On Sunday, after the very early Mass, we overcame inertia on this very gray and cool morning to head up to Fort Frederick in Big Pool, Maryland which was less than an hour's drive away.
I absolutely love living history and we planned ahead to visit on this weekend to see a French and Indian War Interpretation.
These days it seems that we spend so little time having fun as a family. There are so many errands and week-end jobs to do that we find ourselves too often being separated in different cars with the girls here and the boys there. Being all together with our younger children is something that we need to prioritize more.This was a chance to do just that.
Going to see this stone fort turned out to be a lot of fun for all of us. The massive walls were very tall and impressive and in great shape!The outline of the fort was built not in a simple square, but in a series of "pointed tips" that make it possible to defend every wall from inside the fort without having to look straight down into a gun held by an enemy directly up against the bottom of the wall. In other words, one can visualize every part of the outside walls by looking out from the opposite pointed tip.Apparently this is a typical fort design but I had never heard of it.
The fort has a huge gate that has been reconstructed. Notice the little doorway that humans can get through if needed without having to open up the whole gate.
Fort Frederick was built to help defend the western part of the frontier during the French and Indian War in 1756. The stone used was unusual for the time period as most forts were built of wood. The large buildings are soldier's barracks. These two buildings and the stone walls were completely rebuilt during the 1930's by the CCC ( the Civilian Conservation Corps) as a way to get folks working during the depression.They did an amazing job. The whole place was beautiful.
Re-enactors were on hand spending the weekend. They slept in the barracks and cooked their food over a fire. They were genuinely pleased to talk with us as there were very few people there.
Each of the rooms of the big building was decorated as it would have been during the time period in which it was built.This fire smelled heavenly on this cool day.
This would have been a conference room of sorts and a store room.Then the folks invited us to watch them shoot their blackpowder guns.
The gentlemen described their uniforms to us. Reenactors try to be as authentic as possible.
While watching this demonstration, we were pleasantly surprised by the arrival of our cousins!
The day had become sunny by this time and we enjoyed a picnic together in this gorgeous State Park.
Just after leaving the Fort, we stopped at McCoy's Ferry, a place that accesses the Potomac River and is located along the C&O Canal walking trail. We have seen the Potomac a number of other times and visited many places along the Towpath this summer including Harpers Ferry and the Paw Paw Tunnel.
This " field trip" turned out to be a great way to spend a Sunday. We all learned a little more about what we are reading about in our schoolwork. It was wonderful for Larry and I to be able to visit a historical site together which is one of our favorite things to do ever since we got married. It was an investment of time spent on our youngest four who don't have as many memories of family trips as the older children (now adults) do.I really enjoyed it and look forward to more of the same!
