About 12 years ago now, my father took BigDaddyFish, Uncle Orca/Agincourtdb and me to the annual reenactment at Gettysburg on July 4th weekend. That year, for whatever reason, the reenactment was held on the actual soil that the battles were fought on, instead of the nearby farm that hosts the reenactments now. That year it had rained for a week before the reenactment, steady, soaking rain that saturated the ground.
Back then there were maybe a couple of thousand reenactors, and they didn't have the living history site and other things going on that they do now. We drove up separately from my father and somehow ended up parking away from where he did. They parked us in one set of fields, and the reenactment was held further down in another field. That year they were filming some of the reenactment, to be used in some movie, but I don't remember which one.
Anyway, they have the battle and we watch and it starts to rain. That doesn't stop the reenactment so it didn't stop us, until it started to thunder and lightning, at which point we all called it quits, filmcrew and reenactors and spectators alike. The reenactors went back to their camps to be miserable, and we spectators started for the fields to go home. The rain steadily fell, heavier and heavier, and it didn't take very long before we were absolutely soaked through to the skin. Never do I think I've been that wet without getting in a pool or bath, even one year when BDF and I went backpacking in the Smoky Mountains and it poured. We still had rain gear then.
We got back to the parking fields and discovered that most of the vehicles were sunken to the top of the tires in mud. The already saturated ground couldn't take the new onslaught of rain, and they had a couple of guys on big tractors taking turns pulling out the cars that couldn't get out. Which was most of them. People were really really stupid about things, loading up the car with five people and then not understanding why they couldn't get out, or getting going only to stop for some reason and strand themselves ten feet away from where they started. It was a disastrous mess.
But we had a Jeep. A 4WD cherokee, back when it was still just a little box on wheels. We also were smart, so BDF got in the Jeep and Agincourtdb and I stayed out. Agincourtdb scouted out a route through the mud and sunken vehicles to the one paved road going out of the place. I simply tried to stay out of the way. Just as BDF got ready to go, a man stepped behind the Jeep.
"You can't go. I won't let you." Excuse us?
"I'm next. The tractor's coming to pull me out because I have to be at blah blah blah whatever justification and I'm next. You can't go."
Agincourtdb has always been far better at dealing with the public than the rest of us, so we let him handle telling the guy that we don't need the tractor and we are going to leave. The guy became more and more indignant, insisting that we would just get going and get stuck in the way so that the tractor couldn't get to him and he wasn't going to let us go. Agincourtdb tried to explain to the guy the error in his thinking, but the guy wasn't having it. Finally Agincourtdb said "Sir, I suggest you move. We are leaving now."
The guy didn't. We tried to warn him, but he didn't move. So BDF did what he had to do, and You Can't Go was treated to a mudbath. He was covered with mud, where he had been only wet before. BDF got the Jeep out, skated over the mud along the route that Agincourtdb directed, to the road, where the guys directing traffic saw what was happening and stopped everyone to let BDF get on the road. He opened the doors and Agincourtdb and I got in, waved to my dad who was waiting for the tractor, and went home. It took a day for my hair to dry.
I tell you this amusing story because this year we took the whole family and went to the reenactment at Gettysburg on July 4th. This year, like a decade earlier, it rained, but no thunder and lightning, and nobody got sunken in mud. We did, however, get drenched. But unlike then we have kids, and unlike then they had a living history village and reenactors of all ages. There were sunbonnets and hoopskirts and muskets and uniforms everywhere. They were filming again for a new movie, and there was so much to do and see besides the reenactment of the battles themselves. So the rain was only a minor distraction. Our kids loved it and showed such a huge amount of enthusiam that I think we may try some reenacting in the future.
But maybe only when the forecast calls for sunny skies.
At one point the commentator said something to the effect of "Now is where I get goosebumps - Americans fighting Americans on American soil on the Fourth of July." Indeed.
Afterwards we drove around through the actual battlefield park. Some of us went up the huge observation tower overlooking the Peach Orchards and the Eisenhower National Historic Site. I almost chickened out two flights of stairs from the top, but then I decided I'd be pissed at myself if I came that far and didn't go all the way to the top, so I pushed on. I'm glad I did and I'm proud of myself that I didn't let my fear get the best of me. Unfortunately my knee started acting up on the way down, and I ended up favoring the left knee with my right thigh. Today was the first day I woke up without pain in that thigh.
We were too late getting home to see any local fireworks, but we did get to see bits and pieces of about six different displays along our route home. Sunny was upset that we missed the fireworks but as BDF pointed out, we kinda did have fireworks that day, and we were able to see the encore performance of A Capitol Fourth on PBS, so she got to see fireworks after all.
Much better than 12 years ago, despite the rain jinx.
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Check over here to see a bit more about what my kids thought and did the last two weekends.
Or, if that's not your style, see what I thought of "What Not To Wear Mom Makeovers" over here.
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