Here is a very brief overview.
Day one -
We landed in Washington DC. From there we headed straight to Bull Run Battlefield in Manasses. I was lost. We landed in DC and were in Virginia in about five minutes. My head was spinning. We spent the night in a hotel in Maryland! I didn't have any sense of where I was. In the next couple of days we'd hit roughly eight different states. Sometimes we hit multiple states in one day. Back home in MN, it's a hell of a drive to hit three states in one day!
Bull Run Battlefield was okay. It was terribly hot and our tour guide was a bullish, military type who tended to shout orders rather than inform us about the significance of the place.
Day two -
We visited Harper's Ferry. This was sort of like visiting Walden's Pond on our Boston Trip (where we had literally about fifteen minutes to scamper down and see the pond and run back to the bus). Because of a detour, we were late arriving. This left barely half an hour to soak in the sights. Some of the best are included below.
The munitions holding that was taken over. This was actually torn down, stored on someone's farm, and then reconstructed. Imagine taking this sucker apart, numbering each brick, and then putting it all back together again?
Yours truly in front of the great scenery at Harper's Ferry.
The beautiful downtown.
A great view of the historic church there. Just wish we had more time to explore.
When we were done with Harper's Ferry we headed over to Antietam - a major battle site - where we had a great tour. The ranger who came aboard our bus and led us through the sites was a million times better than the drill instructor from the previous day.
Here I am with my former fourth and sixth grade teacher, Mr. Mueller. We are standing in front of the famous bridge that is the sight of some of the first Civil War pictures.
Jeff and I.
A tower erected at the end of "Dead Man's Gulch" (not sure if that's the right name, but it's close. Soldiers headed down this depression and were just shot to pieces from soldiers in the surrounding fields).
Day three -
One of our most grueling days. We toured Gettsyburg. The name is mythic in American history, not to mention how important it is to nearly every teacher sitting on the bus (especially my colleague Kenny who loves the Civil War the way I love expressivist comp theory). To top it all off, we were being led by the foremost (and Pulitzer Prize winning) author/authoritarian on Gettysburg, Dr. James McPherson.
As an English teacher, I was waaaayyyyy out of my league here. That didn't stop me from soaking it all up; it just stopped me from really getting out of the tour what many of my history teacher friends got out of it.
And McPherson was such an expert on the subject that I found myself ovewhelmed with information after the first stop (which featured a memorial to one of the first generals killed at the battle - a general by the name of Reynolds!). Oh yeah, the fact that it was about 100 degrees out didn't help matters.
After an exhausting day - both physically and mentally - McPherson had us re-enact Pickett's March (the south's final attempt to break union ranks). I enjoyed this, but it was brutal.
Reynolds with the memorial to Reynolds.
Jeff, Kenny, and me in front of the monument to the famous Minnesota regiment that - at least according to Kenny - were vital in winning the war for the North. They arrived at Gettysburg and were immediately told to charge the Alabama regiment. The Minnesota regiment did and gave the North 15 minutes (if I'm not mistaken) to get reinforcements. Without those needed reinforcements, who knows what would have happened. It was nearly suicide for the MN regiment, but the did their job and fought bravely, though upwards of 60% of their men were slaughtered.
I had to joke with Jeff that here is the monument to the ND regiment!
Dr. McPherson. I don't know if I've ever met someone who knows so much about one subject.
Devil's Den. I can't remember exactly how this tied in to Gettysburg, but it is one of the coolest rock formations I've ever seen. We had fun playing around it until I remembered we were in the South. Images of nasty things like snakes, spiders, scorpions, and other venemous creatures showed up in my head and then I got the hell out of there.
Here are a couple of battlefields. Imagine having to march or charge through this terrain, all the while wearing unbearably hot clothing and carrying quite a bit of weight in the forms of weapons and supplies. Oh yeah, all the while taking enemy fire!
One of the joys of this trip were some of the lighter moments. Here is a great one. Our bus driver, Ridge, was great. But often times he found himself in some tough spots with the bus. Here is one of them. I snapped this picture from our bus! No wonder it took us about 15 minutes to try and make the left turn at the end of the road.Of course, re-enacting Picket's March wasn't in the plans, so that threw us off schedule by quite a bit. This meant a long bus haul to Williamsburg. Better yet, there was road construction and we were routed right through downtown DC.
Talk about vertigo. We landed in DC! And now we're back? I didn't know where the hell we were headed. But at least I could enjoy the antics of Kenny, who was sitting next to me, who just couldn't understand why we were going through downtown DC.
It was a bit cruel since you could look out your window and see the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, Pentagon, and, best of all, the Library of Congress. In a way, it was kind of cruel. But that's for next year as the group will spend a week at the Smithsonian.
Here were some of the snapshots I got from the bus. I just wish I could have captured Kenny's outbursts on tape!
Finally, we got out of DC. Then it was time to put on the iPod and sleep, which I actually managed to do. But because of extra time at Gettysburg and the detour, we were really running behind for our arrival in Colonial Williamsburg. For some reason, the only place close to eat was located in our hotel, but for some stupid reason that restaurant closed early, so most of us were left without anywhere close to eat. To compound matters I had signed up for a Tavern Ghost Walk (I missed out on the Ghost tour at Boston, and I was not going to make the same mistake). So when we got to our hotel we had no time to eat or unpack. We just had to hustle over to the spot where a shuttle could take us to the Ghost Walk.
Overall, the Ghost Walk was a disappointment. It was interesting, but not near what I thought it would be. I'd have been better off joining several others the night before in Gettysburg for an impromptu Ghost Tour where they were lead down alleys by candlelight and told spooky ghostly tales. Our Tavern Ghost walk didn't quite live up to that!
Day Four -
We were up early and headed to Jamestown, the cite of the first colony. I was always under the impression that Plymouth was the first colony, but Jamestown was established first (well, second if you count Roanoke). I've been teaching that wrong all of these years!
This was the first real highlight of the trip for me. Our ranger was great - if a bit extreme - since it was again close to 100 he basically said, "If you don't bring water with you out there, YOU WILL DIE!"
But he was informative - and best of all - entertaining. I could have listened to him all day.
One of the first things he dispelled for me was that the colony was not founded on the ideal of religious freedom - as is often taught (guilty as charged). Rather, the first British colony in the New World was established not for religious freedom but for PROFIT. He argued that it is more noble to teach that America's roots are established on the freedom of religion instead of the quest for wealth. But that's not how it was.
A monument to Pocahantos. She did not marry John Smith as many believe. She did save his life though. But that is far from her contribution to the colony. She represents some of the best examples of the differences between the natives and the Europeans. When she first came to the colony, she was dressed as most of the natives were - topless. Of course, to the strict Europeans, this was scadalous. The fact that she often danced (and did cart-wheels) with next to nothing on - certainly nothing in the way of underwear - proved for further scandal. However, she did marry a member of the colony and died in England, where she is buried.
Here is the historic Jamestown church. Here our guide gave us a great explanation of Marshall Law. This ties in well to what I teach about the Puritans at Plymouth and how intolerant they were of not only other religions but of anything close to sloth or crime.
Settling a colony in such a hostile environment was no small feat. In fact, when the colonists came over, they brought no women. Just able bodied men. They did, though, bring four boys.
Our guide asked us what these boys were for. They were to be traded with the natives. Imagine that! The boys would be traded to the natives for four native boys. Each respective set of boys would spend a number of years immersed in the others' culture - absorbing the language, customs, and traditions. Then after the set number of years, the boys would be traded back to their original peoples and used to learn about the cultures.
Just imagine trying to settle this land! The colonists settled here for several reasons. First, it was in English territory. The Spanish would kill them if they were any farther south. Second, there were no natives here (the Indians weren't stupid enough to live here). Third, it had a fresh water supply (the James river, but that was just during a certain part of the season. After that, it was salt water).
The heat was unbearable the as I crossed this bridge to the church and settlement, I couldn't imagine what the bugs must have been like with so much swamp land!
Of course, the settlers had a horrendous time of it. That first winter killed off over half of them. Times were so lean that pets were eaten. The leather from shoes were eaten. In fact, cannibalism was even practiced, for human remains have been found with butcher marks on them. Yet, we never hear about that, do we?
I left Jamestown with a much greater understanding of early colonial life, and this will definitely change how I approach the literature of the time.
Once we finished at Jamestown we toured Colinial Williamsburg. Since we were running behind yet again, this pretty much meant grab lunch and then head out to a historic plantation.
The plantation was okay. Incredibly, if memory serves me, four of the first presidents were entertained there.
Once this was done, all I was looking forward to was the air conditioned bus and a nice nap to my iPod.
But about 10 miles from the plantation disaster struck: a hose for our transmission came off. We were stuck along side of a road in 100 degree heat.
Thankfully, the air conditioning still worked on our bus, but we had to wait several hours for a replacement bus. This was not ideal because we still had a solid 7 hour drive down to Charleston SC!
Kenny had departed the trip early to head back home for a summer school obligation, so while he was stuck in the airport in Minneapolis, we were stuck along side the road. Of, if Kenny could only have been there. This would have made the detour through downtown DC seem like a walk in the park!
But our misery didn't exactly end when the replacement bus arrived.
I think the words of one of scholars - when he first boarded the replacement bus and promptly turned around and stormed off - best sums it up - "the air conditioning is broken and the shitter's full!"
Hearing that line come from him was almost worth the misery!
Mercifully, we arrived at our hotel late that night and we were lucky to be treated to the nicest hotel we have ever been at. It even trumped the excellent Omni Park Hotel in Boston.
Day Five -
Up early and off to Fort Sumter, where the Civil War began. There were so many canon balls fired that it lit up the sky in 1861 and many people sat outside or on top of buildings to watch.
Imagine this guy exploding over your head!
Or imagine the hearing damage inflicted when firing this guy in such a tight space.
The original flag.
A view of the harbor and guns from inside the fort.Next, we toured the plantation known as Drayton Hall. This one was quite different than the previous plantation we toured. The former one had been restored; Drayton Hall has simply been preserved. The former plantation is actually lived in by a descendant. Drayton Hall is abandoned, but used for tours. I'm split on the best way to preserve historic sites. Do you try to restore it? The danger here is getting it wrong. You don't want 1950s furniture is a restored cite that is supposed to be turn of the century. Plus, it feels artificial. But do you give a tour of a preserved cite that is crumbling to the ground?
I'm not sure which solution is the best.
But the heat was oppressive. The group I was in was beat to hell. We literally had sweat pouring out of us and we all felt miserable. Our elderly tour guide, though, didn't have a bead of sweat on her! I vowed right then to never complain about cold weather again.
Drayton Hall is an example of the wealth that sprang up from one of the south's main staples - rice. I was amazed at the amount of labor the plantation's slaves were required to do to not only excavate enough dirt to have rice fields but then to plant and maintain and harvest the crops. This is where the slave owners depicted a new system to keep the slaves working, called - I believe - the task system. It works like this - a slave is given a task and a certain amount of time to complete it. I think the tour guide said that one slave carpenter was given the task of creating 1,000 wooden shingles in three days. Of course, the idea here is to not give the slaves free time. The point is to keep them focused on running the plantation (thereby keeping the cash flowing in). It would be no good to have too simple of a task. That would leave a slave with too much free time (time for family, hunting or fishing, education, or escape). So the task system was designed to keep the plantation running while surpressing the slaves culture and freedom.
Day six -
Off to Savannah and Plains.
The bus tour of Savannah was far too quick. And the tour of Jimmy Carter's boyhood home was interesting, but we had far too much free time there. The high light for me was talking to the ranger about what life was like for him in the modern south. As far as soaking up Carter's boyhood home, that took all of half an hour.
Day seven -
Andersonville. I had no idea what this place was or that it even existed. What a shame.
Andersonville is an internment camp for northern prisoners. It was hell on earth. A staggering amount of prisoners starved to death or died from disease. In fact, the commander in charge of Andersonville was one of the only (if not the only) person executed for war crimes after the Civil War.
Here are the graves of the Raiders. They were buried with dishonor because they formed a rogue mob that bullied and murdered many of their fellow prisoners.
A memorial to the misery - and the men who endured it at Andersonville.
Here is a tree where prisoners dug tunnels in an effort to escape. Some even feigned death to escape. The Confederate blood hounds, though, always found the escapees.The most powerful part of the trip came at the museum, which is not only dedicated to the prisoners of war at Andersonville but also to all POWs.
As soon as we entered the museum we were ushered into a screening room where we saw an incredibly moving film on POWs. Time and again the men and women talked about life as a POW. The film focused on all of the wars. This meant excerpts from Civil War diaries and interviews with vets from WWI up through the Persian Gulf war.
After watching this, I don't know if there was a dry eye in the place.
And this film only served to confirm how foolish we were to practice torture at Guantanomo Bay. For time and again the POWs talked about how no matter how they were tortured, they always gave false information and it only fueled their desire to resist the enemy.
The highlight from this trip was the poem Jimmy Carter wrote about his uncle, who the family thought was dead. The uncle's wife later remarried, only to find after several years that the uncle was not dead. He had been a POW working to mine coal in Asia.
Here is a shot of the poem.
Here is the actual poem -
The Ballad of Tom Gordy
In ’41 the Japanese
took our troops on Guam,
Alive or dead -- we didn’t know.
One was my Uncle Tom.
He was the Navy boxing champ,
my hero with his crown.
Now with him gone his family moved
down to our Georgia town.
My grandma and my aunts felt Tom
was not his wife’s but theirs.
She could feel the coolness but
stayed on to join their prayers.
What bound them all together was
the hope and faith and dread.
When two years passed, the dispatch came:
my Uncle Tom was dead.
His wife and kids moved back out West
to start their lives again,
And after Tom was gone three years
she wed a family friend.
The end of war brought startling news:
Tom Gordy was alive.
Four years he had been digging coal
deep in a mountainside.
The women took the feeble Tom
and smothered him with care.
He never would tell anyone
what happened over there.
Tom Gordy soon regained some strength
and craved a normal life,
But mother and sisters told him lies
about his absent wife
Betraying him. Tom wanted her,
but couldn’t figure out how
To bring her back or overcome
her second marriage vow.
He got four years’ back pay and
Command, U.S.N.
It didn’t take him long to find
a woman’s love again.
Tom closed the past except when his
three children came to stay;
When I would mention his first wife
he’d always turn away.
Once my submarine tied up
where she lived with her kin.
I went to visit them, afraid
they wouldn’t let me in.
But all the folks they knew were called
when I first gave my name;
All night we danced and sang because
at least Tom’s nephew came.
-- Jimmy Carter
After this we had a bus ride to Warm Springs where we saw FDR's "Little White House."
After that we mercifully reached Atlanta where we would spend the final nights of our stay.
Day eight -
We toured yet another museum, this time The Atlanta History Center. I have to admit I hit my wall here. I was all museumed out. I could take no more.
I know the bulk of the teachers on the trip are history teachers, but we could have visited Poe's grave in Baltimore or toured the home of William Faulkner or even - best of all - Harper Lee!
Of course, this was another stifling day. So that meant another guided tour outside. Two actually.
We headed to Oakland Cemetery and then a predominantly African American cemetery called
Southview Cemetery.
Here are some shots from Oakland.
A couple shots of just small sections of the graves.
Most of the graves contain symbolism. The upper two are prime examples. Many feature trees or branches chopped or cut, this is symbolic for a life cut short.
A plot for an entire family.
One of the most exquisite pieces I've ever seen.
This tree is an interesting story. The tree is 100 years old. How do they know? Well, they found a letter from a son to his parents. In the letter he described how he went to visit the grave of his brother - who died in the Civil War. He stated that he planted a tree next to the grave. Now look at the tree.
More beautifully carved graves.
The mausoleums abound all over the cemetery.
Finally, the day came to a close as we had a buffet at a Mexican restaurant a few blocks from our hotel. I was able to convince two colleagues, Mike and Don, to trek uptown with me to check out the Lichtenstein sculpture I caught out of the corner of my eye.
It was worth every step!
Day Nine -
A walking tour of downtown Atlanta by one of the foremost experts on Atlanta and its history, Dr. Kuhn.
Some of the high rises still have damage from the tornado that tore through down town Atlanta two years ago.
My dream vehicle.
This apartment building had some exquisite stone work. Gotta love the gargoyles.
Looking up from our hotel lobby.
The skyline from the hotel's roof.
No matter how rough a day I might have or how many essays I have to read, I'm glad this is not my job.
One of the worst fires in Atlanta history.
A beautiful Catholic church we found in downtown Atlanta.
Two of my partners in crime, Don and Mike.
Then we were subjected to one of the most boring lectures in recent memory. I feel bad for the professor, because she was obviously fascinated by her topic. Just few of us were. She lectured on Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With the Wind. Never read it. Never will. If we were going to look at a southern novel, I don't know why we wouldn't have read Uncle Tom's Cabin or TKM. Or at least the short fiction of Faulkner or Flannery O'Connor. But Gone with the Wind?
Mercifully, the lecture ended, though by the time it finally did we were about 15 minutes behind again.
The day ended with a tour of Joel Chandler Harris's house, dubbed "The Wren's Nest." The tour was just okay. The highlight of the day and maybe the whole trip was when we were treated to a storytelling session, featuring three of Harris's tales. The story teller was wonderful and she had us all caught up in the magic of a well-told narrative.
Oh, what that stuffy academic who bored us all to tears on Margaret Mitchell could have learned from this lady!
Day ten -
We had an excellent tour of the Martin Luther King memorial. This was one of the highlights. Especially when I learned that MLK earned a C in speech class. So much for grades, right?
A great quote from MLK.
The church where MLK preached.
The graves of MLK and his wife.
A great mural painted outside the museum.
Then we took off for Stone Martin. As far as scenery goes, this was breath taking, but we didn't need that many hours to explore it. The laser show at the end of the night, though, was quite amazing. And it was a great way to unwind after a hectic eleven days.
People begin to gather early for the laser show.
Here are the three Confederate figures depicted - Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis.
The view from the top.
As much as I enjoyed the free trip and as much as I learned, I think this was the highlight of my trip - returning home and seeing my family. Especially this little face!
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