V4N6B

We had an interesting experience while we were visiting my brother and his wife. We attended a WIT (Winnebago/Itasca Travelers) Rally in Boyd's, MD. The Rally was held at Haba's Homestead and well attended by some 20+ rigs. We had hoped that my sister would also attend, but her husband was in India on business.

The theme of the Rally was "Hillbilly Style" and we were met on arrival by Joe and Sandy Haba, the hosts for the weekend, dressed in their finery. Sandy, with her sense of humor fully intact, appeared with a set of teeth inserted, that would draw pity from even the most hard of heart. Adding to the illusion was my brother's whispered comment, "I forgot to tell you, don't stare." Sharon caught on to the joke immediately. I, on the other hand, didn't fully comprehend until I saw her attempting to drink out of a glass, with the teeth still in, sometime later.

The weekends activities were based on the feud between the Hatfields and McCoys. 2 Teams were selected and the games (challenges) were scored accordingly. Several of the games were very original and the group had a ball "feudin" for two days. The "Hatfields" went to bed on Saturday night content with a hard fought loss, and awoke Sunday morning with a magnificent victory. Tom and Sharon (both McCoys) claimed the fix was in, While Nancy and I (both Hatfields) just smiled smugly. It's GOOD to win!

A visit to Booker T. Washington National Monument was the closing of a circle begun when we visited Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. The National Monument is located in Hardy, Va and was where Washington was born into slavery and lived until the age of 9. At that point he moved, with his family, to live in West Virginia with his stepfather.

The buildings at the site are not original and some have been rebuilt in the wrong places. The Park brochure does give the correct locations of where the buildings were once located. The present locations do, however, give you a clear overall view of the farm and its environs.

While in West Virginia he attended College at Hampton College and from there he received the appointment to work at Tuskegee Institute.

The interpretive movie in the Visitor's Center is a very good one, and tells the entire story of his life.

We visited a pair of battlefields this month on our way south. Both of these battlefields were from the Revolutionary War and the skirmishes lasted 1 hour and 28 days respectively.

The first was Guilford Courthouse National Military Park located in Greenesboro, NC. Because Guilford was a Revolutionary War Battlefield, the buildings which no longer exist, have been replaced by monuments in most of the park. The park has a Driving Tour which can be taken by visitors to view the monuments which are sitting on the spots that record the special events of the battle.

One statue of General Nathanael Greene is by far the largest and most impressive in the park. Even though he lost the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, the statue is one that depicts him as the winner in the fight. The Continentals did, however, cost the British army substantial losses in manpower which hurried the future surrender at Yorktown.

The second Battlefield was Ninety-Six National Historic Site located in Ninety-Six, SC. Ninety-Six was an earthen Star Fort that was defended by Loyalists against the Patriots. Loyalists were those persons who held allegiance to the British Crown. After 28 days the assault on the Fort finally failed and the troops retreated. But the loyalist strength had been diminished which forced them to give up the fort at a later date. It was never reoccupied after the siege and the fort and the town were abandoned. Later the town was renamed Cambridge, but it never did regain its prominence again.

An interesting aside to the story was a name we discovered who participated in the battle. Lt. Col. Thaddeus Kosciuszko. We had previously visited the smallest National Park in the system, in Philadelphia, named after him.

One of the things that we did this month bears repeating. We took a day and did some sightseeing in Washington, D.C. With Jessica and Mike while they were here for the wedding. We found a perfect parking place and walked past the Washington Monument, through the Ellipse and National Mall, to the Lincloln, Korean War and VietNam Memorials. They wouldn't let us drive through Arlington Cemetery so our last stop was the Jefferson Memorial as we headed out of town. It was a fun day for us.