amkean pronunciation

The way spring break was supposed to go was that I would get away from the extended winter here in Minny by traveling south, and by the time I returned, spring would have arrived. The temp wasn't too bad once I got back, but the first morning I woke up in Virginia, there was snow on the ground.

Concerned about the ability of Virginians to avoid running into my car with a bit of snow on the ground, I changed my plans for my first day and stuck around Fredericksburg. Off season park rangers are generally very happy to see you. I went to the park office first thing after a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, and talked to the rangers a bit.

In the basement of the F'burg museum, there's a relic from a tent that Henry H. Sibley designed. I had never heard that the namesake for my high school and the first governor of Minnesota invented a widely used tent. This is because there were two Henry H. Sibleys in the same era, one Yank and one Reb. I took a picture of bizarro Sibley's grave marker.

I did more trip advisor research on my lodging for this trip compared to last year's trip. This meant sacrificing character for increased peace of mind that friends of the housekeeping staff wouldn't be hanging out in my room when I was gone. The Battlefield Inn has its charms, but sometimes predictability is okay.

The Fredericksburg podcast tour is excellent. It was the first one I listened to, and the best one. I did the driving tour of the battlefield as well, but the walking tour gives you the sense of the most famous part of the battle.

Much imagination is required for all these battlefields, because they don't look much like they once did. Parts are preserved pretty well, but I'm talking about the big picture. Unlike at Shiloh, there are people living there lives right there on the battlefield.

It was on my first day that I fortuitously went to the Chatham house (because it was on the driving tour; I might have skipped it otherwise) and found myself the only tourist there. I got a personal tour from the Milwaukeean ranger, who kindly provided me a list of Civil War sites I ought to see during the rest of my travels.

I quit the day early in order to get my veggie chili mac and watch basketball. I moved seats at the bar to get closer to the HDTV, and the one guy watching the game wanted an assurance that I wasn't cheering for Kansas vs. VCU before he decided if he was going to be hostile or not.

Labels: travel