Heading East - the Rest of the Story.....
We started a new book on
this leg....The Bridge to Teribithia. I had never read it, but had seen a
musical production years ago at the Kennedy Center's Theatre for children.
This was the 2nd "fun"/ non-Civil War book we had - although
the themes in it are quite deep. In a nutshell, a 10 year old boy
befriends a lonely/unliked new girl in school, they find a common love of
imaginary play, creating a fantasy world called "Terabithia".
So I don't spoil it for those who haven't read it, just know that it's a
tear-jerker at the end, with real lessons on friendship, growing up and the
value of imaginary play. It was a Newberry Award winner for children's
books....and we were riveted on it the entire day.
Ian pretty much missed
Louisiana. He took his requisite photo of "Welcome to Louisiana -
Beinvenue en Louisiane", and promptly fell asleep. I woke him up
when we reached Mississippi...so he could take another photo. And then
there's THE river.
Ian was blown away by the
size of the Mississippi, eventually claiming that it was so much better to
drive than fly....or he would have missed all that! We found Vicksburg
National Park, and, once again, stopped for a picnic, discussing what was not a
BATTLE, but a SEIGE and the differences.
Vicksburg is so different
in that it is largely memorials to the Union troops that surrounded the
Confederates during the siege. Mile after mile of memorials of all types.
We especially enjoyed a restored 1860 house, and a huge white monument to
the North. There was a replica of an ironsides ship that plied the waters
of the Mississippi, and a cemetery that rivals Arlington. Driving out of
the park, we wound around through the old town of Vicksburg, a very dilapidated
town, from what we saw. Not the prettiest part of the south.
The road to Jackson,
again, a key part of Sheridan's march to the sea, was up next, and we began to
talk about some of the less admirable methods of war that the North employed in
that late, cruel, push to wipe out the Confederates, women and children included.
Our next stop was
Fairhope, Alabama, home to my good friend Martha. As we drove through
Mobile, we talked about the other part of the war - the Navy ships that tried
to blockade supply boats, and the battles around that area. Ian got his
first glance at the Gulf of Mexico here.
Arriving at Martha's, and
getting out of the car, we were hit full on with the humidity that exists in
the deep lowlands of the South. Her house is set in amongst tall pines,
lush plants and flowers, and spanish moss. Martha's porch is something to
experience. Her eclectic proclivity to placing a wide variety of plush
chairs, cushions, swings, surrounded by tables, wind chimes, etc makes it like
stepping into another world. We sat out there each evening for long
times...with the constant hum of cicadas serenading us as we spoke softly and
visited. The ceiling fan helped keep the mosquitos away.
Martha had made a homemade
sour cream peach pie. DELICIOUS! Unfortunately, Ian decided he
didn't really like peaches. We need to travel in the south more often.
He needs to be taught! ;)
Early the next morning, I
got up early and, once again sat on the porch. If you've ever been in
rural areas, you'll understand how completely normal it is to hear the rooster
crowing as the sun threatens to rise, feel a gentle cool breeze....and see the
running humidity on the windows of the house. Martha cooked bacon and
sausage and biscuits and we were off to a picnic breakfast at Fish River.
It just so happens that, during the Civil War, Admiral Farragut
tried to break up a supply route that the Confederates were using the river
for. There are park picnic benches and historical markers to read.
We enjoyed that people from the neighborhood came by and sat a spell -
strangers, but somehow friends. I loved especially seeing the LUSH ferns,
droopy trees and moss, and gorgeous landscaping on these low country houses.
Ian and I then drove to
Gulf Shores Beach and spent a couple of hours enjoying the warm (!) waters and
white sand beaches. It was uncrowded and a perfect day - for sunburn.
In spite of multiple applications of sunblock on both of us...we both got
a tad pink. What I've noticed about Gulf Shores (this is my second trip
there) are the plethora of sting rays that swim parallel to the beach and very
close in....enough to make me jump out of the way. :)
We followed our beach trip
with lunch at a local icon, Lambert's restaurant - the "home of
throwed rolls". A HUGE restaurant, known for down-home country
cooking and with a usual 1-3 hour wait, the "schtick" for this place
is that the waiters bring out trays full of fresh baked yeast rolls, and if you
want one, you raise your hand and they throw them at you! I was
amazed...didn't see any dropped at all while we were there. Ian loved it
- truly perfect for a 10 year old kid! (and the food WAS awesome! - pork
chops, home fries, fried okra, green beans, collards, slaw,.... you get the
picture!)
We followed this with an
afternoon - back on the porch, to rest. Martha's neighbor had a pool that
she uses every day, and Ian had fun swimming late that afternoon, and learning
to dive on their diving board. Martha used to teach diving, so they had a
grand time.
Dinner at Martha's sisters
was light - followed by dessert of decadent chocolate pie. Again, I
sinned. I am definitely now on a diet.
After dinner, Martha had a
handyman who was working on her lawnmower come by with his family. He
needed to finish working on it, so Ian played with the kids. They ran
barefoot through the dusky night, dodging fireflies, seeing who could out run
each other. Martha and I sat and visited with the man's wife...and all of
us got eaten up by "skeeters"; my souvenir of South Alabama.
I'm sure Ian enjoyed one of my favorite past times as a child,
though...chasing fireflies on a hot summer night.
***
Friday morning, early, we
left for the final 2 day leg of our trip. The 4th book for this journey
was "Shenandoah". Now, as far as I knew, and based on what was
on the cover description, this was about the war in the Shenandoah valley.
Imagine how confused we were to discover that the first 4 discs were all
about a murder mystery with a Confederate soldier returning from war to find
that his wife had married his brother. They had been mistakenly told he
had been killed. What followed was hatred, arguing, fighting and the
ultimate death of one of them. Finally, after my skipping some parts that
I just thought were too graphic for a 10 year old, they got to 1864 in the
Shenandoah Valley.
We stopped for a
couple of hours at Stone Mountain, Georgia. What a beautiful place and
one of the best memorials I've seen for the Confederacy. We spent a
leisurely 2 hours, roaming through the park, taking photos of some of the monuments
to each of the Confederate states, and, of course gazing in awe at the stone
carving in the mountain of Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Jefferson
Davis. It is huge. It reminded me just slightly of Mt. Rushmore,
just not quite as large. It was still deep south, though and the humidity
was really hard to bear in the middle of the day. (I'll take 106 in Dallas any
day when the humidity is only 40%).
The rest of the trip was
spent listening to the end of the Shenandoah story - with the South predictably
losing.
This particular book though mentioned so many of the places
around where we live. As we were driving from Winchester to Loudoun, the
story was literally about Mosby's Rangers, who were FROM Loudoun and well known
heroes in our county. That was perfect timing for the story! Ian loves
that he lives in a house OLDER than the Civil War.
He's never been to
Gettysburg, Antietam nor Balls Bluff, even though they are a stones' throw from
us. Looks like we'll have a few short trips coming up.
We made it home on
Saturday, intact, only suffering two traffic delays and one rain storm the
entire trip. Returning home for Ian was exciting to him - he'd never been
away from his parents this long...and he was anxious to see them. As for
me, when I dropped him off and started the final drive to my house...I felt
suddenly empty - my shadow was gone. But sweet, sweet memories will
linger for a loooong time.
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