So after four days in Seattle, I decided that I just missed the airport too too much. So I woke up at 3 AM to catch a 5 AM flight to Washington D.C. The NIH put us up in a plush hotel and then ran us through two quick days of a conference designed to recruit graduate students to the NIH for postdoctoral work. I met with three PIs while here in Bethesda and got three offers for flybacks if I wanted it. I don't know. I just have no clue. Anyway, my cousin Julia and her family live in the area and so I spent today with them. We drove out to Antietam where it happened to be their anniversary weekend since the Civil War Battle of Antietam was on September 17, 1862. They had living history reenactors demonstrate cannons, muskets, and salted pork. Here's a picture of Brian, Julia's husband, giving their daughter Hannah a closer look at the business end of some heavy artillery.
It was fascinating. These guys spend their own money, make their own clothes, and take time off of work to volunteer their time showing us tourists how things were. Did you know that hard tack was disgusting or that Van de Kamps was making pork and beans . . . in tin cans . . . clear back in the 1830s? Talk about shelf life of a company. Here's a picture of the spread that soldiers would carry in their packs.
What I found so surprising is that most men in the war (if they survived) typically only fought 1-3 days out of the entire year. They spent most of their time conducting drills and reading "A Tale of Two Cities." After the cannon fire, we went into the visitor's center to watch an extensive movie on the Battle of Antietam . . . bloodiest single day in the Civil War. Unreal. Men killing each other across a lane, other men being mowed down by the hundreds, lines of men picked off like a shooting gallery, left for dead in corn fields, rivers, and roads. And September 18th, they called a truce for the day and sat around and talked about what happened with "the other side". Then they had a musket demonstration.
It took 9 steps to load those things. How terrifying it must have been to be standing there in the middle of a smoky battle, desperately trying to reload your weapon! After Antietam, we went to Harper's Ferry which sits at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. BEAUTIFUL!!!
It's here that John Brown raided the artillery house and partly incited the beginning of the Civil War. As I read Stephen Vincent Benet's epic poem on the matter in Mrs. Morris' AP English Lit class at Orem High School, I found it all particularly interesting. And I paid for the most expensive lunch in history. No kidding. I can't even write the number. Believe me folks, those West Virginians are not hurting for cash. And although I was done, and I think the three kids under three were done, Julia was not and so even though it was getting dark, we went to Manassas National Battlefield. I probably need to read up on what happened, but here's a big statue of Stonewall Jackson.
And a beautiful moon.
And okay, I just thought these guys looked so cool, so here's one last picture.
What a great day. Thanks guys! And . . . now it's midnight and I'm waiting two hours for the shuttle to come get me to take me out to BWI. Oh airport, what will I do without you until Thanksgiving???
So after four days in Seattle, I decided that I just missed the airport too too much. So I woke up at 3 AM to catch a 5 AM flight to Washington D.C. The NIH put us up in a plush hotel and then ran us through two quick days of a conference designed to recruit graduate students to the NIH for postdoctoral work. I met with three PIs while here in Bethesda and got three offers for flybacks if I wanted it. I don't know. I just have no clue. Anyway, my cousin Julia and her family live in the area and so I spent today with them. We drove out to Antietam where it happened to be their anniversary weekend since the Civil War Battle of Antietam was on September 17, 1862. They had living history reenactors demonstrate cannons, muskets, and salted pork. Here's a picture of Brian, Julia's husband, giving their daughter Hannah a closer look at the business end of some heavy artillery. 
It was fascinating. These guys spend their own money, make their own clothes, and take time off of work to volunteer their time showing us tourists how things were. Did you know that hard tack was disgusting or that Van de Kamps was making pork and beans . . . in tin cans . . . clear back in the 1830s? Talk about shelf life of a company. Here's a picture of the spread that soldiers would carry in their packs. 
What I found so surprising is that most men in the war (if they survived) typically only fought 1-3 days out of the entire year. They spent most of their time conducting drills and reading "A Tale of Two Cities." After the cannon fire, we went into the visitor's center to watch an extensive movie on the Battle of Antietam . . . bloodiest single day in the Civil War. Unreal. Men killing each other across a lane, other men being mowed down by the hundreds, lines of men picked off like a shooting gallery, left for dead in corn fields, rivers, and roads. And September 18th, they called a truce for the day and sat around and talked about what happened with "the other side". Then they had a musket demonstration. 
It took 9 steps to load those things. How terrifying it must have been to be standing there in the middle of a smoky battle, desperately trying to reload your weapon! After Antietam, we went to Harper's Ferry which sits at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. BEAUTIFUL!!! 
It's here that John Brown raided the artillery house and partly incited the beginning of the Civil War. As I read Stephen Vincent Benet's epic poem on the matter in Mrs. Morris' AP English Lit class at Orem High School, I found it all particularly interesting. And I paid for the most expensive lunch in history. No kidding. I can't even write the number. Believe me folks, those West Virginians are not hurting for cash. And although I was done, and I think the three kids under three were done, Julia was not and so even though it was getting dark, we went to Manassas National Battlefield. I probably need to read up on what happened, but here's a big statue of Stonewall Jackson. 
And a beautiful moon. 
And okay, I just thought these guys looked so cool, so here's one last picture. 
What a great day. Thanks guys! And . . . now it's midnight and I'm waiting two hours for the shuttle to come get me to take me out to BWI. Oh airport, what will I do without you until Thanksgiving???
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