Nathan Bedford Forrest

Today we visited a battle site at Parkers Crossings in Tennessee.  This was another battle I wasn’t aware of, but had some interesting history.  To me it was fascinating how the Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forest was described at this park as a military genius and an honest and smart man. 

He grew up poor but became one of the richest men in the South before the war from business including slave trade.  He joined the Confederate army as a private and promoted through the ranks to General without any of the military training that many of the generals had due to his “innate grasp of tactics”.  Given the scarcity of materials in the Confederate Army, he was well known for capturing Union material such as weapons ordinance.  Just in these few weeks of raiding he captured over a million rounds of ammunition.  He wasn’t the type of general to sit back and watch but was active in the battle.  In reading about his actions, he sounds like an action hero in the movies.

Yet he also was investigated for war crimes for allowing a massacre of black Union Army soldiers who had already surrendered.  He recruited Confederate soldiers to build the army by advertising "if you wanna have some fun and to kill some Yankees".  He was (probably) the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.  Definitely controversial!

Corinth in the Civil War

Until you travel in the South, you have no idea how many battles were fought during the Civil War.  Corinth is one of those battles that I’ve never heard of before now.  Yet, thousands of soldiers died here fighting over a major railroad crossing.  Miles of earthworks were built by both sides as the town changes ownership several times.

Not only did the fighting kill thousands, diseases like dysentery killed just as many after the battle.  I can’t imagine living as a civilian citizen from Corinth trying to care for all the hurt soldiers.  Not only was medical help limited, even water (especially clean water) was limited.  The center has several movies and information explaining the battles.  Outside they had a unique display where weapons and various paraphernalia from the war was bronzed and put into sidewalks and displays.

 

Meteors and Mysterious Creatures

While kids are starting school, we’re back on the road again!  Our plan is to travel to Maine and back.  On the way we hope to see all types of historical, natural, and just plain weird things.  We are also planning several stops to see family.  Hmm. I didn’t mean family members were weird, I meant we hope to see weird touristy places.

The bad part is that the air conditioner in the truck stopped working during the 6 hour drive on the first day.  Poor John ended up driving with the windows down in 90 F weather.  We’re hoping he can get someone to fix it soon.

 

The good part is our first stop at Dewayne Hayes Campground in Mississippi.  The campground is amazing.  With the senior pass, it’s only $10 for electric and water.  The site is a pull-through (always great when you’re pulling a car) and sits right on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.  We saw this waterway before, but it’s nice to sit outside the RV and watch barges go past. Plus, there are several pontoon boats, speedboats, and skiers enjoying the water.  It’s relaxing to sit along the water.  I’ve seen dragonflies, butterflies, hummingbirds, large white birds with 5’ wing spans drifting along, flocks of birds sailing the waterway, and planes from the local air force base.  While the planes can be noisy, I can still hear crickets, frogs, cicadas, and fish jumping in the water.

 
Early in the morning, I got up to see the Perseid meteor shower.  Luckily, skies cleared so I was able to see a meteor every minute or two. My count was at 10 meteors when I decided to go back to bed.  Sitting on the bank of the waterway was a unique way of watching.  I heard some bird that sounded like an angry Donald Duck along with seeing a barge go past with its lights on.

After the sun came up, it was time to take a walk.  When we checked in, we were shown pictures of a 5’ long rattlesnake that was killed on this path.  So, I was trying to be observant.  No snakes, but plenty of spider webs, birds, a raccoon, and some animal that crashed through the woods in front of me.  It was big, but didn’t look like a deer.  Maybe a bear??  At least I was able to get a picture of this armadillo.

Beer in the Summer

It’s the Fourth of July weekend, so a beer is almost required.  We visited the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Jacksonville Florida.  No real horses like at the St. Louis brewery we visited a few years ago, but they had Larry.

 

 

The brewery has been producing beer since 1969 and make over 9 million barrels every year.  The tour is good.  We started with a sample of a new Shock Top version. 

 

The tour took us past humongous tanks and bottling lines (they were cleaning lines and were down when we visited). 

 

Of course the best is the beer in the hospitality room at the end.  Very refreshing on a hot summer day.  John and I enjoyed seeing the discussion of the can production since we both worked in the can industry at one time.

 

Amelia Island

Amelia Island has several things to see.  We enjoyed walking on a pier at the state park and seeing the beach. 

 

In Fernandina Beach, we visited the Nassau County courthouse (built in 1891).  Besides being one of the oldest county courthouses in Florida and an example of Victorian style, John’s brother Jack was involved in designing and managing the restoration in 2002!!! We got to hear some of the background problems and stories behind the restoration.  I loved the “picture” showing the steps and history of the layers within the wall of the courthouse.

 

 

This bell was used as a fire alarm until the 1930’s.  The columns are Corinthian columns in cast iron and so much gorgeous woodwork inside.

Fort Clinch

We’re visiting family near Jacksonville Florida for a long July 4^th holiday.  Today we toured Fort Clinch that sits on the Atlantic Ocean.  While it’s in Florida, it is less than a mile from Georgia. 

The fort was partially built starting in 1847.  During the Civil War it was held by the Confederates and then the North.  This transfer was quiet.  General Robert E. Lee knew they couldn’t hold it so they withdrew.  It was manned to watch (and theoretically defend) the coast in the Spanish-American War and World War II.  In all that time it was never finished.

While it wasn’t finished, the park has a lot of good ‘stuff’ added to show what it was like during the Civil War era. 

 

 

The brickwork of these forts are always cool. 

Before and After

Between all our trips we bought a small house in Pensacola. It’s been interesting.  The house was a short sale where the owners divorced and hadn’t lived in the house for a year or two.  The grass was 2’ tall with 10’ high bushes surrounding the yard.  The copper piping under the house had been stolen.  However the repairs inside are relatively minor. We’ve been working on the house since we moved in.  We expect to sell the house in a year or so, so it’s been interesting seeing how we can fix up the house without spending a lot of money.

The front yard has been our biggest investment in time and money.  We dug up many of the bushes and cut back the ones we left.  All that was left of the yard was weeds, so we planted sod.  I was able to save money on plants by using freecycle.  Have you heard about freecycle.org?  You can get rid of things you don’t need quickly and get things other people don’t need.  I was able to get quite a few plants this way.  Free, plus I know they grow well in Florida.  Here's some before and after pictures.

Inside we’ve painted two bedrooms and the repainted the partially painted bathroom.  The popcorn ceiling is gone and the wood floor has been sanded and refinished.  Oh, and we freecycled the stuff the previous owners left in the house.
 

So much more to do (in between trips)!