My time in Manassas, Virginia

Last weekend I was in Manassas, Virginia for the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Bull Run/Manassas.  It was fantastic!  My friend Amanda and I flew out and had a wonderful Virginia experience.  I uploaded a bunch of pictures onto Facebook, if you are interested, look here for them.  The picture above was one that was found in the Yahoo News online picture gallery of the event.  We were wishing the soldiers well as they marched off to battle.

I have a thing for fife and drum music, so whenever I heard it, I would smile, and then sometimes follow the sound to the makers of such fun music!  These are a bunch of talented Yankees, but I found some wonderful Rebels also!

Friday we were able to sight see and I am grateful for the chance to see a few of the places I had been wanting to visit and experience.  The visitors center was amazing!  This is the monument build by Union troops a year after the battle to honor those Union boys that lost their lives at the Battle of Manassas.  It is found on Henry's Hill.

This picture is found on the info board near the monument.  I love this picture for some reason, I guess because now I have actually been there - stood where they stood.

 
And here I am touching where they stood.  I know it seems silly, but I loved it.  I am so grateful for anyone that serves their country in any way and feel honored to be where they have been, especially the patriots of long ago.

Another sight I wanted to see was The Stone Bridge.  It was so pretty!  This is Bull Run Creek and I loved it also.  The temperature was 116 degrees when this picture was taken of Amanda and I.  This little desert rose was not used to that humidity!

We were able to join in with a group of re-enactors from Arizona.  Here are a few of them.  Such nice and fine gentlemen!

With the temperatures so hot, we headed to a sweet little creek one afternoon after the battle.  It was the only way to escape the heat while remaining sane!  This is me, Amanda, and Michelle in our very period correct underpinnings cooling off in Little Bull Run Creek.  I think we spent about 3 hours of the hot afternoon soaking up the coolness of this little oasis.

And here we are the next day, fully dressed and refreshed for a new day of sweating and portraying sweet ladies of the South!

I loved watching the soldiers march, and with 8,500 of them I got to see alot of them!  We would wish them well as they marched off to battle.  They would tip their hats our way, give us a smile, a few officers would wave their swords to us, and we heard a few "I'll be home soon darling" and "You are the reason we are fighting this war sweetheart."  It was so fun.  On Sunday when they marched off to war, Amanda played her hammer dulcimer and the Marahs girls played their violin and cello for the boys.  They loved Dixie and Bonnie Blue Flag being played as they went to fight.  There were many whoops and hollers as their spirits were gladdened with the music!

It was a fantastic trip and I believe a once in a lifetime event for me, as I think me getting back east for another 150th anniversary event is going to be hard as a wife and mother in the west!