Black is Black (Los Bravos)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#47987597

We saw that on the news tonight and it brought back memories of information we had seen on our Civil War trip. The more things change, the more they stay the same...just sayin'.

New York

This is the granite monument New York State erected in 1911 and dedicated in 1924 at the Andersonville prison cemetery. The Women's Relief Corps acquired the prison in 1896 and encouraged states to build memorials. It is HUGEah and has bronze pictures on both sides.

As you can see from the picture of my Mr. Perry, I am not exaggerating like Billy Fuscillo does! It's enormous because of their enormous sacrifice.

Of the 9,000 New York soldiers imprisoned at Andersonville, 2261 died and are buried here. It is said that the picture represents a soldier who has hope with the angel appearing and the other cannot see her because of his despair.

"F" Words

Anne's Chicken

House Salad

Bill, Anne, Me, Perry, Sandy

Mussels

Shrimp Ravioli

Spedini Appetizer

Veal a la Luigi

Yes, you are quite right...this has nothing to do with the Civil War and EVERYTHING to do with food and family...those are some F words I love. (That was for my children and all who know what word I hate!) OK, maybe I can bring the Civil War into it now...what were the F words then? Forts, fighting, Fredericksburg, freedom...yes, that's what it's all about FREEDOM.

"Baseball... been berra berra good... to me."

Garrett Morris' line from SNL. We love it! We also love Yogi Berra's, "I think Little League is wonderful. It keeps the kids out of the house." and "Little League baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets." Well, our grandson, Sam, was out of the house last night. His mother, father, sister and grandparents were off the streets! His team didn't win but they did play well (or is it good?) Any English majors who read this, let me know. We enjoyed watching Sam in the outfield and at bat...he's a good solid hitter. Once in awhile he pitches. Saturday we will go to another game and then probably the All Star game. Again, what's this have to do with the Civil War you might ask? Did you know that even while they were fighting they played baseball at Ft. Pulaski in Savannah? Here's a photo of a sign we took to show the team.

Abner Doubleday was a Union General and he never claimed to have invented baseball. He did fire the first shot from Ft. Sumter in Charleston. He also claimed to have been born in Ballston Spa, NY...which is where we had dinner (Spa Brauhaus) with our daughter and her friend tonight. We have had two wonderful evenings together with our family and more to come.

Our Grandson, Sam, at bat with no one on base. Score 11/11.

Our Granddaughter, Megan, anticipating Sam's winning hit...Sam's team wins!

New York State of Mind...Billy Joel

Sing it Billy Joel! We were in a NYS of mind today at the Antietam Battlefield and Cemetery. Since we are formerly from upstate NY, I thought I'd share a couple pics of the memorials NY erected in honor of men who fought at Antietam. There were more photos but I don't want to fill up the blog with those.

84th Infantry

Of the nearly 100,000 soldiers engaged in battle here, about 23,000 were killed, wounded, or missing. One company lost 2,200 men in 20 minutes. We went to the Antietam National Cemetery and discovered 849 of them were New Yorkers buried at this cemetery.

Monument at Cemetery

849 New York Grave Sites

We truly are in a NYS frame of mind as we are en route to Glenville, NY tomorrow to see family and friends in the Adirondack area. We didn't have time to do all of the Civil War trails that we had hoped to cover. That may mean another trip in 2014. We've got the route down pat now so I'll be able to read the maps like a pro!

Long and Winding Road...the Beatles but Pleasant Valley Sunday...the Monkees...NOT!

Today we followed AAA's route from Gladys, VA to Williamsport, MD. It was a long and winding road at 10, 20, 30 and 45 mph for "I Can See for Miles" (The Who) and it indeed was in the valley on Sunday, but it was NOT pleasant! Now that I've griped, let me tell you about yesterday. We visited the D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA.  They did a wonderful job of honoring and remembering the people who fought at Normandy. It's not Civil War related, but it's about people who gave their lives for freedom of some sort.  OK, here are some of the photos I took...

This is the Eisenhower Memorial

The Beach Tableau

The Final Tribute

Perry's father served in the 29th Infantry and went to Omaha Beach after the initial landing. When he developed Alzheimer's, he couldn't remember some of his children or his grandchildren but if we showed him a photo of the infantry, he could remember all the men who served with him. It's a strange disease. We are hoping we will lose our short term memory about the trip today! Tomorrow we are off to Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history so we are told. It won't be a long and winding road...it's only 12 miles away. Stay tuned...

Letters, We Get Letters...We Get Lots and Lots Of Letters

I’m very interested in letters. When I was a young girl, I used to love to receive letters from my parents while I was at 4H camp. It was such a short time, but so important to hear from loved ones far away…it was maybe 50 miles? Then when I was in nursing school, I loved receiving letters from my parents, my friends and my boyfriend. When I was lonely, I received letters from soldier boys…one of them I fell in love with and married. We are still married 43 years later and still have all of the letters we wrote to each other while he was in Viet Nam. So, while we were visiting Appomatox, I came across these letters which I hope you will enjoy as much as I did. There was also a letter from a soldier who came across a dying soldier from the opposite side. He was asked to kill the Confederate because he had been shot through the spine. The Union soldier couldn't honor his request. So, the Confederate asked the Union to give him a gun so he could end his misery and the Union soldier would not do it. In the end, the Confederate lived and was healed...amazing grace! Imagine how his mother felt when she received the news.

He Has Trampled Out the Vintage Where the Grapes of Wrath Are Stored

Those of you who know us, know we love the Lord, wine, food and stock car racing...so this was the perfect day for us to share with you!

These grapes had no wrath and this is where they were stored...in 3,000/6,000/8,000 gallon stainless steel vats as well as 300 gallon oak barrels. We started out with a free tour that was supposed to be 20 minutes but turned out to be 45!

The vineyard is absolutely breathtaking. There were 40 acres plus Richard has at least 5 acres at his house just down the road. We may pay him a visit tomorrow but we know he won't be home...he's off hunting. These photos do not do the landscape justice...I need a new camera but can't afford one after the lunch we had today and the six bottles of wine we bought :-)

Lunch...what can I say...it was a taste of heaven. It was called the Trifecta (no we aren't into horseracing!) and it was three 2 oz. glasses of wine paired with appetizer, entree and dessert. We do not do this on a regular basis! 

So what does any of this have to do with the Civil War you ask? The vineyard was a few miles away from the campground where we are staying. The campground is on property that was occupied by the Union. Gen. Beauregard made a deal with the Union officer, who had been his roommate at West Point that he would not destroy the area if the Union would furnish them with food. See, it really does come down to food in the end! Perry will probably comment on what the food consisted of and what type of wine accompanied it.

How Do you Feel About Your Flag?

When I was young and in 4H club, I learned how to fold our U.S. flag properly and the rules for flying the flag. On my trumpet I played Reveille while the flag was raised and Taps when it was lowered. Fond memories! The Castleton Elementary School, which our children attended, presently teaches the children all about our flag and they learn the songs we learned as children, e.g., My Country Tis of Thee. When I used to play the game Where in the World is Carmen San Diego, you had to know the flags of all the countries. From all these experiences, I have a love for flags and I was delighted to see so many flags in the various forts and museums we visited this past week.

We saw a lot of flags at the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, GA but I was most fascinated with the ones at Fort Sumter, Charleston, SC.

I’ll explain a little about the photos here. People are not allowed to take any flash pictures up close of any textiles. I took a lot of these from a distance and some are display boards.

Below is a replica of the 33-star US flag that flew over Fort Sumter on April 12-13, 1861 but had been battered by winds. The real flag is encased in a tube at the museum.

It, along with another smaller (10' x 20') garrison flag (above), had been carried by Major Robert Anderson from Ft. Moultrie to Sumter when he secretly moved his garrison. We don’t know how he managed to do it. I couldn’t even capture it by camera it’s so big (20’ by 36’).  Each star represents a state in the Union. After the battle, Abe could have made a decision to remove the stars of the seceded states, but he followed thru on his goal of unity and did not. Even though Kansas was admitted to the Union in January of 1861, its star wasn’t added until Independence Day of that year. After Anderson surrendered to Beauregard April 14, 1861, Anderson took both flags with him to NYC. In 1954 the flags were transferred to the NPS.

The 35-star US flag (above) was first raised over Fort Sumter on February 18, 1865, when the Confederates were forced to evacuate. This made a loud statement that the Union was in control of the fort. On April 14, 1865 (4 years after the original raising), the 33-star flag was once again raised above the rubble of the fort.

There were five different flags of the Confederacy. One of the flags looked like a surrender flag so it was replaced.

We are particularly interested in the flag Perry's parents gave us which we kept and didn’t put in the garage sale when we moved to FL. It is handmade and has 36 or 37 stars…when we return home, trust me…we will count them! No matter how many stars there are, we are united and free!

My Silver Should Look This Good!

My silver is buried in a drawer and only comes out when Anna Lou wants to polish it! This was on display at the Ft. Sumter Museum. There are so many forts and so many blogs I could do. Tomorrow is another day!