Teaching Home Schoolers About Gov. Tryon's Militia

This Saturday, I will be assisting Tryon Palace with their annual Home School Day program. Along with a few others, I will be portraying Gov. Tryon's militia of 1771 that marched west to Alamance to put down the Regulator rebellion. We will also be firing the 3-pounder cannon from Alamance Battleground for the first time on it's new carriage. The galloper style carriage has been constructed over the past six months by David Stone, the blacksmith at Tryon Palace. This has been an exciting and interesting project, and I'm glad to say that it is almost complete. Once we test things out and make sure no alterations need to be made, the cannon will return to Alamance Battleground, just in time for their Colonial Living Week program the week of October 12.

The Most Wonderful Time......

.....of the Year! And I'm not talking about Christmas. The official first day of fall is tomorrow and I am a happy camper. Fall has always been my favorite time of year, and is my wife's favorite time as well. I love cool weather, changing leaves, football, and everything else that goes with the season. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. It is always a busy time of year for me as well. There are always lots of programs taking place and plenty of stuff to do. We usually take a trip to the mountains in October, but it probably isn't going to happen this year due to work schedules and other obligations. We will still enjoy the season to its fullest. Football season is in full swing, I've had my first taste of Oktoberfest beer, and life is good!

Back to the Grind

Yesterday was my first day back at work and now that I've gotten everything caught up I figured I should make a blog post. The event at Fort McHenry was very good, despite some spotty weather. The kindness of the reenacting community never ceases to amaze me. Due to rain all day Friday it was impossible to set up tents, so one of our compatriots from Maryland allowed me and my two shipmates to bunk at his house for the evening. That was much appreciated! Mist and drizzle most of the day Saturday couldn't put a damper on the activities, and cleared out before the big evening program started. The evening program was simply spectacular and Sunday was a gorgeous day. I had a lot of fun, met a lot of new folks, and reacquainted with some that I hadn't seen in a while.Photo of me waiting for formation to be called (taken by Vince Wilding, Ship's Company, USS Contellation)

I also had fun on Monday, spending the day in Johnstown, PA with my friend Gregory. He took me to an excellent museum, the Johnstown Heritage Discover Center. If you are ever in the Johnstown area it is well worth it to go. He also took me to the National Park Service's Johnstown Flood Memorial, which is also very nice. I had previously visited the Johnstown Flood Museum in downtown Johnstown, so it was nice to get a comparison. I was also able to acquire some new Steelers gear for the new season, as well as some Iron City beer for game days throughout the fall. I got to see most of my mom's family while there, including my two cousins from Pittsburgh. All in all, it was a great trip, but I'm glad to be back.

Road Trip

I embark tomorrow on a six-day long journey. I am leaving in the morning and driving my mom to Pennsylvania. There, she will be staying with my grandparents and helping out with the annual Mountain Craft Days festival at the Somerset County Historical Center. This is something she's been doing for the past few years and I helped out last year. However, this year will be a bit different.

After crashing at the grandparents' house tomorrow night, I will turn around and head down to Baltimore to attend the 195th anniversary of the Battle of Baltimore (War of 1812) at Fort McHenry. I've actually been looking forward to this event for two years now because we were unable to attend last year. There are only three or four of us attending, and we will be falling in with another group. However, in looking at the program itinerary it appears to be a very full, but fun weekend.

Once I'm through in Baltimore on Sunday I will return to Pennsylvania, spend the day there on Monday visiting with some folks, and return home on Tuesday. While I'm looking forward to the trip, it will be a little strange because I will not have computer or Internet access for most of the time I'm gone. I'm not one to be disconnected for very long, so this will be weird for me. Usually when I am on the road I am staying in hotels and take the laptop with me. This time there's no point in it because my grandparents have no Internet (nor a computer for that matter) and while in Baltimore I'll be camping. Six days without email, sports news, Facebook, or any of the other things I'm accustomed to will be a big change, not to mention having to weed through all the various inboxes when I return. At any rate, don't look for any updates from me for at least six days.

Chupacabra in the White House - Did Abe Lincoln Have a Dark Secret?

OK, folks so this really is a joke post. You can all blame Harry Smeltzer over at Bull Runnings. This morning I posted a story from Yahoo on my Facebook page about the supposed capture of a Chupacabra (that mythical creature). Harry suggested it was the perfect time for a blog post, you know, to boost the number of hits on the site.

But really, did Lincoln ever hear the legend of the Chupacabra. Were US Troops in the old southwest prior to the Civil War really searching for the mythical creature?

Just goes to prove that I'm not above a little bit of tom foolery, especially when someone else more brilliant than myself suggests such. Let's see if Harry's theory is correct and I get an uptick in hits today.

A Somewhat Disappointing Book

I just finished reading Captains Contentious: The Dysfunctional Sons of the Brine by Louis Arthur Norton. I've written a review of it for the Company of Military Historians publication, The Dispatch. I was pretty disappointed when I got to the end of this book. I slogged through five chapters that were brief biographies of early American naval officers to get to the final chapter that supposedly would analyze each of the characters psychologically in order to explain why they were contentious. The book failed in that regard, focusing mainly on two of the five figures (admittedly, the two best-known of the group) and saying very little really about the other three. The book was interesting enough, but I found the analysis to be a let down. The hardcover sells for $30, so if you want to read it I suggest waiting for a paperback version or try to find a used copy.