I'm Back

I am officially back in Pittsburgh. I left Petersburg around 2pm after turning in my badge and keys. That was melancholy duty but I was excited to be back on the road. I got in late last night, having spent more time than I care to mention in traffic around DC and parts of Maryland. M and I went on a bike ride today down the length of the North Shore Trail. Living in Petersburg I think I had started to forget what a pretty place Pittsburgh is. Today was a perfect day for such a realization; sunny and cool (by Virginian standards) with a nice breeze along the river. Its enough to make anyone happy to be home.

This is the end of this blog. Thanks to all of anyone who read it. I hope it was at least entertaining, and at most a little instructive. Next time you're in Virginia stop by Petersburg. Even if it is 115 degrees in the shade the place is worth a look and there are some wonderful people there trying to tell the story of a very important place.

 

My last day

 Yesterday I had a group of kids who came from Poplar Grove Hospital. These high school kids were institutionalized because they have had behavioral issues; mostly problems with authority figures. I 'd belying if I said I wasn't a little leery of this tour before hand. But I think they may have been one of the best groups I've dealt with. They were interested, asked questions, and were very attentive.

I have one more group of kids coming in today. We're going to go on another archaeological dig with Prince George Historical Society. Should be a fun time if the rain holds off.

While I am very ready to return home, it is a little sad to have to leave. I've really enjoyed my time here. Because   (or in spite) of having had a chance to see the inner workings of a park I feel like I'm even more committed than ever to the ideals of the National Park Service.

Tiffany Windows

Yesterday after work I went on a tour of Blandford Church. I'd been hearing about the church since I got here. It was the first thing that people at the National Battlefield told me I should go see. The church was built in 1735 was later abandoned and fell into disrepair. During the Siege of Petersburg the cemetery around the church became the burial place for thousands of Confederate troops. After the war even more Confederates were re-interred there. Currently there are around 33,000 Southern along others dating all the way back to 1702 buried in Blandford Cemetery. The church was restored in 1901 by the Ladies Memorial Association and turned into a memorial to the Confederate dead. The cemetery, while a historic location, is also still operational.

Blandford Church is small, and through the old brick and timber construction is impressive, the real draw are the fifteen Tiffany stained glass windows. The pieces of glass seem to draw in ambient light and glow even on very cloudy days. My favorite is the window depicting St. Paul and memorializing the Washington Artillery (from Louisiana). The tour guides told me they didn't allow pictures inside the building, but I took some anyway. I had to be sneaky about it so I apologize for the quality and angle of the pictures.

St John

St Mark

St Bartholomew 

St Paul

Pictures from my hike through Five Forks

Wandering the Woods

Today, in the hopes of finding some large granite boulders that I had heard were somewhere in the area, I woke early and drove to Five Forks Battlefield. I'm hoping to create one more earthcache for the area by finding these boulders and marking them as a place of geologic interest. I'd been assured that the granite outcroppings exist, but on my first attempt I had failed to find them. I did locate a large marshy lake on my first venture however, which I considered to be worthwhile.

When I arrived at Five Forks around 7am the air was still what passes for cool here in Virginia (75 degrees), but it was quickly warming up. The temperature dropped however when I entered the pine woods. The pines are huge loblollys and maintain the shade all day. I wandered about for nearly an hour - finding nothing - before I made a detailed study of the map. The map clearly labels one trail as the 'Pine Rocks' trail. Despite having read the map before I never thought to guess that this might be where I could find some very large rocks. Pine Rocks trail was , of course, the longest in that section of the park. It covers the better part of the left side of the map above. By the time I found the rocks, which are suitable impressive, and made my way back to the road I had hiked something close to 4miles and walked into something like 4,000 spider webs. For some reason that probably has a lot to do with annoying me a certain species of spider has a habit of trying to block the trail with web after web. At an interval of sometimes no more than 10 yards the webs significantly slowed my progress. It took me close to two hours to hike the distance.

Now I am engaged in writing the proposal for the earthcache. Hopefully I'll be able to get it published before I leave.

Earthcache

In trying to encourage people to visit Petersburg National Battlefield I have developed two Earthcaches which are a type of Geocache. People can download the GPS coordinates from the internet, which will lead them to points of geologic interest. So far one of mine has been published, one more is under review, and I'm hoping to possibly write another before I leave at the end of this week.. If you'd like to see the one that has been published click Creek Sharks!

Standing by the Fort

This morning we were expecting a group of 30 children to show up at 9am for a tour of the park's recreated fort and earthworks. I came up with an activity a month ago in which I let the kids pretend to be soldiers and Civil War photographers at the site. They use the fort as a backdrop and come away with some pretty good pictures every once in a while. We put the pictures on CD and send them to the parents. This necessitates taking two huge trunks of soldier's uniforms, ladies dresses, canteens, haversacks, and other accouterments to the site in advance of the group. Our group arrived a bit (1 hour) late today and so I was out at the fort with boxes full of Civil War paraphernalia set out on display for a while. Several groups of people wandered by, looked at everything, asked questions, and before I knew it I was basically explaining the site, the clothing, the topography and answering questions from everyone who walked past. Now I don't mean to make it sound like I was mobbed by people, but there was a steady stream of visitors coming past who I hadn't expected to be there. I explained French military terms to one man, uniform styles to his wife, gave directions to a couple from out of town, and talked about the deforestation caused by the Siege of Petersburg with an older gentleman.

By the time the group of kids got there I had been talking quite a bit and had to launch right back into it again. We talked about the process of making glass-slide negatives, famous Civil War photographers, why uniforms were made of wool, and dozens of other things. It made for a very full morning. I loved every minute of it. Things like this I will miss when I leave here.

Last Week

This is the beginning of my last week at Petersburg. While I am becoming very anxious to get back home I also have recently realized that there is a short list of things I want to see and do before I go. Almost all of the things I put off doing for quite a while because I was thinking that there was always more time. Now some of these things are just trails I want to hike, while others are important sights I want to see. Below is my list.

The Petersburg Siege Museum
Blandford Church
Hike the new Scenic Trail at the Crater
Hike the trails at Five Forks
Write a Five Forks EarthCache
Get a BlackHandshake (Chocolate-Espresso Milkshake) from Demolition Coffee
Find an interesting present for my niece and nephew. (What do you get two-year-olds in a town focused on Civil War history?)


I visited the Siege Museum yesterday and just finished the BlackHandshake it was excellent. The architecture of the Siege Museum impressed me more than the exhibits I found there. The museum is housed in the old commodities exchange building, which dates back to before the Civil War. The building has a large, open, and circular first floor that was used to store local goods for exchange (mostly tobacco, cotton, and corn). The whole space is open up to the second floor balcony, where traders would stand, observe the commodities, and bid on the goods. The whole room is columned in what I think is a Greek-revival style and the old wooden floors creak solidly when stepped on the way only centuries-old oak can.Two exhibits did catch my eye. First, the flag that was flying over the customs house when Union troops finally captured the town. It was taken by some Michigan soldiers back home as a prize and years later returned to the city in excellent condition. Second, a type of multi-shot cannon that looked like a large version of a colt revolver on wheels. The gun was developed and built in Petersburg for the Confederates. Unfortunately the first model exploded when in trials and killed four gunners so the second gun was never fired and the design was abandoned. The impressive looking gun stayed in a warehouse for many years until  it was given to the museum.  

Schoolyard Habitat

Yesterday my supervisor and I went to do a site survey of an area that a local middle school wants to turn into a schoolyard habitat. Evidently there is a grant program from US Fish and Wildlife service that will provide $10,000 to schools that come up with a plan and supporting committee. This school is just starting.

Mostly I took pictures, did a little surveying, and some GPS mapping. The area they have already has a pond full of frogs, cattails, and dragon flies. We started talking to the fish hatchery nearby to see if they'll give some mosquito fish and hopefully we can get the boy scouts involved as well to build a small trail around the pond. I won't get to see the finished product but it's neat to see the beginning of the process.

Shortcut

The other day when I was biking back to quarters along the park tour road it slowly began to rain. Fortunately I was close to a trail head and quickly veered off down a trail to avoid being soaked again. I'd only taken this trail once before and I knew there were several turns off to the right in the direction I had to go. It was later in the afternoon and the trail was deserted and at the beginning very wide and evenly graded. Coming to the first trail intersection I turned right and quickly began going downhill. I remembered that there was a large valley between my present location and quarters so this didn't surprise me. I was only startled when the trail kept getting steeper, going from a gentle pitch on which I could easily brake and switch directions to a near vertical decent that would have turned my bike (and I) into something approximating a lunatic's attempt at modern art had I tried to stop. This was not the trail I'd been on before. At this point the trail had narrowed to about four feet across and I was ducking tree branches and vines the size of thick sausages. Recent rain had washed away much of the gravel surface of the trail and I was bouncing over small gullies and rocks with bone jarring force. I pictured myself hang from a vine that had snared me, while my bike was a mangled heap against a tree. I briefly considered that such an accident was sure to get me an extension on my last internship paper. So there I was hopelessly careening down a hill, dodging vegetation and rocks, and hoping that there was nothing at the bottom that I would need to avoid. I had a vague memory of a stream at the bottom of the valley and was praying there was a bridge with no stairs leading up onto it. Then I hit the valley bottom and the trail leveled quickly. The transition between breakneck decent and dead flat was too sudden for my built up momentum and I rocketed across the valley floor through a long patch of deep mud, which splattered over my shins and back and up the other side of the ravine. I was half way up the opposing hill before I started to slow to any great degree. I had grown unused to pedaling and now had to remind myself of the necessity. At the top of the hill I wondered for a moment where the stream and bridge had gone. I didn't think long about such things since I recognized the next trail intersect.

Shaken, mud splattered, and baring a few red welts from branches that were too much for my reflexes I made it to quarters in record time. My survival justifies the shortcut, but I won't be taking again anytime soon.

It never did really rain.

Man the Barricades

It's nice when the revolutionaries start putting up road signs.

Bits and Pieces

A few days ago I was out driving around and found a few interesting items. The park has lots of small areas that are disconnected from the main park below are a couple of monuments that the park is responsible for but are completely surrounded by private or city land.

The grass is city maintained and only the concrete and granite are park land. 

This sits right in the middle of a busy intersection and next to an elementary school.

Flotsam

Last week I founds this piece of ceramic on the bottom of a shallow portion of Poor Creek, which runs through the battlefield. I took it to the park archaeologist and she told me that the edge design could be from a kind of ceramic commonly made in the 1700's. Unfortunately without more of the piece there is no real way to date it. 

Law Enforcement

I spent today shadowing one of the law enforcement officers. He showed me a different side of the park and told me a lot of good stories of things people have done on park land. These include, but are not limited to the following:

1. Building a cabin back in the woods and living in it until caught.
2. Burning stolen firearms
3. Digging up old forts at night looking for artifacts and claiming (when caught) the that they didn't know it wasn't allowed.
4. Hunting deer in the park.

This morning we were making rounds and got a call for some of the maintenance staff that there was a hole that had been dug at City Point. We were already nearby so we checked it out. The hole was kind-of half covered with loose dirt. When I looked close I could see a skull partially protruding. At that point we started taking pictures. The sight and smell was disgusting and I won't post the pictures here. After uncovering we could tell that someone had buried their dog and the creature was now a little more than half decomposed. Maintenance said they would rebury it (I mean what else could we do). Evidently burying deceased domestic animals is something of a favorite past time in National Parks despite the little problem of it being illegal. I was told that rangers have found buried dogs, cats, gerbils, birds, and a goat. Later when we got back to the ranger station we found that another ranger had been called to Five Forks where a puppy had been abandoned and she'd brought the dog to the office since the local animal shelter was closed today. One of the other rangers decided to adopt the pup. Upon meeting its new owner for the first time the energetic black lab smelled his shoes and promptly peed on the floor.

All in all it made for an interesting day.  

The Taylor Farm

Fort Morton and the ruins of the Taylor farmhouse might be my favorite sites in the main part of the park. The sites are within walking distance (100yrds) of each other and both afford quite a good view out over a large expanse of the battlefield. The farmhouse in particular has an air of lonesomeness and solitude. I've often wondered what became of the Taylors themselves when the war came. We know both sides used the house as an observation post at times since it was between the lines. But where did the family go?

There is also quite a lot of wind all the time on the rise which encompasses both the house and the fort. Even on the stillest days, if there is going to be a breath of air stir anywhere in the park it will be at the Taylor farm. When a storm is coming in swiftly you might just believe you could be blown off of the little ridge. There are days when what I want is a meadow, long and sunlit with grass being rolled by the breeze or thrashed about by a violent wind. Fort Morton is a place for such days. The grass there isn't terribly long because it is often mowed, but it is let grow long enough between each cutting that it can still show the switch and curve; the fickleness of the wind. The five cannon that mark the fort's no vanished wall stand in strange juxtaposition to the grass and wind. Silent, immovable, and steady, they will be at Fort Morton until kingdom come.

Ruins of the Taylor farmhouse

First floor fireplace, chimney, and outer wall foundations

Union battery at Fort Morton

Lightning, Coyote, and Tadpoles

Last night there was an impressive thunderstorm over the battlefield. It hit around 11:30pm and lasted more than an hour. The lightning strikes were both bright and very close to quarters. I briefly contemplated doing as the radio advised and moving the the lower floor of the house, but decided I was too tired to worry about my safety and went back to sleep. The fact that I did not die justifies that decision I think.

This morning on my ride to work I noticed what I first thought to be a gray fox but soon realized it to be a coyote. He had just crossed the tour road when I spotted him and was jogging through the trees and deeper into the pine woods off to my right. He looked fat and content like he was out for a morning jog.

I spent the rest of the morning looking at the ground of a school near Williamsburg that wants to get a grant from the federal government for a school yard habitat. My supervisor and I were dispatched to give them the initial forms, look over the grounds, and advise them on the next steps. The school is new and huge. There are already two ponds nearby full of very large tadpoles and noisy frogs. Its a great site for a habitat project.   

Money

The park service, as part of my reward for working here this summer, has given me $450 to spend for things I will use in class to teach about the Civil War. Yesterday I spent my entire day in the office trying to decide how best to spend that money. The first part of spending federal funds is to allocate the money and having the allocation approved. I succeeded in allocating all $450 and filled out the proper forms. Once the forms are signed by my supervisor's supervisor I'll actually be able to order the stuff.

I'll only give one hint about what I bought.

Appomattox and Farmville

Today I left early in the morning to visit Appomattox Court House National Historic Park where Gen. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia surrendered to Gen. Grant's Army of the Potomac after being forced to abandon Petersburg and Richmond. The morning was very rainy as I drove out, but about the time I reached Appomattox the weather improved just enough to allow me to wander around what has been preserved and restored from the little town that existed there in 1865. The McLean House, where the terms of surrender were officially signed, has been entirely rebuilt and was very interesting to wander around. The park rangers there were happy to see me since they'd had very few visitors and I availed myself of the opportunity to ask a lot of questions about famous people I knew to be present at the surrender. I spent a very happy, if damp, two hours wandering around and poking my head into the two dozen or so restored/preserved buildings. My favorite was the general store. Shelves lined with interesting bottles, boxes, and tools I had no idea how to use. The whole building had the agreeable smell of leather, oil, and packing sawdust. Browsing around the store I could almost imagine I had stepped into the 1860's and was looking for a sack of corn meal and replacement ax handle.

As I left the rain stopped entirely. I am now in the little town of Farmville (yes, its a real place) and I am having drink at a small coffeeshop/bookstore. Farmville seems a pleasant little town and definitely more interesting to wander around than old town Petersburg. In a few minutes I'm going to wander around and see what's here worth seeing now that the sun is starting to drive away the clouds.

I haven't seen anything remotely like this.

The Crater

Yesterday was the 147th anniversary of the Battle of the Crater,  during which the 48th Pennsylvania regiment exploded a mine underneath of Confederate forces at Elliot's Salient. The destruction of the fort was complete and presented a great opportunity for Union forces to take Petersburg. The attack that followed the explosion was mismanaged however and the day turned into a Union defeat.

To mark the day Petersburg had a regiment of reenactors at the sight. They conducted drills and artillery demonstrations. It was a nice hot day so quite a few people visited the park and the Crater in particular.

Entrance to the mine tunnel. The mine was a feat of engineering
that many Union commanders thought impossible at the time.

Infantry company giving a rifle demonstration.

Two Weeks

As of last night I have two weeks left at Petersburg. I'm also going to be a little more lonely for that time. M., who has spent the last two weeks here, headed back home to Pittsburgh yesterday evening. This makes me even more ready to head home when my time here is over. In addition Madeline, my housemate left yesterday since her volunteer internship was over. All of Quarters #34 is now empty except for me. I expect I might start visiting Merlin more often just for some company.

While M was here we did take a trip to City Point so I could work on a geocaching project I'm developing for the park. While regular geocaches are not allowed on park ground EarthCaches are. EarthCaches note places of geological interest and ask visitors to follow their GPS to a location and answer questions about it. Look here for more info on Geocaching and here for EarthCaches. One of the locations I'm working on has invasive rocks from Europe on the shore of the James river at City Point.

Flint Nodules

 The picture above shows flint nodules. They were brought over from Europe on ships bound for the British settlements along the James River. They were used as ballast in those ships to keep them upright and stable during the Atlantic crossing. When the ships arrived in Virginia they loaded up with goods like lumber and tobacco and had no room or need for the ballast, which they dropped into the river. Flint like this is rare in the eastern United States, but the shoreline along the City Point portion of Petersburg Battlefield is littered with such stones.

Hotter than car full of Chili Cook-off Judges

The heat is back. Oddly enough I think I'm beginning to get used to it. heat index readings up near 110 degrees are becoming somewhat commonplace. Yes, it is hot,but as long as I don't do anything too foolhardy I survive just fine. Drinking a lot of water is key. Already today I've had about five pints of water and will probably drink another four this afternoon.

The heat does seem to cut down on unnecessary movement. Even the wildlife at the park are silent and motionless starting around midday until close to 4:30pm.

Ticks

I have learned way too much about ticks this summer. I already knew about dog ticks and deer ticks but evidently there are more varieties down here in Virginia and all of them want nothing more than to latch on to me and perhaps give me lime disease. Among the many type of tick to be found here in Virginia are the very small and sneaky seed ticks and sand ticks. These are almost impossible to detect except by a severe itching where ever they have happened to get hold of a person. Evidently this is a bad year for ticks and they are everywhere. We spray the campers down with bug spray every day before leaving the building. Still some of them come back with clinging pests. I've picked, brushed, and scraped about six or seven ticks off myself since the summer started and I'm usually very careful about where I go and how often I use bug repellent (lemongrass - environmentally safe). I know three people on staff here who have had lime disease recently and one more who has it now. I mention all this now because the kids today went on a scavenger hunt and went into the forest. As always a few of them came back with ticks.

Tombstone House

Yesterday afternoon, after all our preparations for camp were made, M and I went hiking at Five Forks. I was looking for large granite boulders, which I'd been told sat along side the trails. I want to note the location of the boulders for a project I'm working on.We hiked for about two hours and found one illegal geocache, which I had to report to the park law enforcement officers. Its illegal to place geocaches on national park land. I'm all in favor of the geocaching game when people play by the rules, but putting them on park land is clearly not allowed. I did not find my large boulders. We did run across a fairly hidden stretch of wetland with a wildlife viewing station and a log book placed there by a boy scout troop.

Afterward we drove to Poplar Grove National Cemetery. Poplar Grove was the burial place for thousands of Union soldiers. The grounds seem small, but the graves are usually close together and very numerous. It is somewhat striking that all the stones are flat and often concealed by the very short grass. This gives the cemetery the appearance on first glance of a large open lawn punctuated by very large trees. The brick wall at the edges of the graveyard seem like they could easily be seen around the perimeter of the a country estate or city park.

Most of the identities of the soldiers at Poplar Grove are unknown and
so the graves are numbered on small square chunks of granite.

Stone styles differ depending on the year they were last replaced.

There is, of course, a reason that all the stones in Poplar Grove are flat. In the 1930's when all the battlefield parks passed from the Dept of Defense to the Dept of the Interior the first National Park Service superintendent at Petersburg though the cemetery would be much easier to maintain if all the stones were flat on the ground. He was wrong for lots of reasons, but like a good government employee, he didn't let that stop him from trying. The stones were uprooted and the lower (underground) portions of each tombstone was cut off. The cut chunks of stone were actually sold to a man named Oswald Young, who used the blank chunks of marble to build a house not far away. That's right. A house made out of 2,200 marble tombstones , which previously marked the resting places of Union soldiers.

The house looks quite odd. There is something strange about it. It gave me the impression of looking at a very large mausoleum. The place is still privately owned and recently was sold. I wish I knew how much it went for.

Merlin

M. insists on visiting and taking carrots to Merlin every evening no matter how warm it is. I think he may be beginning to associate her with the treats she brings. He often looks up and comes close to the fence when we get near. Recently, however, she spooked him by holding up and shaking the plastic bag that she'd brought the carrots in. Merlin is typically pretty sedate if insistent in looking for food. He'll nuzzle at pockets, hands, and anywhere that might conceivably hide food. He also likes to check our hands two or three times just to make sure we aren't holding out on him. The  sound of the plastic bag rattling, however, made him rear up on is hind legs for a minute. He was skittish around us for the rest of the night. Although he wasn't too nervous to take food from us.

Hotter than goods bought from the back of a van

Today we took the kids to the creek in the morning but had them back into the air conditioning by 11am because the superintendent's injunction was still in force. The heat index put today at 115 degrees. Even down near the creek shaded by many large trees the humidity and heat were oppressive.

There were surprising numbers of visitors at the park today. The visitor center was busy all day and at times was virtually packed. Many of these tourists didn't seem to mind the heat and even went on somewhat long walks around Battery 5 or Fort Morton. I can only conclude that these people are crazy.

Hotter than a Fist Full of Jalapenos

About midway through camp today we received a message from the superintendent that urges us to limit all outdoor exposure for the campers and ourselves. Tomorrow we are not allowed to take the kids outside after 11am. The heat index is going to make the temperature here feel like 115 degrees. A little before noon today we had the kids sitting outside listening to the sounds of the forest, and sweat was streaming down their faces (mine too). The humidity is so high that even at 8pm last night I broke a sweat walking to feed carrots to Merlin. It feels like breathing water.

We spent quite a bit more time inside than we originally intended to.  That was somewhat disappointing. Tomorrow we'll take the kids out much earlier in the day. Hopefully after a few hours spent at the creek we'll have enough filler material to keep the kids inside the rest of the day.

Pictures of Wednesday's Bug Hike

One of the kids captured a wolf spider despite my injunction to leave it alone. Thankfully wolf spiders are fairly harmless.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_spider#Toxicity

Looking for insects hiding in old stumps.

Hotter than the Devil's Barbecue

I biked to work this morning before it warmed up, but by the time we too the kids out looking for bugs near Fort Stedman it had become oppressively hot and humid. The ambient temperature today is about 94 degrees. Tomorrow it will be 100 and the day after will be 103. We will be taking the kids outside every one of those days. The challenge today on our short but hike was to keep them drinking water. They ran around chasing grasshoppers but complained when I told them to stop and drink water. 

I'm sort of looking forward to moving back to Pittsburgh in a few weeks where the temperature seldom gets above the cool 90s. Here the grass is getting crunchy and dying. The only marginally cool places on the battlefield are deep under the pine trees or down near the streams (some of those are starting to dry up too however). Most tourists sadly ignore the park's many wooded trails and stick close to the tour road where they broil but the walking is easy and they can make a dash for their air conditioned SUVs. 

I remembered an idea from class this past year that I put to good use with the kids today. I printed lots of paper butterflies and colored them to match various parts of our classroom. If the kids could find a butterfly (and some were very well camouflaged) they could turn it in for a ticket. At the end of the week we draw tickets to give out small prizes. To my astonishment they found all the butterflies today although they did have a hard time with a few of them. They seemed to genuinely enjoy the game though. I intend to re-hide them tomorrow with a few extras. 

I'm still working on writing that Night Hike program. Not telling if it will get final approval or if anyone will sign up for it even if they do.

Preparing for Camp

We start another environmental camp tomorrow and today has been spent setting up for it. I've been fielding questions all morning about how many kids we have coming, will we need coolers with ice, can a parent sign up her child today for the camp tomorrow. Things like that. I've also been trying to work on a night hike program that I'd like to do. I have most of it written, but I have to get a date and time nailed down before it can be submitted for approval. The Chief of Interpretation has tentatively approved it, but I still need to go through all the formalities. All in all its been a fairly productive morning at the office, but now I'm finally going to get to head out side to set some more things up and I can quit staring at this computer screen.

Concert and Moonlight Hike and M's arrival

Yesterday evening was action-packed. Maddie and I drove up to City Point for a concert hosted by the park. It was a small crowd but the music (old rock and some folk tunes) was good and the setting against the James River was beautiful. The sunset was amazing. Afterwards we hiked around the tip of the City Point peninsula and took some pictures.

View from the beach. The trail we took led down from the bluffs where the old plantation house is located.

We had a few wrong turns getting back to quarters and by the time we made it the park was completely dark. The moon was full and lit up everything in stark relief and deep shadow. Maddie and I decided that was the best possible time for us to hike to Fort Stedman and take pictures of the landscape lit by the moon. We were also interested in what wildlife we might find along the way. The hike was gloriously spooky. There were bats everywhere under the trees. I lost count of them after 50 or so. We also saw lots of deer who moved off through the trees as we got too close. The distance to the fort was just over a mile, most of it through the woods. Since it was dark it seemed to take a long time to get to there, but that could also have been because we were used to biking the same path. We both got a bit spooked before we reached the open field where Fort Stedman commands a view over a quarter mile on every side. The old cannons looked eerie in the moonlight, but on the whole the scene was peaceful and beautiful. We spent a few minutes there taking pictures before heading back to the trail through the woods to get to quarters. At on point we heard a gunshot coming from the direction of Fort Lee, which startled us. Other than a few other unexplained noises the trip back was uneventful. Before we reached quarters, however we heard a trumpet at the nearby military base play revile; an odd occurrence at 11pm. The whole hike had taken about 90min.

Looking out over Fort Stedman in the moonlight.

View from below the earthworks of Fort Stedman with the moon behind the sawgrass. 

By the time we got back it was nearly time for M. to arrive. She must have, despite some traffic, made great time. We quickly unloaded things, and made introductions. Everyone was more than ready to hit the hay.

Bones

Today we took the camp to Prince George County Historical Society. Several of the archaeologists there gave presentations to the kids on local digs and the things they found. One of the presenters showed pictures of graves and lost cemeteries. There are evidently hundreds of these in central Virginia. She also showed us some of the more interesting grave retrieval projects she has done. I, with the little bit of background I have in anthropology, was fascinated by the whole thing. However, the kids were in over their heads and became frigidity after about 45min. I was actually impressed that they lasted so long. We were there for two hours and by the end of it the kids were fit to be tied. I'm not sure if the people at the historical society didn't understand that we were bringing 9 - 12 year olds or if my supervisor wasn't clear on what was needed. Both are equal possibilities.

I couldn't even get any good pictures for today. An interesting website was mentioned however. Find a Grave   

Jamestown

We took the whole camp to Jamestown so the kids could see a very in depth archaeological excavation. They were quite interested in how the archaeologists knew what they were finding. The kids were impressed to find out that the church that was being excavated was most probably where Pocahontas married John Rolf. There was quite a bit of activity going on there. Graduate students from Universities all over the state come to work in the field school during the summer. There were at least five separate excavations going on around Jamestown Island.

A passing tourist stopped me to ask questions about the excavation while the kids were talking to the archaeologists. Fortunately, I was able to answer all of the questions he was interested in, but only because I'd been listening closely to the archaeologists for the past few minutes. Having taught the history of Jamestown also helped. All in all I talked with him for about ten minutes and he left thinking that I knew pretty much everything there is to know about Jamestown. I felt very pleased with myself. I wish my knowledge of Petersburg and its battles was as complete as what I know about Jamestown. 

Archaeology and Photography

The first pictures are of the kids digging out near Five Forks. The last two were taken by the campers of each other dressed in uniforms that were slightly too big.

The kids actually found a few historically significant things while digging.
Most of it was just rusty nails and tin cans though. 

The man on the right is the park historian, Jimmy Blankenship. He knows everything about the park.