I was able to camp out again this year, so I arrived Friday evening with all the other reenactors to get set up. I have never seen that museum crazier....there were cars and trailers EVERYWHERE. But, Stephen and I did manage to get to my campsite, and set my tent up.
After that, the rest of the evening was a bunch of random things. We went for a hike through the woods, and found a creek where I learned how to skip stones. We met up with a friend, and went out for dinner. We sat in the middle of the baseball field looking at all the beautiful stars. And then, I attempted to go to bed...........which was easier said than done. Reenactors are a noisy bunch, and I think I got all of about 3 1/2 hours of sleep Friday night.
But, still, Saturday morning Stephen and I got up at 5am to watch the sunrise. Now, I will be very honest here and sound like a city girl, but this was the first time I could remember that I had actually seen the sun itself rise. I've always seen the effects of it before, but this time I actually saw the bright shining ball itself rise over the distant hills. And it was beautiful!
And, there's Stephen. Yes, he is mine. The most handsome man in the entire world!
After that, we got some breakfast, and got ready for the day. By then, it was around 9am, and the village was bustling with reenactors. We went out to the village square where games were set up, and played a game of Graces, and I attemtped to walk on silts in a hoop skirt.......challenging, but possible! While we were there, the soldiers came back from drills on the Great Meadow.
It was at this point when finally realized that this was going to be a crazy weekend. It was only 10am, and I had already been up for 5 hours. It was still morning, but I felt like I had already lived a full day!
But, anways, we then did some shopping at the sutlers, and played a little piano in the Opera House. Then, it was time to watch the first battle.
After the battle, we went back to the Opera House for some more piano playing. Gosh, I love getting my own personal concerts!
This is my favorite song, The Entertainer's Rag, by Jay Roberts. Last year at the Mumford reenactment was the first time Stephen played the piano for me, and this was one of the songs he played. He described it as a "civil war between the hands", because at one point the right hand plays Dixie Land while the left hand plays Yankee Doodle. And ever since that first time, this has been my favorite; so enjoy!
After that, we got some lunch, and then finished our shopping. Then, we went out to a field and had some target practice with his guns. Next, it was time to get ready for the ball!
I didn't manage to get any pictures from the ball itself, but here are the people beginning to arrive.
It was late to bed again Saturday night, but I managed to get about 5 hours of sleep. I ended up waking up again in time to see the sunrise Sunday morning. Stephen was reenacting the battle on Sunday, so he had to meet his regiment early in the morning for roll call and drills. So, my morning was spent with a little more shopping, and following his regiment around watching drills and weapon inspection. Then we had a little time before the battle to relax and get his weapons ready. Then off he went to "fall in" for battle, and I found myself a good place to watch the battle.
And, here he has died; that blackish bundle lying on the ground next to the white pillar.
And, thank the Lord, here he is coming back to life after the battle ended.
After the first battle he stayed with his regiment to get ready for the second. I was utterly worn out, so I napped during the second battle. After the second battle, he had a little work to do, so I started packing up my things. Then we cleaned his guns, and then packed up all the tent, and all our belongs. Finally, we were finished around 8, so then, went to Famous Dave's for a ate dinner.
And a funny thing happened while we were there. We went in costume, so our waitress upon seeing us asked, "You two wouldn't happen to be reenactors at Mumford today, would you?" We were of course, and come to find out that she was a reenactor too, and that she had been at Mumford that afternoon as well! Dinner was delicous, a BBQ chicken, and french fries, and lots of BBQ sauce, and corn-on-the-cob, and corn muffins, and cinnamon-ammaretto apples, and for dessert, a HUGE brownie sundae.
Then we came home, and that was the end of our weekend. It was crazy, it was exhausting, it was epic, it was so much fun. And now getting back to normal life is rather odd.
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