Yesterday we’d gotten
to Spotsylvania, spent time with cousin John W and his wife Patty and met up
with Lori/Lorie. After we got to the hotel (and need to take a commercial break
here, if you are ever in the Spotsylvania/Fredricksburg area, I recommend the
Hampton Inn and Suites on Hospitality Drive in Fredricksburg. Super friendly at
the desk, decent price, clean (CLEAN…they even had a post-it on the beds
telling us about their clean sheets and bedding!), lots of towels in room and a
fabulous breakfast buffet in the morning), we jammied up and got into bed.
(Disclaimer: I got nothing from Hampton Inn and Suites or their owners for this blurb.) Lorie showed me a new app called 2048 which then garnered my attention for too
long. Seriously, if you don’t know about 2048, don’t check it out! It’s a trap!
Before Lori got back from
John W and Patty’s (remember, she stayed back when we left so she could spend a
little more time with them), the rest of the Haneys got to the hotel.
Unfortunately I was in a 2048 zone and rudely kept playing. Although I did take
a break to bounce up and down on the bed to show off the weird sounds the bed
made. Don’t ask.
We made plans to meet
the next morning to drive to the high school to meet up with Daddy and Susan.
Wow…it really was an
incredible breakfast buffet. Nice job, Hampton Inn. We got on the road vaguely
on time and got to the high school with no issues. Daddy was already there
talking to the schoolbus drivers who would serve, with their schoolbuses, as
shuttles for the day. We parked, jumped on a bus and made our way to the
Opening Ceremonies at the Bloody Angle.
It was a beautiful day,
although the sun kept popping out which made it a wee bit hot at times. The
park area is absolutely gorgeous. I wish we’d been able to take one of the
walking tours. There were little monuments dotting the park commemorating
different regiments and situations during the battle.
The opening ceremonies
were very touching. They did a great job with that. They had readings taken
from newspapers, diaries, and letters from that time. It really added the
personal part back into the history. They also had Dr. James I. Robertson, Jr.
give the main speech. My word, I think I had some good history teachers over
the years, but Dr. Robertson took the cake! If you ever have a chance to go to
a lecture by him, jump on it. You will never look at history the same way
again! I did, though, feel a bit sorry for the Union soldier reenactors. They
marched up on the other side of the Confederate hill thingys (gotta remember
what those are called…especially since I almost sat on one before finding out that
they are a “really big deal” by a Park Ranger) and then stood there for the 15
minutes before the ceremonies began and then the entire hour+ of the
ceremonies. I was twitchy sitting down. I can’t imagine being in a wool uniform
and standing. Oh, and I forgot about the bagpipes. I don’t know if they picked
a solo bagpiper (bagpipist?) because the bagpipe gives such a mournful,
thoughtful sound or if there was something particularly important about the
Scots and the battle. Anyhow the bagpipes started and ended the ceremonies.
It’s really hard to
explain how I felt sitting there. I, of course, was distracted by the sun
coming and going behind the clouds and by an inchworm that crawled around on
the shoulders of a lady in front of me (yes, I gasped a little when it was
trying to wiggle into her hair…shudder), but even for someone as distractible
as I am, the green fields spreading out all around us, the trees, the breeze,
oh, it was so beautiful. But then the words from the Park Rangers and Dr.
Robinson painted such a vivid picture. It was…heartrending.
Anyhow, after the
ceremonies we went back to the shuttle pickup point and moved to where the
vendors and the battle reenactment were setup. I’m blanking on what they called
it…Merchants Square? Anyhow, it wasn’t part of the National Park Service’s
events.
So I got my beloved
t-shirt and we wandered around the vendors area…there are a LOT of vendors for
reenactor clothing and paraphernalia. I was amazed. Daddy signed us up as Descendants
of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Courthouse Battles. We got a ribbon to wear.
Pretty cool. I tried to take a picture of my ribbon, but it was a bit too
boobalicious to post.
We all made our way at
different times to where the battle would take place and managed to meet up
even with all the people that were there. My goodness, the amount of people
that were standing around as spectators was mindboggling but the amount of
reenactors on the field? Astonishing! Unfortunately, where we were standing
meant we didn’t hear much of what they would announce over the loudspeakers so
we pretty much had no idea what was going on. I mean, we knew that they were
shooting and cannoning and whatnot and we’d see someone go down and get “hurt”
or get “dead.” There were advances and retreats but, we also saw a whole bunch
of standing around, so it was a bit hard to figure out what was going on. Then,
after about an hour, there was a bugle call and that’s when the loudspeaker
came through loud and clear announcing that the sound we just heard was the
ceasefire.
The “people
interesting” thing I found was that the spectators that were reenactors tended
to believe that they had more right to a good view of the reenactment than the
people who had bought tickets to be there. (Of course, maybe the reenactors had
to buy tickets, too, I have no idea). We “set up shop” in an area that gave us
a pretty good view and the next thing you know a couple ladies with their big
ole skirts and big ole bonnets walked right in front of us and blocked our
views! One of them actually gave snotty looks to someone who tried to get
around her to be able to take a photo. The cutest moment was a family of
reenactors that stood to the right and front of us. They had two small toddler/preschool-age
children. The little girl was beyond hot on her bonnet and long-sleeved dress.
She was drinking water from a water bottle and having a good ole time. Her
older brother got a bit whiney towards the end and as he was escorted back to
their tent (I’m guessing), he announced that, “gunfire makes me FIRSTY!!!” I
totally understand.
Following the
reenactment we realized that the shuttles were going to stop running soon and
that there were a whole bunch of people that were going to try to get on them,
so we hightailed it to the shuttle stop and waited (and waited, and waited) for
the shuttle. We all managed to get on the same shuttle and got back to the high
school. The Haneys had one car at the high school and one car still back at the
hotel. Since the Haneys and I were headed to American University to gather
Lorie’s stuff, we decided that Lorie and I would go straight to AU and start
packing up my car. The Haneys would take Annie and go back to the hotel to get
the other car. One Haney car would come to the university to get the stuff we
were dumping on them to store over the summer and one Haney car would go home
and get some dinner rustled up. So hugs all around as Daddy and Susan headed
back to John W and Patty’s and the rest of us split into our assigned seating.
I still don’t know how
we managed to get all Lorie’s stuff in those cars. Space management is best
left up to Kenny. But we did. I am pretty proud of myself. We got back to the
Haneys, unloaded the Haney car and then plopped! Pizza, Top Chef (or was it
Chopped?), and 2048…then bed.
Tomorrow…twinning it at
church
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