that I stop to use the bathroom and I only had a quarter tank of fuel left. So I pulled off the highway at an exit where there were several gas stations. I found one that I could easily pull into, but the roof looked low. I was very happy that they bothered to post the clearance level. It was 13′, which gave me a foot and a half to spare. 🙂

I crossed the Kentucky state line on the Sherman Milton Bridge and was then formally welcomed into the state:

It says birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, but I think of it as the birthplace of my favourite female singer, Loretta Lynn. 🙂

Driving through Louisville was easy. I stuck to the centre lane when possible. There was almost no traffic and no one honked at me!

Louisville, KY

The Kentucky welcome centre is very beautiful!

From there, it was only about 10 minutes to Shelbyville. My GPS thought the Cracker Barrel was almost a full kilometre past where it is, so I missed it. I was very glad that just a couple of kilometres down KY-56 there was a small shopping centre into which I could pull in and turn around. I saw the Cracker Barrel on the way back, but was confused by the sign that said that RV parking was thataway, leading me to think that there was another entrance. Thankfully, the next entrance was a U-shaped one, so I was able to get turned around again and finally manoeuvre myself through the Cracker Barrel maze into one of their three RV slots.

This was the first night since I left Lethbridge that I arrived absolutely exhausted so I was glad to have an excuse to have supper made for me, and even gladder that the manager was so quick to say that I could stay.

The sky has been rumbling for the last hour and it has finally started to pour. It is also very dark out even though it is just 8:30EST. I will be getting to bed early tonight so that I can pull out reasonably early tomorrow. I have a fairly short driving day planned, so I’m hoping to get to a rest area fairly early on where I can spend part of the day and catch up on some things.

A Life By Design

"Sometimes in life, we reach to a right place by departing from a wrong port with a wrong ship!" ~ Mehmet Murat Ildan

History Museums

Fort Chambly (and a Bonus Side Trip to Downtown Montreal)

Fort Lennox, Saint-Paul-Île-Aux-Noix

Through the U.P. Along the Shores of Gitche Gumee

Pamplin Historical Park and The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier (Petersburg, VA)

Into Kentucky