I'm back

As I stated in my last post I was on vacation last week. My grandmother’s 80th birthday was March 13th so we went back there to surprise her. My parents had flown out earlier in the week to give her a party but no one knew we were coming too. We drove through the night and got to Oshkosh, Wisconsin in time for the party and gave everyone a surprise they won’t soon forget. That weekend we also saw many of my cousins on my father’s side. They had met my wife and son last year at my grandfather’s funeral but this was a much better reunion.

Saturday we went to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay. My son loves trains so he was in hog heaven. He got to climb on many old trains. There were not any trains from the Civil War but there were some interesting things to see anyway. Later that day we stopped at one of Oshkosh’s Civil War monuments, this one is for Camp Bragg that gave soldiers of the 21st and 32nd Wisconsin Infantry their first brush with the realities of being a soldier.

Later in the week we started to head home but had decided we would not drive straight through. Somehow I convinced my family to detour through Springfield, Illinois so I could soak up some Lincoln history. Time was of the essence so I decided to just see the new Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (I would only do the museum part). It’s a great place. You follow the life of Lincoln from boy to death. Springfield is amazing. It was a last minute addition to our trip so I hadn’t planned for it at all. I had no list of things to see. After the museum I ran through a few sites downtown like his law office and the Old State Capitol where he gave his House Divided speech. It was obvious that there is a ton to do in Springfield but I didn’t have the time so I grabbed brochures and hope to get back when I can devote 2 or 3 days as that’s what I think it will really require to do a good tour of Springfield.

Then we headed down the road towards home. We passed around St. Louis, which is an accomplishment as the last time I went through St. Louis I had to get a different car to complete the journey. The next morning I convinced everyone to stop at Lecompton, Kansas. There we saw Constitution Hall and the Territorial Capital Museum. These were both neat to see. I’m glad I went to Lecompton but I doubt I’d go back unless I heard about some new exhibits or something similar.

Some shots from the road:

Grandpa driving Big Boy (world's largest steam engine)

A big boy driving something not as big as the Big Boy

Stuck in the top of the caboose

"Trains and cannons in the same day?! Wow!"

Lincoln showing the way to his museum

Constitutional Hall

Las Vegas

I just got back from a wonderful weekend in Vegas. My wife took me there for my birthday. Going there and going to the NASCAR race on Sunday were my presents. Beyond that it was nice for the two of us to go somewhere alone for the weekend and relax. It was my first trip to Vegas and my first race.

We flew in Friday night and our first stop was In and Out Burger. I’ve never been there before as that chain has not made its way to Colorado. It was a good burger. Then we drove the strip a bit just taking in the sights. Then we went to the Fremont Street Experience, saw both shows, played a little blackjack and hit Jack in the Box for a late snack (we have Jack in the Box in Colorado but very few). If its not clear by now I travel on my stomach and my wife is a willing participant, when we visit family in Wisconsin and Illinois we both have lists of places or foods we hope to have time to get to while we’re there.

Saturday we headed out to Hoover Dam. Its neat. I doubt I’d do it again unless its been 10 years or so but I definitely enjoyed it. We did the extended tour which took you into the dam itself. I think that was worth the extra money. The tour guide does say dam a bit too much. Yes, we all get the joke, you get to say dam all day long, its like you’re swearing but you’re not. But after a half hour of “I’m your dam guide,” “down this dam tunnel,” “there sure are a lot of dam stairs,” “everyone on the dam elevator,” “you can walk along the dam road,” it gets tiresome.

I couldn’t find any Civil War related markers or monuments but the lake formed by Hoover Dam is named Lake Meade, oh wait its actually Lake Mead. Named for Elwood Mead who headed the Bureau of Reclamation when Hoover Dam was built (then known as Boulder Dam).

That night we had dinner at the Top of World in the Stratosphere; its on the 104th floor, or something around there, 104 not being much different from 106. That was fantastic which is odd to say because I hate heights. The restaurant rotates around so you get a great view of the entire Vegas area. Then my wife played a poker tournament and missed the money spot by one player, but finishing 6th in a field of 55plus isn’t something to feel bad about although she was disappointed to miss the payday by one player.

Sunday we spent nearly the entire day at the race. If you’re a NASCAR fan you have to go see one race in person in your lifetime. The whole thing is quite the experience from people watching to the actual race. The speed and sound do not translate to the tv at all. We sat in row 2, which is actually cheaper seats. I don’t think I’d want higher seats. Each time a car passed a little bit of tire rubber landed on us. These were tiny pieces, like grains of sand. You didn’t realize it had hit you until you rubbed your pants and felt them or rubbed your arm and smeared it on your skin. The cars provide a steady wind so that when the stands were covered by the shade it got pretty cold. Our ear plugs were pretty good so we didn’t get a headache at all, nor any lingering hearing loss. We also took a bus from the hotel to the track so we didn’t have to fight traffic. The buses took a route through Nellis Air Force base that was closed off to other traffic so a half hour after we left the stands we were back in the hotel, I doubt anyone on the highway did it in that time, probably not under an hour. So there’s a special tip for you, if you go to the race in Vegas pay extra for a bus ride, it’ll save you time and aggravation. Earlier in the day I had wanted to place a bet on Kyle Busch but I’m not a big gambler and my wife thought a $5 bet seemed silly. So I didn’t do it, so of course Kyle Busch won. I already was a Kyle Busch fan but this cinched it for me. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get to another race but I’d love to go again. Maybe if my son is still into racecars when he’s a bit older I’ll take him. I’m not sure if we’d do Vegas or go to a more historic track like Martinsville.

Our final day we took easy. We slept in, when to a lunch buffet and played some craps. Unfortunately I think that’s a game I could get hooked on. Poker and black jack don’t do much for me. The people playing roulette looked bored and unhappy. But craps was fun.

Gettysburg Fees

Once again my recent Shiloh focus has been shifted to Gettysburg. Today I read the horrible news that Gettysburg's museum is no longer free. Now its $7.50 a person, which also gets you into their new movie and the cyclorama. I would be fine in making a ticket package for the movie and cyclorama but including the museum really upsets me. Except for those parks that have an entrance fee I cannot recall being at a park that charged to see the museum. I feel that those items are held by the NPS for the public.

I will pay the fee the first time I'm there but doubt I'll ever do so again. Partly that is because when I go to the parks I go to see the ground. If the museum was free I'd probably rarely go through it. I love Shiloh and have been there more than any other battlefield and I probably rarely get into the museum part. When I do go its because I had a question about a display I remember seeing previously and wanted to do a quick double check. There is no way I'd pay $7.50 to do that.

I understand that the new visitor center is experiencing a financial shortfall (isn't all of America right now) but this seems like such a drastic move away from how I think the parks should be run. I think the parks should be open for the public. Even small entrance fees give me some pause, but I rationalize it that all that money stays at the park (probably 100% doesn't but in the case of a few bucks I don't worry as much). Our national treasures are there for our entire population to share. I'm sure people donate their artifact collections to NPS parks because they know it will be kept safe and will also be there for all to enjoy. Otherwise they'd either keep it in a private collection or sell to a fee-based museum.

I could understand starting to collect fees if the Gettysburg VC was operating like any other museum in town, but they are not. If revenues slump there is no chance of the park going bankrupt. They'll continue to get money to operate. They might not have enough to do all the things they want to do, like tree cutting or repaving roads, but they are not going to sell off the cannons for scrap metal or the monuments to be broken up for gravel. They are not going to have to board up the new VC. Congress will come through with the money to keep them open, they just might not get enough to cover much beyond the normal daily operations of a park.

I think that all the associated costs with the new VC were higher than anyone anticipated, plus the cash spent by visitors is down too, and the park came to a decision it probably didn't really want to make but didn't see any other way out. And now they took a step that they can never take back.

The other part of this is that revenue was down because fewer people were willing to pay $8 to see the new movie than they had anticipated. How confident are they that people won't turn away completely from $7.50? I'd guess that for the people who are making their first and last visit to Gettysburg they will pay the $7.5o. They'll figure that they came this far and might as well pay the fee even though they might wonder why no part of the new VC is free. But the repeat visitor will probably pay it just once and never again. And with the bad press the new museum has gotten there might even be some repeat visitors who will never pay the fee. They'll remember the old museum and figure that there can be nothing too exciting in the new one to be worth the cost.

Just some of my thoughts. When my dad returns in a few days from Gettysburg I'll see what he has to say. I bet he'll pay the $7.50, well $6.50 for him since he's retired military. But I'm not sure, I'm interested to find out.

Click here for the news story.

Study Group

For the last 8 plus years I've been part of the Rocky Mountain Roundtable's study group. Nearly every year we studied a battle or campaign and then followed it up with a trip to that battlefield. In fact following the last trip (Antietam) I decided to start this blog and the first month or so was devoted to recapping that trip. This Wednesday the study group will be going to the Shenandoah Valley and I'll be stuck at my job in Colorado.

In the fall of 2000 we did Shiloh. In 2001 we went to Gettysburg, traveling on October 11th. That was an unique airport experience. We took an extra long study the next year and made the trip in the spring of 2003 to Chickamauga and Chattanooga. In fall 2004 we were in Spotsylvania County doing the four major battlefields in that bloody county; Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness and Spotyslvania Court House. In fall 2005 we were in Middle Tennessee covering Stones River, Tullahoma, Franklin and Nashville. Spring 2007 found us back east again, this time at Antietam, following another extra lengthy study. And now for the first time I'll be missing a study group trip. There is now only one guy who has made every single trip, my dad. A couple guys have only missed one trip, I'll now join that list.

I'm a bit sad. I always looked forward to spending those 4-5 days in the field with a bunch of like minded guys. Our smallest group was 4 and our largest was 13. But we always had a great time. Its one thing to visit the battlefield alone and quite another to be in the company of someone who shares your passion. I've been lucky in that I've had quite a few of those kind of trips because my dad has joined me on many of my other excursions.

I told dad that there are two things I want him to do for me while he's gone. First he has to take a ton of pictures. Second if he gets to Gettysburg (which I think the group will get there) I want him to buy me one of these:

I saw it on Harry's blog and knew right away I had to have one too.

Antietam Video

As promised earlier here is the intro to Mike's Antietam video. He has also loaded his entire movie on his youtube site . It is loaded in 7 parts due to youtube file size constraints but it is all there.

Mike does a wonderful job, I'm not just saying that because he is a friend, he really does have a talent for this, check out his work and I'm sure you'll agree. His entire Spotsylvania County movie is on youtube and he has portions of his Gettysburg and Chickamauga movies on there as well.

Antietam Video

Last night Mike presented his video of the study group's Antietam trip to the Rocky Mountain Civil War Round. It was another fabulous production except for referring to me as Crash in the credits, geez you smash up one car and you get labeled Crash.

He is putting sections of the movie online on his youtube site . The Antietam portions are not up yet but he'll get them up soon (although I don't think it will happen until sometime next week, but I'll keep you informed). Clips from his older movies (Chickamauga, Gettysburg and Spotsylvania County) are already on his youtube site for you to peruse now.

Antietam Video

Some of you might know that this blog started following the Rocky Mountain Civil War Round Table's study group trip to Antietam (geez that's a mouthful). I had too many pictures and stories to share than I could fit in the round table's newsletter (I am the newsletter editor). So I made this blog and since then have branched off into many other topics, but with a lot of battlefield photography. My buddy Mike was my travel partner, though after we blew an engine and wrecked a second car I'm sure we were both wondering who was the bad luck charm, and he put together an amazing video of our travels. He does this with every trip and its mostly a battlefield documentary but does have a segment on the travels.



Next Thursday (October 11) at the round table's monthly meeting Mike will present his video. He also has some clips of older movies available on his youtube site and has promised that Antietam clips will be posted in the near future. I will also have a clip available on here some time next week.

Bahamas

I've known about the trip for awhile but recently it was confirmed that I will be going to the Bahamas in February. I'm excited, this will be my first vacation with my girlfriend. It will also be my first vacation that is not family or Civil War orientated. But there is a small Civil War element to the trip. The Bahamas were part of the blockade running trade routes. I've been doing a bit of reading this past week on blockade running (something I've never really examined before) and have been amazed at just how much material was making it through the blockade. And Nassau was a pretty big link in the trade routes. I have not yet found a blockade running museum, nor do I expect to find one, but there is a pirate museum there and I bet they'll have a panel on their role as a fueling/trade center during the era of sailing ships.

There is also some Revolutionary War history there. In March 1776 John Paul Jones captured Fort Montagu in Nassau. And the fort still exists, along with two others. I definitely see a day of touring forts in my future. My girlfriend might be bored silly but maybe that day she can sit on the beach and drink something fruity with rum. I'll be getting in a battlefield fix in the most unlikely of places.

My reading also turned up that the CSS Florida was turned from a normal ship into a battle ship in the waters of the Bahamas. After it was built in England (its sister ship, which was not yet complete, was the CSS Alabama) it set sail for the Bahamas where it rendezvoused with its military equipment. In Nassau the US consul had figured out that something fishy was happening and the local admiralty court researched the situation. Despite contrary evidence the court allowed the ship to leave the harbor and it made its transformation near some smaller island in the area. Remarkably this transformation, which included moving several heavy guns, was accomplished with just 22 sailors. The court situation had made recruiting difficult so the ship started with far less than its normal 130 man crew. Then yellow fever gripped the crew. After picking up a doctor in Cuba they ran into Mobile Bay, apparently the day they ran the blockade into Mobile there was only 4 healthy sailors manning the ship. So now I've been doing some reading on the Florida. I doubt I'll find any more interesting connections with the Bahamas but it I'm sure it will still be interesting.

Traveling

When I wrote my Chickamauga article I got the idea while walking the ground, and later made sure to walk that ground again to get pictures for possible future use. I've always believed that walking the ground was vitally important to understanding what happened. A few weeks ago I received an email from a gentleman asking what sort of sources I use to plan my trips and that struck me as being an excellent blog topic, so here's some of my thoughts.

For print sources the two books I utilize the most are Alice Cromie's "A Tour Guide to the Civil War" and the Civil War Preservation Trust's guide. Cromie's guide is a bit dated and some sites don't exist anymore, plus there are new sites that are not in there. The CWPT's guide only includes the sites that paid to be part of the guide. These are all your major sites but some of the smaller (and often well done) sites are not included. Using those two will give you a good start.

A great online source is just going to the various state parks department websites and seeing what state parks there are. Most states have some sort of overview of what is at the park to see. Most sites are preserved at this local level rather than under the NPS.

Another great resource for traveling is Blue and Gray magazine. Each month they tackle one battle (or in the case of their Gettysburg issues, one aspect of the battle) and give a nice history of the battle plus an excellent tour. These tours are very detailed and often written by the park historian so they can be considered to also be fairly accurate. This magazine comes out 7 times a year and usually has one issue devoted to Gettysburg. Since its been out 20 odd years they have covered much of the war so chances are if you're looking for a particular battle they have covered it, unless it is quite small. Another caveat is that in their early days the tours were nowhere as good as they are now. The tours are quite impressive now. They also always have great maps.

Maps are another resource I try to utilize. I'll look at a period map and then compare it to a modern map to see what areas might have history that is a bit of the beaten path. Then I'll research to find out if there is a local museum or park that interprets its place in the war.

A truly great place to go is the Technical Information Center for the National Park Service (TIC-NPS). The only drawback here is that the center is located in Denver so if you're not a local your access is a bit harder. But this is a treasure trove of NPS materials, studies, etc. I used to go there all the time and browse the collection. Some of the studies the park service did are mind boggling. For instance I've twice found maps (Vicksburg and Chickamauga) that listed the size and style of every tree in the study area. Of course this didn't aid the study of the battle at all but it was fascinating that they went thru that kind of work. If there is one thing the NPS is good at it is studying something to death. It might take 20 years of study before they make a move but after 20 years they'll know more about the thing than anyone would care to know. Of course the same project done privately might have only taken a few months, but that's just how things operate at the NPS. I'm pretty sure TIC does research thru mail request, but I've never had to find that out. Incidentally if you are local and go, be prepared for tougher security than seems necessary. Maybe the NPS also has secrets on how to make atomic bombs because its the only library I've been too that requires a metal detector and an escort thru the building. Plus I was once told that before they could print anything for me they'd have to check the security clearance on the document. Somehow I don't think there are any state secrets in Shiloh maps.