June 28, 2010

I Didn't Die: A Day at the Beach and the Shippensburg Reenactment




What a crazy week! On Wednesday, Andy and I decided to go to the beach for the day. It was very hot but the water was freezing. The beach wasn't very crowded. After a bit of swimming in the ocean and collecting seashells on the beach, we fell asleep under our umbrella. We don't know how long we slept but we jumped awake to find the water hitting our toes! Good thing it didn't get our books wet!

The next day we were told that our friends could not make it to the reenactment at Shippensburg that we were planning to go to. We were upset but decided against going as we wouldn't know anyone there.

I watered my garden and Andy fixed a fiddle on the deck. It was hot and sunny. I tried to help him put the sound post back into the fiddle. Suddenly day turned to night. We both looked up at the sky, gathered our things and ran inside. We expected rain but we were not prepared for the storm that followed within seconds.

Winds up to 75 miles an hour and pounding rain went on for about an hour. We heard trees snapping like twigs and some neighborhoods got hail. Many trees were stripped of their leaves. Wires were down on every street and electricity was out for three days. The street lights and stores were hit just as hard. We could not get out of out driveway, electrical wires were draped behind our driveway and a tree had fallen across the top of our street and another at the bottom of our street. We went out to find some ice but couldn't find any anywhere. We ended up getting Chinese takeout for the family and ate it together in the dark with my grandma. We had a radio run on batteries and flashlights hung in her dining room chandelier. It was a cozy dinner all together.

All of our food had to be thrown out. By Friday, the lack of air conditioning and food, plus the fact that it was very dangerous to drive, made us decide that we might as well have gone to the reenactment. So we did. We had to gather our gear from the completely dark basement using dim flashlights. The reenactment was a bit far from us and we had no mapquest directions because of the power outage. We checked to local libraries as well but both were closed. We did end up getting some old-fashioned "paragraph directions" from a Shippensburg establishment using my Kindle in the car on our way. (Yay! You know our generation, we haven't a map in the house.)

When we finally got to the event, the regiment we were supposed to meet up with wasn't there! We were offered to fall in with a Mississippi regiment and we had a great time. The event was definitely not as "period correct" as we are used to but it was still a very fun time! There were lots of ladies there and we went, in a horse-drawn carriage to a seminar on mourning customs. It was very fun to drive on the main roads of the town in such a period fashion.

The lectures were given by a lady named, Myra Reichart in a gorgeous, period bed and breakfast. She gave information on the Victorian Period which extends past the time period that I am used to but was very informative.

The battle took place right on the main street of the town and many locals came to watch.We even talked to one lady who came to the event with her husband from Alaska! I've never seen a whole town so interested in a reenactment.  Local establishments were very much into the reenactment and left out food for the reenactors to forage. One especially nice establishment was "Pizza 'n Stuff." The owner was very nice and gave the reenactors free beverages regardless if we bought anything or not. It was a very fun event with a lot to do for women and civilians-- I am not used to that! They had a waterice social and a ball. Next year is the 10th anniversary of the reenactment. We are planning to attend.

Look at all of this artillery damage! (Just kidding.):

What have you all been up to? I'm trying to catch up will all of the blog posts I missed reading. I hope you are all doing well and will think of going to the Shippensburg reenactment next year.

10 comments:

  1. Great Photos! You are a very good photographer.

    Thank you for your recent comment on my blog. The next time you visit you are more than welcome to become a follower, if you want to.

    God bless you and your family, - Ron

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  2. I looked for the follow button. I must have missed it!

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  3. Wow, what a week! Sorry about the storm, especially the food :( I think that it's kind of funny that in the midst of a storm you decided you might as well reenact! That's great :)

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  4. Hey Sophia, It ended up being really fun. I'm sorry about the skating rink, Andy joined the group on facebook for me.

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  5. Hi Stephanie!
    Wow - I heard about the 75 miles an hour wind and the damage. We were on LBI, New Jersey when my dad called to tell us that the storm was heading our way. By time it got to us, it was not as bad, but still pretty scary (especially when one is on an island). On our way home we saw a lot of the damage. Glad you all are ok.

    The reenactment sounded like fun!

    I did find that link of that 40s hairstyle for long hair (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U93mpxh2kNM). Did you get my e-mail? :)

    Blessings,
    Elisabeth

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  6. Thanks for the link, Elisabeth. The storm really was scary and it came out of nowhere!

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  7. I just found your blog today (came over from Bramblewood Fashion.) I live just outside of Ship and usually go in for the March to Destiny, but we didn't make it this year... anyway, there *is* always a lot of local support for the event. Oh, and the "artillery damage" was actually caused by a vehicle crashing into the building. :P

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  8. Hey Lindsey, :D

    It's good to know, I'll have to tell my group about the car crash. Are you planning to go next year? I hear it is the 10th anniversary and they are planning something big.

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  9. The beach and then a civil war event sounds like a lot of fun. Although you might have wanted to do them in the opposite order. Sweat your hides off at the battle and then go to the beach.

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