February 15, 2009: Today was another cold February day, but unlike other days when it was cold and cloudy today atleast the sun decided to show up. We arrived at Fort Ward around 12 pm and had about 2 hrs to go around and talk to some people at the Colonial and British encampments. Last year we were able to go inside the encampments this year they enclosed any of the public from entering. This type of atmosphere reminds me of the zoo. I felt the reenactors were the animals and we the public were the viewers. Everytime you enclose the public from interacting with the reenactors; the interaction of the two becomes inpossible. Just an observation…
About 30 minutes before the battle reenactment our group decided to locate ourselves in different areas for three different reasons 1- so that we could take different photo images (so that the images wouldn’t look all alike) 2- to pass around our business card 3- figure out the target audience for this event. Like last years battle reenactment the announcer talked about the history of the location as well as told the audience that this battle was not an actual battle that took place during the American Revolution and it was just portraying some of the battle tactics used during actual battles of the time. It is always interesting how children view these kinds of events.
After the battle reenactment we were actually able to talk more to the reenactors considering the majority of the public who went to this event already left. So we were able to talk to them about reenacting, connect them to our website, and basic information about ourselves. Basically networking with one another. Received a few new organization cards, whom we already have on the site, but it is always best to have the one on one interaction. We learned that the Hessian troop that always participates in this event is actually from our hometown of Southern Maryland. It was also surprising that we actually knew the guy who is the leader of the troop as well.
April 19, 2009: Today was in the low 70’s and cloudy, the day before it was in the upper 70’s and sunny. There was a good turn out for this event and many groups participated. We looked around the 17th to the 18th Century encampments before deciding to take a tour of the house.
While we were waiting for the tour began the guys from the American Civil War were demonstrating battle tactics on the field below the house. They shot their cannons and guns a few times before we headed inside one of the outer buildings of the house. We continued to hear guns being fired throughout the beginning of the tour but once we actually toured inside the house we couldn’t hear anything. The house was divided into two sections one build late 18th century and one build early 19th Century. You can read more about the history of the house within our April 19th notes.
As the tour ended we had about 2 hours before the event official ended so we quickly finished looking at the late 17th Century encampment and looked around the 18th century encampments. We talked to some of the reenactors about the difference in soldier duties and camp followers. Changes between the ages really did not at all change except the perspective of how people viewed soldiers or camp followers. Camp followers during the medieval era were looked as significant helpers to the knights whereas by the time the Rev War occurred they were looked as more as distractions than helpful. We were not able to tour around the 19th and 20th Century due to the ending ceremony.
We’ve seen plenty of Civil War encampments so it really wasn’t a major lost.
The ending ceremony had the groups announced one by one and as another group was announce the groups would charge at each other. When the Rev War guys and Civil War guys meant you could see how the guns slowly got better. When the World War guys were announced and charged at the CW guys they shot their guns and killed all the yankees. Clearly that guns improved by the time the World Wars came. They had a very small group of Vietnam reenactors who were introduced and did a short demo with their guns as well. By this point the weather decided to get cold and sprinkle a few drops of rain. So we decided to leave shortly after the ending ceremony.
To learn more about the Marietta House and view upcoming events please visit there website by clicking “Marietta House website”.
April 25, 2009: Since this is not related to reenacting and more to folk culture we’ll do a very short summary of this event. We’ve gone to this event once before and thought it was well organized but this year for some reason their weren’t as many bagpipe bands participating in the competitions and everything was spread out unevenly. We spend most of our time in shade which we were very thankful since it was one of those unusually warm days for April. We did some volunteering and than decided to watch a few shows and check out the bagpipe competitions. We did not look at any of the shops considering we have limited amount of income to insure we could go to at least four more events before the reenacting season official ends. We watched a battle reenactment which wasn’t as good as some we’ve seen only because their were more than one period fighting one other. After that their was the ending ceremony which was more like an award ceremony since the groups only place two songs together which included “Amazing Grace” and “Scotland the Brave”. By this time we were very tired and left when the festival officially ended at six.
May 16, 2009: We really did not know what to expect when we drove to Cherry Hill Farm Living History. We’ve been to a couple of really good living history programs this was build for kids. Therefore we did not stay for long. We toured the encampment (rather small) the house and than listen to period music for a couple of minutes than left. We than decided rather than drive home disappointed we would look at our handy travelers brochure and find something within the area to visit. We decided to go to the “Meadowlark Gardens” which was very beautiful this time of year.
We never been to “Meadowlark Gardens” before and we were really impressed. It wasn’t as big as “Longwood Gardens” but for the cost to look around we think it was well worth the money. We took a whole bunch of photos that will look really good in both of our portfolios. We were able to have enough time to experiment with some of our camera settings we usually do not use to create close up images of the plants and insects within the garden.
June 27, 2009: We drove roughly 4 hrs of calm weather but within our last 2 hrs it got a little stormy. We stopped at an old tavern to eat dinner and the lights kept turning off but luckily for us we were still able to have our dinner. By the time we got to our campsite at Cheesequake State Park the storm moved north east towards the ocean. We had to pitch our modern tent in the dark but we’ve had plenty of practice in the past. Currently we are not reenacting we are just spectators, but hope to reenact next season. The following day we spent our day at the Battle of Monmouth Reenactment, which was held where it had been fought.
As we drove to the event we spotted a few road side stands selling fruit and vegetables but decided to wait till the event ended before buying any fruit. We turned to the battlefield and parked our car on some grassy land but in the middle of where we parked and where the re-enactors park was a deep and wet muddy terrain. So after parking our car we had to walk right in it in order to walk to the event area. We did not see exactly where to go and decided to follow some re-eanctors hoping that they new where they were going.
Which was a good thing to do because most re-enactors have gone to several events more than one time. And luck for us they knew where they were going. The battlefield itself was different from the usually battlefields I’ve toured around like Gettysburg and Antietam where you drive at the different spots. Monmouth was more like Fredericksburg where you park your car and walked to the different important spots. They divided the two sides into two different areas. Making sure the Continental army and British army did not collide until meeting on the battlefield. There were a few sutlers who showed up and Lisa bought some small items to help start her 18th Century kit. After touring around the sutlers for an hour or so we listened to a lecture on the real Molly Pitcher. We still had some time touring around the encampments and eating a little lunch before the battle reenactment started.
By the time the official battle reenactment started around 2 pm it got really hot. Luck for us there was some shad and a cool breeze. So it didn’t get to hot where it go muggy. The battle reenactment when to one side of the battlefield where we could see and another side that had a fence where we could not see the action that was happening. Many people tried to get up in order to get a better spot but the announcer told everyone to stay seated that the battle would resume to our side soon. I felt that the only way they could stop people from doing that is if they cut off part of the battlefield so that it would be held within one spot. There weren’t really any good places to sit since there was continued motion from one end of the battlefield to the other end. We got some good shots with our cameras even if they don’t have very good zoom and fast shutters. We can only hope to get the images we can get .
We love taking pictures of the fifes and drummers but were unable to take any at this event since there weren’t that many among the units who participated within the event. We hoped to come in contact with some units living in our area but there was no way to figure out what unit were encamping where. We’ve made a small observation that most people reenact the continentals but it is important that both sides are reenacted at actually events, but sometime it doesn’t happen at every event. We’ve been to several events where one side over ruled the other. This seems to happen in most Revolutionary events. We have not been to enough Civil War events to make any observations but of our knowledge there are equal amount of Confederate and Union units for people to join. Some Revolutionary units go as far as reenacting both sides so that when they go to an event where there are not many British units available there unit can take place of a unit that was not available for the event. We will probably will end up reenacting in such a unit because we know how important it is to have two sides at each event because than it does not seem as real as it possibly can when both sides are even.
July 11, 2009: This will become one of the last remaining events we will go to for the summer but hope to go to at least 2 possible events in the fall. In the past we’ve been to Frederick Maryland for random reason even if it was to stop by as we drove up north to Gettysburg Pennsylvania. The two times we tried to tour Rosehill Manor it had been closed, for reason unknown to us. We don’t know if it was due to reconstruction or the state did not have a hold of it we don’t know. So we decided this year to go to one of there events and decided to go to their Civil War Encampment weekend.
We are glad we did because the house was actually gorgeous close up. We found out that the house is currently used as a children’s living history museum. It did not hurt the event because they made sure to have activities for every age group. The first thing we did once we parked our car was tour the house. Within each room someone in period clothing talked about the history of the house and what the room was used for. We also learned a little bit about the family who lived there. They had small 30 minute demos that each unit who was there talked about what exactly they did whether they be artillery or infantry. They even had a hospital tent within the union encampment who talked about the medicine of the time. We dedicated our time touring around the encampments and getting to know each unit. 
There was a small battle reenactment for the spectators to view all of what they had learned during the course of the day. After the battle the encampments were opened for two more ours before the site was closed. We dedicated that time to walk through the very small Confederate encampment but still had very limited time to take images we were unable to take before the battle. This was a great event for children who wanted to learn more about the Civil War and for the adults who wanted to learn more about the war and about reenacting. Once the event was closed down for the day there was not much more to do but pack the car and drive home. Luck for the reenactors this event was for another day so they didn’t have to spend any time packing up for the long drive home.
September 19, 2009: The last event I went to was an event that was held during a warm day in July this time it was a warm day in September. I could not ask for a better weekend to visit Mount Vernon than this weekend. During the whole week before this event it was rainy and cloudy. I hadn’t been to Mount Vernon for a while and I was scheduled to meet a prospective group I’m interested in joining. While waiting in a relatively short line there was a Colonial School Group singing 18th Century tunes. Sorry for you fife and drum fans there was no fife or drum to be heard. I think if there has been the singers probably would not have been heard. Any ways it wasn’t to crowded considering they had been opened for about 1 hr or so. Mount Vernon was having their annual 18th Century Faire and there were a few sutlers who decided to show up at this event, considering there were other 18th Century Faires happening on the same weekend. Before heading outside to look around I watched a short documentary about the life of George Washington. It was very well done considering it was roughly about 15 minutes. Finally after being inside for a while I walked down a short path to the 18th Century faire. The sutlers were position in a box like manner where there were some in a big square and then there were some position right in the middle. The sutlers sold arrangement of furniture, herbs, soap, food, clothing and crafts. It was a mini faire compared to some of the festivals I’ve gone within the past two years. Did not find anything to buy while I was there which was a good thing.
After that I went to listen to an interrupter who was portraying George Washington. He was pretty good and I learned a few things that I did not know about our government, Revolutionary War and about the man himself. Then I talked to one of the women who portrays in the unit I’m interested in about her clothing then officially was introduced to some of the members and then talked about how to join, the costs and various things about the clothing.If there is anyone out there it is important to know that even though the 18th Century consists of many small pieces of clothing it will cost you less in the long run than portraying other periods. You might be asking why?? Well for one most 18th Century units are not charged to participate in event, this is probably due to one reason and that is. 18th Century consists majority of living history events and very few battle Reenactments. Whereas other time periods like the American Civil War focuses on portraying soldiers and participates in most battle reenactments. 
Therefore even if your clothing does not cost a lot in the long run you will be spending a lot more money due to the type of events you go to. No matter what time period you portray you will still have to pay for the cost of any weapons, tents, food, travel expenses and membership dues you will have to pay each year.
Back to the weekend… I found the discussion very helpful because it helped me learn more about reenacting the 18th Century and how it is different from reenacting different time periods. The information they provided me with regarding the clothing was very help due to the fact that I thought I was going to have to pay an arm and a leg to buy the clothing. Instead I found that I can buy the cloth myself at appropriate venders and sew most of my kit myself. After spending like an hour or more with my hope to be unit and getting sore in the process. I walked the grounds of Mount Vernon and explored the various gardens. I also took time to send my regards to George Washington because he along with some love ones and a few slaves is buried within his beloved farm. Then toured the house that took about 30 minutes to completed and 30 minutes to wait in line. Watch some of the weapon demos in a safe distance before deciding I’ve been in the sun to long and headed for the museum. Only had like two hours before everything closed which was not enough time to look at any of the exhibits or explore the two museum shops. Within that time I was fortunate to watched one more video on George Washington before deciding that it’s been a long day. The video was one of those interactive videos where lights are flashing every time a gun shots and it snowed when it talked about the Delaware crossing. It wasn’t as a big deal as the commercials portray it to be but it is something that the kids would enjoy. Before taking the long drive home ate something in Alexandria before driving into the the sunset.
