Monster Coaster turns 30

The Loch Ness Monster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg is celebrating her 30th anniversary. I was surprised to learn that because I remember when the monster was born... there were dramatic commercials telling you to experience it.

Yet until today I never did. It wasn't all that bad... but shortly after I snapped the picture on the right, I put my camera down and shut my eyes.

The Visit to Holy Cross Abbey

These are a few pictures of our class at the monastery near Berryville. We were studying the Battle of Cool Spring (mentioned previously).

After Dr. Poland described the battle, we took a break and visited the abbey's shop, which carries a book about the battle as well as religious books, fruitcakes, and truffles.

Windmills on the ridge???

Our view is under threat! A proposal has been made to put up over 100 wind turbines in George Washington National Forest. They would be huge: 440 feet tall!

I understand each one would require much clearing of forest and the building of a substantial road. Obviously this will have an environmental impact on the forest, plus giant windmills can be hard on bats and birds.

For details see the Virginia Wind website, which is the work of ecologists Rick Webb and Daniel Boone. (Really.)

Red Bud Run

Those who were on the Third Winchester Field Trip may recall that troops had to cross Red Bud Run. Click the arrow to see how it looks today.

Website progress

I've posted draft pages of the Trevilians Station and Piedmont Battlefield Tour on my Civil War Field Trips website. The pictures and format are there.  Take a look!

Linda at age 11

This is me at age 11. That was a long time ago.

Sometimes I feel my age. I have an old sacroiliac injury that has been causing me trouble. This morning it felt like burning in my right hip and lower back; then sharp pains started shooting down the back of my right leg. I called the chiropractor's office and they said Dr. MacDonald could see me at 11:20.

The treatment helped but of course I'll need to go back. A couple of months ago he explained that I have a torqued pelvis, my sacroiliac being a bit out of joint. A nerve was impinged, causing me odd symptoms like numbness in my feet sometimes. The injury goes back many years, maybe 15 or more. Sunday and yesterday we did some gardening and painting so I guess I overdid it and paid the price. Frustrating.

A Lassie

We visited a garden pond dealer who had two pretty collies. One of them had an unfortunate habit of carrying off the water plants that were for sale, though.

Meanwhile we are expecting! A dog, that is. It's not a golden one like this. It's a sheltie. Some friends are moving to an apartment in July and cannot take their dog. We agreed to take him in. 

Maybe he can show Ben some manners. Actually, Ben is doing well except he still eats paper and small indigestible things so I have to watch him carefully unless he's in his crate.

Lecture at Snickers Gap

At Snickers Gap a major road (now Route 7) crosses the Blue Ridge in Virginia. In the picture we're on the old winding road up the hill from Bluemont. We were there tracing Jubal Early's retreat from Maryland in July 1864. He had managed to cause distress in Washington D.C. by attacking Fort Stevens, but had been forced to retreat. Also his army had failed to reach Point Lookout, where Confederate prisoner's were held.

Our class has never been to either Fort Stevens or Point Lookout. They are far from the other sites that we visit chronologically for 1864. I've been to Point Lookout while on vacation; it's a beautiful peninsula on the Chesapeake. One of these days I should find my photos from that trip.

It's Fathers Day

Here's a photograph from 1958. It shows my dad and my younger sister at Mary's Rock, Shenandoah National Park.

Last year at this time...

...Frank was recovering from surgery. I didn't carry my good camera to the hospital, but I usually carry a disposable one in my insulated snack bag, which I put in the car almost every time we go out for more than a few hours.

June 2007, GWU Hospital

Since then he has shaved off the beard, but now he's letting it grow back.

Lunch on the Monocacy Trip

After we toured Monocacy we stopped in Leesburg on the way to Snickers Gap and Cool Spring. The plan was to picnic at Cool Spring but hunger struck so we ate in a Leesburg parking lot.

(Tip: On Dr. Poland's field trips, always carry food and water.)

Monocacy Visitor Center

On our trip to Monocacy, we visited the new Visitor Center. Built to look like a large barn, it's modern and pleasant inside. It was not immediately apparent that there was a museum upstairs, but definitely it's worth going up to see it. They've done a lot of interpretation with their artifacts.

I've seen small museums full of artifacts with little explanation of what their significance is. This one is the opposite - more information than items, lots of pictures, maps that light up, stories, a full-size model of a farmhouse room with sound effects of the battle. Both adults and children will enjoy these exhibits.

The Upstairs Patio at the Monocacy Visitor Center Overlooks the Battlefield

See the article on the Monocacy Battlefield Visitor Center in AIArchitect.

Historic Farms of Monocacy

I hadn't been to the Monocacy Battlefield in about a decade. There's more to see than there was before. It's still a pretty place to visit.

The Best Farm

The farm owned by the Best family was also part of the 1862 Maryland Campaign. Lee's "lost order No. 191" was found on this farm by Union soldiers. The Worthington Farm (left) has a trail to the Monocacy River where Confederate troops crossed in 1964. They set up artillery in the front yard, and every time the gun fired, the farmyard rooster would crow. The Worthington family took shelter in the cellar during the battle. (For close-up and text of Worthington marker, click here.)

The Thomas Farm

Read the markers "Thick of Battle" and "Thomas Farm". Not shown here is another nearby marker called "Federal Retreat."

General Lew Wallace (who later wrote Ben-Hur) gave the order to retreat. However, his troops had delayed the Confederates long enough that Federal reinforcements could reach Washington DC and protect it against Early's forces.

A Book on the 1864 Valley Campaign

I finished reading Struggle for the Shenandoah, a paperback collection of essays on the 1864 Valley Campaign. In addition to an introduction and a review of literature on the topic, the book contains:

• The Shenandoah Valley in 1864 by Gary W. Gallagher
• Jubal A. Early and Confederate Leadership by Jeffry D. Wert
• Union Leadership in the 1864 Valley Campaign by A. Wilson Greene
• "The Cause of All My Disasters": Jubal A. Early and the Undisciplined Valley Cavalry by Robert K. Krick
• "I Resolved to Play a Bold Game": John S. Mosby as a Factor in the 1864 Valley Campaign by Dennis E. Frye

See my review on Amazon of Struggle for the Shenandoah: Essays on the 1864 Valley Campaign by Gary W. Gallagher. I gave it five stars.

Silly hikers

I don't know whether my classmates were tired from hiking up the hill or silly from the heat, but I couldn't get a picture without one of these ladies making a face.

Leesburg to Maryland

On our second field trip of the season, we met at a shopping center in Leesburg and went to Monocacy and Kernstown. Here's our professor introducing Jubal Early's 1864 venture into Maryland.


Early planned to demand a ransom of $200,000 from Hagerstown, MD. He sent cavalry under McCausland, who misunderstood the amount and collected $20,000 instead, plus a large amount of much-needed clothing.

Published: The Piedmont Marker

The Civil War Trails marker that I photographed at New Hope was not yet in the Historical Marker Database so I submitted it along with photos of the surrounding area and my best guess at the GPS coordinates. Their Civil War markers editor pinpointed the location and published the page as Battle of Piedmont Marker.

The photo below shows a farm across the road from the marker.

View of Piedmont Battlefield

Kalmia Latifolia

It was hot today, over 90 F., but that didn't keep me from taking some pictures of mountain laurel. It's in full bloom here in Shenandoah County and grows wild in the woods.

Nancy Meyer says good places to see it are on Great North Mountain along Crooked Run Road and Judge Rye Road. Both of these are narrow roads snaking up the mountain in George Washington National Forest. If you drive up there, keep in mind that there isn't always room to get by a vehicle when you meet one, so drive a bit slowly and stay alert. When you see a car coming, look for a wide spot to pull over.  There's no room for aggressive driving on mountain roads.

A Few Follow-ups

• All was well with the Dale City house today. No more reports of intruders.
• We got our refund from JCPenney last week. Now we have ordered vertical blinds from Budget Blinds. Their rep in Winchester has a weekend home up here in Basye and seems determined to give us good service.
  
• Allison was able to get NVCC to remove the mistaken charge from my account. (THANK YOU!)
• Although Adobe did not credit me with my second refund, I finally called me credit card company and they removed the charge while they investigate my claim.

Landlording Blues

The split-foyer house that Frank owns in Dale City is still available for rent. It's vacant and still being painted outside, although the inside has been painted and carpeted.

Yesterday we had calls from two neighbors reporting that some young people had been in the house at night. Frank tried unsuccessfully to reach our handyman Noel to ask him to change the locks. As the day wore on, I suggested that he call a locksmith. Even that turned out to be difficult on a Saturday, but finally a locksmith from WW Discount Locks responded and installed new locks. He also made sure the back door was secure.

Today we drove two hours to get there to obtain the new keys and take care of some other tasks. A neighbor informed us that the boys had gotten back in the house last night, apparently by putting the painter's ladder up to an upstairs window. Yikes! We called the painter and he put the ladders indoors and picked up one of the new keys. Frank also called the police and they came by, but since nothing was missing or destroyed, they were not very concerned.

We locked the windows too, of course. But I left there feeling uneasy. If someone really wants to get inside, locks won't keep him out.

I appreciate the neighbors calling us. They don't know us; they got our number off the "For Rent" sign.

Piedmont Battlefield Marker

We didn't stop at this marker along Battlefield Road on this field trip. I assume that's because the traffic zips by dangerously fast, and there's no place to park except on the side of the road.

Text of the marker: Piedmont Battlefield

Here on June 5, 1864, was fought the Battle of Piedmont for the possession of Staunton.

Union Forces under Gen. David Hunter 12,015 men and suffered a loss of 130 killed and 650 wounded. Confederate forces numbering 5,600 men under Gen. W.E.Jones defeated with loss 460 killed, 1450 wounded and 1,000 prisoners. Gen Jones was killed near this spot.

Below is a [zoomed and cropped] view of one of the farms behind the marker.

From one battlefield to another...

It's a long drive from Gordonsville to the Piedmont Battlefield and I got separated from the group. I wasn't worried because I have been to the Mt. Meridian/ Piedmont area a number of times. I had agreed to let Lachwan follow me (he was concerned about getting lost in the countryside) so I drove a little slowly in order to keep his car in my rearview window.

But when we reached the battle area, our group was nowhere in sight. I checked out all the tour stops that were on the handout, but saw no one until the last stop, where Arch pulled up. He had left the group at Gordonsville and taken a different route to avoid waiting for that train to leave, having gotten directions from the lady who took off her dress in the parking lot.

There was a time when I would have felt a bit lost, but that was in the first 12 years or so of taken these trips, before we (and especially our leader) carried cell phones. (Come to think of it, for the first few years we didn't even have handouts listing the tour stops. But I only got lost once, and that was late in the day in Newport News.)

I called Dr. Poland's car phone and Betty answered. She said they had stopped at a gas station and were now behind us at Mt. Meridian. We backtracked and rejoined the group.

As you can see, the scenery was beautiful. Piedmont Battlefield is not a park; it is spread out over farmland, country roads, and a few small towns. I recall that the first time I saw it, I was impressed by the lovely rural scenery. At that time I lived in the city. Now I live in the country surrounded by places of similar beauty. Come to the Shenandoah Valley and see what I mean!

Piedmont: Sign at New Hope

In March, I stopped in New Hope to take a few pictures of the Piedmont Battlefield. This is a fairly new Civil War Trails sign in front of the community center on Battlefield Road in New Hope.

Here's how the marker starts out:

Battle of Piedmont
Final Action at New Hope

The Battle of Piedmont, fought on June 5, 1864 between Union Gen. David Hunter and Confederate Gen. William E. "Grumble" Jones. ended here. It began more than a mile northeast when the 12,000-man strong Federal army, whose mission was to scour the Shenandoah Valley of Confederates and then destroy the rail center at Charlottesville, encountered Jones's combined force of 6,000 infantry and cavalry. The third Union assault uphill against Jones's fortified line ended in Confederate disaster when Jones was killed while trying to rally his men during a Union flank attack.

Picture of the Exchange Hotel

Exchange Hotel, Gordonsville

When our class finally got in our cars to leave the Exchange Hotel, a train pulled up and stopped, blocking the road. We all sat and waited.

Finally, the train started to move. However, it was a very long train and took about ten minutes to clear the crossing. Finally, it left and we drove out to US 33, which took us westward across the Blue Ridge to Elkton, where we turned south to study the battle of Piedmont.

"Decisive Confederate Victory" at Trevilians

This marker is in the town of Louisa, Virginia. We didn't stop here on the Trevilian Station tour. I grabbed this photo on a trip from Basye to Montross three years ago. We were trying the US 33 route - definitely not the fastest way to cross the state - and I spotted the Civil War Trails arrow and decided to stop.

The subtitle on the sign is "The Largest All-Cavalry Battle of the Western Hemisphere." I'm not sure about that claim; Brandy Station was the largest cavalry battle of the war. I suppose the word "all" makes a difference, but if we are nit-picking, let's remember that the cavalry at Trevilians mostly fought dismounted. Perhaps some expert will comment and clarify the semantics on the differing signs (posted by the same organization).

The marker goes on to say that "Confederate Gen. Wade Hampton's victory over Gen. Philip H. Sheridan at Trevilian Station on June 11-12, 1864, prevented Sheridan from joining Gen. David Hunter and destroying the Virginia Central Railroad at Charlottesville." You can read the rest at Historical Marker Database.

Tour at the Exchange Hotel

Our tour guides at the Exchange Hotel shared a wealth of information. We stayed longer than our teacher had planned, but eventually hunger called us and we went outside for a picnic lunch.

Upstairs the museum has rooms set up as a military hospital, which it was used for during the Civil War. This time I didn't spend much time in the surgery exhibit. I recalled being sickened by it when I was there years ago (which is a bit embarrassing since my great-grandfather was a doctor during the Civil War).

Interesting link: C&O Railroad: Gordonsville

The Spinner

This lady was a living history actor at the Exchange Hotel, Gordonsville, VA.

When we were in the parking lot preparing to leave, she came out to go home. Since her hoop skirts were too large for her vehicle, she removed her dress in the parking lot and drove away wearing pantaloons!

Updates on Dangers of Mercury

I've long been appalled by our casual attitude towards products containing mercury, a highly dangerous element. Two recent reports on mercury that apply to most of us are:

1. Silver-colored metal dental fillings contain mercury that may cause health problems in pregnant women, children and fetuses, the Food and Drug Administration said today after settling a related lawsuit.

2. The State of Maine did a study on compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) and how much toxic mercury is released when they break. They have strengthened their guidelines on what to do if one of these bulbs is broken. It's important for parents to note that "all types of flooring surfaces tested can retain mercury sources even when visibly clean... Cleaning up a broken CFL by vacuuming up the smaller debris particles in an un-vented room can elevate mercury concentrations in the room and it can linger at these levels for hours ...A vacuum can become contaminated by mercury such that it cannot be easily decontaminated..."

They recommend placing the pieces in a glass jar (without touching them) and sealing it instead of just using plastic bags. In some cases, you may want to throw out your carpet if it's been contaminated by broken fluorescent bulbs! Read their report and attachments if you have CFLs in your home so that you'll know what to do when one breaks. Oh, and don't just toss them in the trash when they burn out. They are considered hazardous and should be taken to a place that recycles them.

Fast Food, 1860's style

When I saw this marker in front of the Exchange Hotel Museum in Gordonsville, I thought it was probably a Civil War Trails marker. However, it turns out to commemorate "Gordonsville's Legendary Chicken Vendors."

Here's the first part of the text:

"Fried Chicken Capital of the World"

January 1, 1840 celebrated the arrival of the Louisa Railroad to Gordonsville. The introduction of rail service contributed to the growth and vitality of the town as a prime rail junction. The two railroads that formed the junction were the Virginia Central, formerly the Louisa Railroad and now renamed the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad and the Orange & Alexandria, now known as the Orange, Alexandria and Manassas.

With the introduction of rail service, enterprising African-American women commenced a tradition that was to symbolize Gordonsville forever as the "Fried Chicken Capital of the World".

Early passenger trains did not enjoy the luxury of dining cars and were greeted by "Waiter Carriers" who later became known as "Chicken Vendors". The women balanced platters of fried chicken on their heads and served hungry passengers through open windows.

The Gordonsville Exchange Hotel opened in 1860 and provided an elegant stopping place for passengers on the Virginia Central Railway until March 1862, when the Army of Northern Virginia transformed the Exchange Hotel into Gordonsville Receiving Hospital. During the Civil War, the "Chicken Vendors" served thousands of hungry soldiers on the trains.

Want to read more? See www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=4772.

We have iris

We finally had an iris bloom. They bloomed in Shenandoah Valley a month ago (see 2008/05/iris.html), but ours were so late I thought they weren't going to bloom at all.

Frank calls irises "flag lilies." His mother grew them in Pennsylvania and they bloomed for Memorial Day. We've planted them at the various places we lived but this is the first time we had enough sun to get blooms. Deer don't like eating them so they are a good choice to plant here in the hills.

The actual color is purple. I've taken iris pictures with both my camera and Frank's, and for some reason the purple photographs as blue. Or is it a software quirk? This one looked purple when I opened it in Photoshop, but as soon as I saved it as a JPEG, it turned blue.

It's mountain laurel time

The mountain laurel is blooming here in the Virginia mountains. I took these photos Sunday near Orkney Springs.

Trevilian Station

For our first field trip of the year, we met at 9 AM in Gordonsville. We were studying the Battle of Trevilian Station in Louisa County and then crossing the mountain to the Shenandoah Valley to study the Battle of Piedmont.
The station building that stands today is not the one that stood in 1864, which was burned by Union troops. The railroad itself was a main reason that a battle happened here. Grant sent Sheridan and his cavalry to destroy the tracks, which would interrupt the food supply that Lee's Army got from the Shenanadoah Valley. 

When we were last here (about a decade ago), the replica of Netherlands Tavern (left) did not exist. Already it looks authentically old. You can read about the battle at trevilianstation.org.

Our tour was mostly in a pleasant rural area. Below is the Ogg House as seen from US 33. Near here the Union made seven unsuccessful charges. Trevilians was the bloodiest cavalry battle of the Civil War.  

Field Trip Encore

I've been working on the field trip photos from two weeks ago in between doing everything else.

There's an excitement about the first class meeting of the season. I've known some of my classmates for a long time, and typically I haven't seen them in a year.

There's something reassuring about seeing familiar faces year after year. Even though many things change in our world, here are the same people back for the same course. It's in a different place, of course. Last year and the year before we studied the struggle for West Virginia. Before that we dealt with the aftermath of Gettysburg, and now we are back to the chronology that followed that campaign. (The West Virginia trips were an interruption in the usual chronology; they were an answer to requests to see the sites in Dr. Poland's book about 1861.)

Of course, we have new faces each year too. We had a group this year from a University of Richmond program in Northern Virginia. They were attracted by the opportunity to earn course credits in an extended weekend (plus homework).  Hope they didn't find the intense travel schedule too grueling. 

This year's trips covered part of Sheridan's 1864 campaign to drive Early out of the Shenandoah Valley. We started with the battle of Trevilian Station and ended with Third Winchester.

Dancing with Lions

Last night we attended the Lions Club Gala at Woodstock's Fort Valley Nursery Pavilion. The "Shenandoah Swing" band sounded great and many couples enjoyed dancing to their music.

Frank was one of the organizers of this event. He came up with the idea as the chair of fundraising for the Basye Bryce Mountain Lions Club and served on the committee that planned the dance.

It looks like they raised close to a thousand dollars, and many people had fun, so I'd say the event was a success.