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.