Remember this?
I shared about this skeleton stitchery in this post.
I finally have the my second version finished…plenty of time for Halloween.
Next year.
Have fun and carry on!
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Tagged halloween, hand embroidery, LCsCottage, Patterns and Stitches, skeleton, spooky, stitchery
Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal
Great Bridge Battlefield Museum
The fam took the Hubster and I to see the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal.
This man-made waterway connects Chesapeake Bay in Virginia and the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina.
The idea for the canal was proposed initially by William Byrd II in 1728. William Byrd II was an American planter, lawyer, surveyor and writer, politician and statesman, and considered the founder of Richmond, Virginia.
*Clicking on a photo will give you a closer look!
We enjoyed watching the bridge open up and let waterway traffic through.
The waterway project was authorized by Virginia fifteen years before the Dismal Swamp Canal, but work was not begun until after a series of delays.
The first delay, caused by the Revolutionary War, was the first land battle on Virginia soil at Great Bridge.
“The Great Bridge Battlefield & Waterways History Foundation protects, preserves, and promotes the history of the Battle of Great Bridge, December 9, 1775, and the region’s Revolutionary War and canal history to educate the public about the importance of these events in the creation and growth of America.”
“The primary approach to Norfolk was over Great Bridge, which spanned the Elizabeth River. The bridge was surrounded on both sides by the Great Dismal Swamp and was accessible only by narrow causeways on both the north and south sides. Both the Patriots and the British recognized the bridge’s importance.”
The battle lasted less than an hour.
It is estimated that at this battle, the British suffered 102 casualties and the Patriots suffered 1.
There is an overview of the Great Bridge Battle here.
“Colonel William Woodford, reporting on the 2nd Virginia Regiment’s service at the battle, wrote in a letter published in Purdie’s Virginia Gazette, December 15, 1775: “This was a second Bunker’s Hill affair, in miniature; with this difference, that we kept our post, and had only one man wounded in the hand.”
There is an admission cost to the museum, but it is worth the visit.
“Experience life in 18th century Virginia, learn about the water that defined the landscape, visit a Three Tun Tavern and find yourself in the middle of the Battle of Great Bridge! Visitors can explore eight galleries with interactive displays showcasing the battle and waterway history.”
I know I have a lousy photo of the flag. It was difficult not to get reflections from the glass.
The museum’s website has much better photos than I do.
They also have a very nice gift shop and the park has a historic interpretive pathway, an outdoor amphitheater, a recreation of the causeway from 1775, and a family picnic area.
See the world around you!
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Tagged Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal, Albemarle Sound, Chesapeake Bay, Colonel William Woodford, Culpeper Minutemen, Earl of Dunmore, Great Bridge Battlefield, Great Dismal Swamp, John Murray, LCsCottage, Lord Dunmore, North Carolina, patriots, Revolutionary War, Virginia, William Byrd II, William Woodford
Dismal Swamp State Park, North Carolina
When I visit my daughter and fam, one of my favorite places to visit is Dismal Swamp State Park. It is very close to where the fam lives and a great place to get back to nature. I briefly shared about my first visit to this park here.
“Located in Camden County abutting the state’s northeast border with Virginia, Dismal Swamp State Park provides access to the Great Dismal Swamp, the largest remaining swamp in the eastern United States. This area features unique and abundant plant life and wildlife, as well as a rich cultural history that intertwines with George Washington, the Underground Railroad, and Prohibition.”
*Clicking on a photo will give you a closer look!
The one-of-a-kind swing bridge is the only access to the park and is staffed during park hours. Boating traffic has the right-of-way. The canal is an alternate route of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and is managed by the Army Corps of Engineers. Boat traffic from all over the world use this canal.
In the late 1600’s, the swamp was a wetland, covering over a million acres, stretching from the James River in Virginia to the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. Native Americans hunted and fished here.
During the 1800’s, the swamp was a refuge for escaping slaves. The slaves who chose to live here lived in permanent settlements called maroon colonies. The Great Dismal Swamp is a designated site of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.
Over time, attempts at draining to convert for agriculture, and harvesting the timber, took their toll.
There is a very nice visitor’s center where you can learn all about the canal and the swamp.
In 1974, over 14,000 acres was purchased from timber companies by the State of North Carolina creating the Dismal Swamp State Park.
On my first visit, the ranger enlightened me as to what these mysterious stumps are. This Bald Cypress does not grow where I live.
Turkey Tail fungi are a fun find and, through the wonders of the internet, I learned that, among other benefits, they are good for gut health. Don’t eat them raw, these fungi are apparently tough to chew!
Also edible, but not raw, is the American Beautyberry. This pretty plant does not grow in my part of the world. I wish it did, because I learned that the leaves are a mosquitoes, ticks, and fire ant repellent!
The delicate Tiger Swallowtail butterfly is missing part of a wing, but she knows how to make do. I admire her spirit!
To help pay the debt from the Revolutionary War, a whiskey tax was enforced, and later the Prohibition movement, became factors in the making of moonshine in secluded places such as the Dismal Swamp.
This beautiful family hosted my hike!
Love them!
See the world around you!
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