Williamsburg, Virginia

This weekend we visited historically significant sites from the early 1600s, late 1700s, and late 1800s.

Yorktown Battlefield is the site for the Revolutionary War. The battle ended on October 19, 1781 and was a decisive victory by a combined force of American Continental Army troops led by General George Washington and French Army troops led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by British peer and Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis. It was here that Cornwallis surrendered prompting the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict. The Moore House is located in the eastern part of the park and is where surrender negotiations took place in 1781.

Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in North America, established May 13, 1607. The site has many of the buildings as they would have been built on the site. Since everything was made from the local materials, not much was left standing. The glassworks studio was my favorite to watch.

Fort Monroe served a pivotal role during the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln had Fort Monroe quickly after the Battle of Fort Sumpter that began the Civil War. It was held by Union forces throughout the Civil War, which launched several sea and land expeditions from there. The site had been documented as an ideal fortification since the early days of English settlement.

Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting part of an historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. The Historic Area includes buildings from the 18th century (during part of which the city was the capital of Colonial Virginia), as well as 17th-century, 19th-century, and Colonial Revival structures, as well as more recent reconstructions. The Historic Area is an interpretation of a colonial American city, with exhibits of dozens of restored or re-created buildings related to its colonial and American Revolutionary War history.

B&O Railroad Museum, Maryland

The B&O Railaoad museum is located in the Mount Clare Station and adjacent roundhouse. This railroad station began construction in 1829 making it the oldest railroad manufacturing complex in the United States. This was the site that the first telegraph message, "What hath God wrought?" was sent on May 24, 1844, from Washington, D.C., using Samuel F. B. Morse's invention. The collection includes 250 pieces of railroad rolling stock, 15,000 artifacts, 5,000 cubic feet of archival material, four significant 19th-century buildings, including the historic roundhouse, and a mile of track. We were able to take the train ride on that track with one of the older engines.  The passenger cars were nothing too special, but Owen liked it. There is a sweet kid track play area that Owen loved hanging out in.  There was quite the lack of engine cars so Owen carried the one he found around with him. Many of the trains you could go inside and turn all the knobs and levers.

Western Pennsylvania

We spent part of this long weekend driving up to Western Pennsylvania. There are several stamp locations up there that aren't easy to get just as a day trip. Damon was most looking forward to Fort Necessity. I was excited about getting seven new stamps.

Our first stop was the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site. It was an inclined plane railroad that carried canal boats over the Allegheny Mountains.  It was completed in 1834 and in use until 1854. Linking the two canals to get materials and people over the mountains played a critical role in opening the interior of the United States to trade and settlement.  Part of the construction included the Staple Bend tunnel which was the first railroad tunnel in America built in 1833. With the snow and incredibly frigid temperatures we didn't take the hike over to see the trains.

Our second stop was the Johnstown Flood National Memorial. On May 31, 1889 the Johnstown and upstream towns were destroyed by an earthen dam failure of the South Fork Dam on the Little Conemaugh River. A combination of days of rain and poor maintenance set the area up for disaster. This failure sent 20 million tons of water downstream devastating the city of Johnstown and several towns in between.  The flood killed 2,209 people.  Owen’s favorite part was the elevator in the visitor center. Currently, Johnstown is not doing so hot with the steel industry failing.  We stayed the night there and had dinner at a pizza place/liquor store. Surprisingly, the pizza was pretty good. 

The third stop was the Flight 93 Memorial.  We were thwarted because they closed due to the snow the day before and then a delayed opening the next day so we were not able to actually get on to the site.  

Fourth, Fort Necessity. On July 3, 1754, troops commanded by 22-year old Colonel George Washington were defeated by a force of French and Native Americans at this small stockade in the wilderness of the Allegheny Mountains.  This opening battle of the French and Indian War began a seven-year struggle between Great Britain and France for control of North America and set stage for the American Revolution.  

We were able to also drive along the National Road where we had an excellent lunch at a tavern that was opened in 1822.  Damon had fried chicken and I had pot roast. The National Road was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the 620-mile road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main transport path to the West for thousands of settlers.

Our last stop was Friendship Hill which was the estate of Albert Gallatin on the Monongahela River purchased in 1789. During his 13 years as Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Jefferson and Madison, Gallatin reduced the national debt, framed the purchase of the Louisiana Territory, and funded the Lewis and Clark expedition.  Later, he helped negotiate an end to the War of 1812 and served as Minister to France.

January 2018

We are officially calling potty training as accomplished.  Hallelujah and praise the lord. The final hurdle for Owen was going potty at school.  He has gone a full week in underwear at school with no accidents and doing very well asking to go when he needs to use the bathroom.  I am so proud.  He is doing well at school with his friends.  He loves going to his gymnastics classes right after school on Mondays and Wednesdays. With it being colder, we will go over to his friend Ethan's house to play on some of the afternoons.  Their house is just down the street from us and Ethan has a younger brother about 8 months older than Milton. We took Owen bowling for the first time and he got a kick out of using the ramp thing and watching the ball hit the pins.  I think his favorite part was seeing the ball return. We had a snow day and went over to Grandma's to play with all the boys for a bit.  Otto and Rory brought some costumes which they all had fun dressing up.  We even got Milton to join in with a costume.  Owen has developed a fear of bears as he is always setting up bear traps around the house.  He got one put together in the van with two bungee cords.  Damon and Owen will go around the house hunting bears with the pop rifle and the civil war replica rifle.

Milton is moving around more and more.  Still that butterfly stroke thing.  He will do more of a crawl when he is on a high friction surface such as on the carpet in the basement or if he is left naked to scoot around.  Owen does take exception at times to Milton's mobility and will shout "no baby" and then go sit on top of him.  Milton takes it well.  He finds Owen absolutely fascinating.  Especially Owen's train track setup in the basement.  I am teaching Owen that he can move to a higher surface that Milton won't bug him.  I will find Owen perched on top of his toy drawers playing away. Milton loves his chow.  We are yet to find a food he won't eat.  This month he got to try eggs, cheese, peas, and strawberries.  He loves graham crackers.