The Civil War

This weekend I did something that was a little different. I went with Dan and his family to This Is The Place State Park to do a Civil War Reenactment. Dan's family has been doing it for a long time. It sounds strange, but it is really really cool! This time they let me come along.
Friday night we left for the park all dressed up in our costumes. We stopped at Sizzler for dinner (Dan's sister Tenille is the manager there). It was so wierd to walk into a public place dressed like that and have EVERYONE stare at you. It took a little getting used to! After dinner we were on our way to the park. There was a Civil War ball that night. Everyone got dressed up in clothing from that time period and we learned the dances from that era. It was really fun and Dan is a suprisingly good dancer.
That night we slept in the yard of one of the historic homes in the park. What was really awesome and amazing was that the lawn we stayed in endend up being my great great great grandfather's house. We walked in for the tour and they said "This is the Jewkes Home." We were all really suprised. I had no idea it was there! So, for all the Jewkes' out there reading this, Alma Gardner's house has been relocated to This Is The Place State Park! There is a picture of him and his family there and everything!
Anyway, so we set up camp in the yard and went to bed. It was a noisy night! The wind was blowing so hard!! I was so comfortable though, I went right to sleep and slept through the night.
The next morning we got up and got dressed up again (not as fancy this time). Dan and I walked around the park a little bit and went into some of the historic houses and shops. It was really neat to see it all! Then the men got on their horses and the women (Dan's mom and I) hung out in the shade. We walked around a bit and took a ride on the tourist train, but mainly is was a pretty relxing day for us girls. For the guys, on the other hand, they were riding around all day showing all the visitors what they do as men in the Cavalry. They were really fun to watch! The best part was, I got to ride a little bit during the day! One time, Dan's dad (Alan) was talking to someone so they were all stopped. Alan had gotten off his horse so I walked over and jumped up on the horse. He turned around and said "You stole my horse!" It was really fun!
At about 5 PM we packed up and left for home. We were all so tired and dirty! But, all in all, it was one of the COOLEST things I have EVER done! I hope to go with them again!