Jule’s Journal:
By: Julianne Lillie
9/9/22: So this was an interesting morning as we woke up at 6:30am to coastal flooding when it hadn’t even rained! Water surrounded our trailer… bubbling up from the ground.
Our first thought was we had a water leak and Jason sprang out of the trailer and waded around back to check it out. But no… no water leak. We then realized that the RVs on the water front campsites were also surrounded by water. It was weird that we were the only site surrounded by water that was NOT on the water front though. So we called the RV Park and they said it was the ”perfect storm.” That we were experiencing effects from Hurricane Earl (in the Bahamas), full moon, and high tide. And that high tide is at 9am and 10pm that night. So it will recede in the afternoon and start all over again. But that it was nothing to worry about. They did say if we were uncomfortable staying they would give us a full refund and we can find another campground to stay inland. While we watched the cut little ducks swimming in the pond surrounding our camper, we decided to wait it out and developed an escape mission that the US Coast Guard I’m sure would be proud of! We suited up in our galoshes/muck boots and constructed an assembly line to get all of our junk from the camper to the truck!
So after all that excitement, we headed to Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine where we learned that this is the only National Park site that has TWO designations – simply because of its extreme importance to our nation.
We arrived right as they were opening the Visitor’s Center and we first grabbed their Jr. Ranger booklets and got to work. We learned that during the War of 1812, the British had burned down the capitol in Washington D.C. and were then heading to do the same to Baltimore, then Philadelphia, and New York. Fort McHenry was the only thing that could stop the elite British Navy ships from reaching the city of Baltimore. The battle at Fort McHenry lasted 25 hours with constant bombardment and red rockets blazing the night sky. Francis Scott Key (a young lawyer and avid poet) watched from a ship in the harbor all night. And eagerly watched “by the dawn’s early light” to see whose flag would be raised. It was ours! And what he had just experienced inspired him to write the “Star Spangled Banner.” We learned most of this from the incredible park video. I have a video showing the last spectacular portion… watch ‘till the end. It was so moving!
So the flag you saw at the end of the video there was a replica of the flag that was flown the night of the battle. As you can see it is extremely large measuring 42 x 30 ft. with 15 stars and 15 stripes and is known as the “Star Spangled Banner flag.” The flag was hand sewn by Mary Young Pinkersgill of Baltimore in just 6 weeks…. Think about that – hand sewn! That’s crazy! The actual flag is on display in the Smithsonian now in DC and is on our list to check out next week when we are there.
After the museum, we made our way up to the entrance of the Fort.
Jason and Jett helped with the “changing of the flag” ceremony which occurs twice a day at Fort McHenry – 9am and 4pm. Pres. Harry S. Truman approved Fort McHenry to fly the flag 24/7 which is a very distinct honor. (There are not many sites that have this honor.) So Jett and Jason helped take down the “storm flag” which is flown on windy nights and put up the “Star Spangled Banner flag” since it wasn’t very windy that day. Jett even got to help fold up the storm flag afterwards! He thought that was super cool!
After the flag ceremony, we explored the Fort’s buildings, cannons, & views.
The kids then earned their JR Ranger badges.
By now we had worked up an appetite and headed to Chick-fil-a for lunch and then onto the “Flag House” in Baltimore where Mary Young Pinkersgill lived and hand-sewed that flag. We learned she did have the help of her daughter, couple of nieces, and a servant girl. And since her house wasn’t big enough to the lay the flag out, she used the floor of a local tavern.
The museum next to her house has a life-sized glass flag art piece that really put it into perspective on just how large the flag was. Here’s our photo in front of that art piece:
And here's Jett closer to flag so you can get the idea of the full scale:
In front of the Flag House:
Here's Mary's bedroom staged with what they think it would've looked like:
After the house we made a grocery run and by the time we were back to the RV all the water had receded thankfully! After dinner, Jason and I took a walk along the marina. It was a beautiful view here at Bar Harbor in the Chesapeake Bay!
9/13/22: Another early morning for us as we packed a picnic lunch and left the RV by 8:15am. We had a long 1 hour 40 minute drive up to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. We arrived to the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor’s Center with only 5 minutes to spare for our timed entry at 10:15am.
We rushed to get our Jr. Ranger booklets & sat down in the theatre just as the video started! (Whew!) It was a very well put together film narrated by Moran Freeman. (I love his voice!) This is the first battle site we’ve visited in relation to the Civil War… so it was really cool to experience the sites with the Revolutionary War first, then the War of 1812, and now fast forwarding to the Civil War. After the video, the ushered us upstairs where we were to enjoy the Cyclorama Experience. I had no clue what to expect as I had no clue what a Cyclorama was!
Turns out it was a 360 degree oil painting on canvas measuring 42 feet high by 377 feet in circumference. And the shocking thing is that this was hand painted in 1884! It was complete with 3D props in the foreground to give it even more depth, lights, and a narration. It was quite moving!
We then headed into the massive museum where we spent a couple of hours pouring through the exhibits and working on the kids Jr Ranger activities in their booklets.
Once completed, they had earned their badges! Then we headed to the car for our picnic lunch.
Knowing the car audio tour was several hours long (and it was already 1pm) we decided to eat our picnic lunch in the car on the way to the first stop of the tour. The car tour had 16 total stops and started with significant encounters/fights on July 1st, proceeded thru July 2nd, and then at stop 15 is where it all came down to.
Here's a photo of Stop #2, The eternal flame Peace Memorial:
Here's stop #12, the largest state monument! Pennsylvania's of course. You could even climb to the top to look out over the battlefield expanse.
Here's the view from the top of the Pennsylvania monument - You can see behind Jett and Jason along the road there are many more monuments scattered throughout.
Stop 15 was Culp’s Hill, where the battle ended on July 3, 1863. There was a metal look out tower you could climb to see out. Here's a photo of Jett at the top.
There were 1,328 monuments/memorials and 400 canons placed throughout the entire park and town commemorating which states unit/brigade had been stationed and fought there. I was super impressed with how well organized and clearly marked this park was! And the park showed no favoritism to one side or the other, it honored every soldier in every regiment/brigade no matter from the Union or Confederate sides.
The final stop #16 was Cemetary Hill which now houses the National Cemetery. We got to stand right where Pres. Abraham Lincoln delivered his infamous Gettysburg Address speech and walked the National Cemetary, many of whom headstones had “unknown.”
Here's the Soldier's National Monument:
Even though this day was a bit solemn, we all thoroughly enjoyed this outing and learned so much! I think it’s so important that our younger generations learn from our older generations mistakes so history does not repeat itself!
Jaycie’s Bunny Hoppin’ News:
By: Jaycie Lillie
9/8/22: Nemours Estate – Hi! We have visited Nemours Estate, Delaware. Nemours Estate is a house with gardens. This guy loved this girl [hiswife] so he built her a French house and gardens.
The house was HUGE!
The turtle pond was so cute!
This was actually their swimming pool. [The museum had to make it shallower when they opened it up to the public.]
And this is the frog pond:
It is crazy how they had a French garden, English garden, turtle pond, frog pond, grape vineyard, greenhouse, Chauffer’s garage, pool, REAL gold statues everywhere, Mansion, huge water tower, forests [that used to be more gardens], and workers to work in the gardens!
[some more bridges]
9/10/22: Defender’s Day at Fort McHenry
It was supposed to be a rest day, like clean and chores. But we found out it was Defender’s Day! Fort McHenry was having a celebration that night. We decided to go. We packed our bag chairs and some snacks. Jett, Daddy, and I were playing frisbee (waiting for it to start) when Jett threw the frisbee too high and to the right. It was stuck HIGH in the tree! We couldn’t climb it because it is a national park. (We already got told off for it from some colonial dressed ladies.) Jett ran to get some Park Rangers for help. They seemed to be waiting. They took a look and said they would get back to us. They came again with a wrench tool gadget and a wooden thing that looked to be a huge empty spool. They said to calm down, they are professional park rangers who knew what they were doing. They threw both in the air in attempt to knock the frisbee out. And that didn’t work as well as they had hoped. They drove back a small truck vehicle. Jett hopped on the back of it and reached for it. He wasn’t tall enough. The park rangers found a long stick and then finally knocked it out from standing on the truck.
It was crazy! Then we all came back and some shows happened and a band played. Mommy and I laid out Grandma Lillie’s quilt and I laid on it so I could see the fireworks. I started to eat my popcorn but I wanted to save it for the Fireworks show. I still ate it. It was gone by the time it got dark. [We all know how that goes!] I couldn’t stop eating it. The fireworks show was VERY good. It was the best I’ve ever seen!
We were tired by the end and drove home in the dark.
Jett’s Wild Flight:
By: Jett Lillie
9/10/22: Defender’s Day at Fort McHenry
We awoke one morning to a free day. We played, ate a big breakfast and cleaned the RV. We went to a strip center, the girls got pedicures while my dad and I went to Walgreens. We all went home and got ready for tonight at Fort McHenry. We drove to Fort McHenry and sat up our chairs. My dad I threw the frisbee until we (I) got it stuck in a tree. We asked the Park Ranger and he got it down. We watched soldiers throw guns in the air (US Army Drill Team) and some new recruits getting sworn into the army.
US Drill Team:
I got to hold one of the bayonets:
Watching the new recruits getting sworn in:
Then they had the US Army Old Fife & Drum. They played Yankee Doodle and other songs I didn't know.
Then we watched a cannon bombardment (they shot the cannons) and after saw BEST fireworks show EVER and then went home.
9/14/22: Charm City Helicopter Tour
We started on our school in the morning, then ate lunch in the car on the way to the Helicopter ride.
Here's a photo of the helicopter we rode in:
When we got on the helicopter we sat in silence looking at the scenery with boats, buildings, and bikes. (The three Bs) It was AMAZING!
Here's what Fort McHenry looks like from the air:
When we got off I realized that there was no silence… it was just my headphones didn’t work! LOL!
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