Saturday, 11 Sep 2010, Luray, Virginia

Our whole trip was scheduled around being in Luray today for the re-enactment of the Battle of Fisher Hill. It wasn’t as bloody or as lengthy as the original but it was a sight to see!

There were cannons blasting, guns smoking, horses charging, men whoopin’ and hollerin’, sabers clattering, and a whole lotta cheering…depending on who won which skirmish. I know one thing for sure…it’s a heck of a lot of work to put one of these things on and I guess it’s a good thing testosterone levels rise significantly to help these guys dress up and race around a battlefield in full historic dress. It’s impressive, to be sure. The Confederate's won today's battle which brought lots of cheers from the locals. There's a Local 406 Chapter of Daughters of the Confederacy and the Rebel flag is still evident.

I really enjoyed it and the bucket list has one more checkmark after today. There was also a mock military camp where I spent some time talking to a ‘Rebel’ soldier and his wife about life during that period. There was another fellow demonstrating basket making and he turned out to be quite a character. Mr. Jenkins lives on the ‘old homestead’ in the mountains (says it’s a log home with original clay and hog hair mortar) and his hobby for many years is finding, propagating, and growing the old, old types of apples. I guess he’s well known for having some of the oldest and rarest apples in existence and he can (and did) tell you the genealogy of hundreds of apples. He’s also quite an historian and gave me his lineage back to 1735…including their names as well as family stories from the Indian and Civil Wars. He was very interesting and would have talked non-stop but I told him I had to go and find my husband (who was napping in the van). I mentioned Mr. Jenkins to another guy I was chatting with and I guess he’s well known in the area as an historian and a talker. I enjoyed the encounter with him and if nothing else, he reinforced my belief that family history—written and verbal—is priceless. Our parents talked about their families and told stories but we don’t seem to do that any more…and we should!!!

We spent the better part of the day there after having woken up at 5 am!! Normally I can go back to sleep but couldn’t this morning so we were watching Sea Hunt and Highway Patrol on television. We took a walk through Luray and the farmer’s market before heading over to the park. Wayne decided to have a nap but I was too curious to see everything before the big battle and left him in peace & quiet for a while. By the time we were heading back to the campground though, I knew I needed a sleep before supper or I’d never make it to supper! We tend to be in bed earlier when we’re on the road, partially because we don’t get those afternoon naps when driving & sightseeing all day.

We’ll be starting the homeward trek tomorrow with a couple of brief stops at Camper’s World for interior light bulbs and Bass Pro Shop for half-price shoes & purses (Wayne assures me the best shoe/purse sales are there??). It’s going to rain tonight and possibly part of tomorrow but it’s the first wet weather we’ve seen since we left.

Till next time, love and hugs to all. xxx