This past week Caroline and I have been fairly consumed with preparing for our Geology Day for American Heritage Girls. This year we were joined by several families from the two Knoxville troops, also. It's exciting to be able to have troops now to do events with here! (Background: our troop was the first in Tennessee five years ago; now there are about 8 including our two sister troops in Knoxville.)

Our day started with a tour of a little known cave in this area, Cherokee Caverns. Once a popular tourist attraction, the caves were heavily vandalized in the 1980s and are only open a few times a year and for special groups tours now. Pretty much no one in our whole group of 60 people had ever heard of Cherokee Caverns, so this was a great discovery (or rather a tip passed on from one of our moms).

It was pure bliss to step out of the hot sun and into the coolness of the cave. And after 2 hours in the cave, we were all rather chilly and happy to come out into the sunshine. For about 4 minutes. The next 2 hours--after lunch--we spent working on the geology badge in the mid-day sun. We were all melting (and so were the Snickers bars that we brought to demonstrate the core of the Earth and plate tectonics). But we all had a great time anyway. I did come home and collapse for awhile, appreciating the luxury of air conditioning.

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We're home! We've spent the past few days on a long-awaited trip to the Virginia historic triangle of Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown. We wanted to do this trip this year, as all three kids have been studying American History. This is one of those times when book-learning history meets hands-on history full force, and I am so thankful that we were able to make this trip as the culmination of our year!

Neither Dr. H. nor I had been to Williamsburg since were were 10 or 12, so we had very little memory of the town. Because we wanted to stick within our travel budget, we decided to do Williamsburg in just one day and Jamestown and Yorktown both on another day. Seems like most people I talked to beforehand spent at least a couple of days in Williamsburg, but we just didn't have the extra funds and decided we could still do it in one day.

We were right. For our kids, Williamsburg was not the highlight of the triangle. At 7 and 10, our youngest two are just too young to appreciate the historical magnitude of walking on the same streets as our founding fathers--and that's really what makes Williamsburg so special in my view. The best part of Williamsburg was the Revolutionary City reenactment, which takes place each day between 3 and 5 p.m. For two hours, you become a citizen of Williamsburg from 1775-1781 and witness various events: the reading of the Declaration of Independence, the British takeover of Williamsburg, and several other dramas played out by Williamsburg actors.

Jesse, Randy and I loved visiting the buildings and listening to each re-enactor talk about what went on  there, but this got old quickly for Duncan and Laurel. They really just wanted to know if I had any candy in my bag. For those two, Williamsburg was too much show-and-tell and not enough hands-on. Still, I'm very glad we went. Again, the Revolutionary City part was fantastic. Williamsburg tickets vary, and of course the price goes down per day the longer you stay. For us, we paid around $36/adults and $18/kids, but you can get slightly cheaper tickets than that online.


The next day we visited Jamestown for most of the day and finished our tour with Yorktown. Jamestown was hands-down our family's favorite. If we were to do this trip again, we'd spend a whole day at Jamestown and another whole day in Yorktown. Jamestown was absolutely packed with hands-on activities. First of all, the galleries inside are awesome, displaying artifacts and information from where English, African, and Powhatan Indian cultures meet. There is a 25-minute film that chronicles the convergence of cultures in Virginia, and we all loved it. Duncan could easily have watched it again.

Outside there is a re-created Powhaten Indian village that is loaded with things to touch and do. The guides encourage kids to lie on the furs, grind corn, scrape animal hide, shake gourds, etc. We could have spent an hour here, except that we managed to pick a day when about a dozen large school groups were also there, so we moved on to the ships. These are replicas of the colonial ships the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery. You can climb onto and around each ship, squeeze into a sailor's bunk, try steering, etc. Each ship has a couple of guides to explain the various parts of the ship and other details.

From there, we headed to the James Fort, which is a recreation of the 1610-14 fort, home to Jamestown's earliest colonists. Again, there were countless hands-on activities and great talks by the re-eanactors. In all, Jamestown was absolutely fantastic. I don't think Duncan or Laurel ever asked for candy or snacks; they were totally enthralled with all the activities and stuff to see.

We drove about 20 minutes to get to Yorktown when we finished in Jamestown, and we only had about two hours to spend in Yorktown before it closed. We could have used another hour or more, as we rushed through the last part and didn't even get to watch the film. Like Jamestown, Yorktown was full of hands-on activities, from hornbook practice to tobacco planting. We spent a lot of time at the Continental Army encampment. The guides told tales of meager rations and demonstrated a musket drill and cannon firing, among other things. We spent so long at the encampment that we only had a short time to visit the 1780s farm. Laurel especially enjoyed this, as she planted tobacco, swept out the house, and shelled peas. Jesse and Duncan preferred to chase the turkey.

You can get a combination ticket for Jamestown and Yorktown and even use them on different days if you want. The combo tickets are $19.95/adults and $9.25 kids 6-12 (under 6 is free for Williamsburg, too).

The town of Yorktown is definitely worth a visit, too. We spent at least an hour just hanging out on the beach of the York River. We had planned to have dinner at one of the riverfront restaurants there, but Duncan and Laurel couldn't resist getting soaking wet. And, of course, we didn't have extra clothes with us. That was a lovely way to end our trip, though--relaxing on the sand by the pier, watching the big boats come in.

All in all, this was a fantastic field trip. Our trip to Disney  last year was, admittedly, a whole lot more fun, (although certainly this one was more educational!) but not every year can be a Disney year here in SmallWorld.

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Today we were privileged to hear the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra perform its Young People's Concert, "Made in America." Each year the KSO performs two sets of educational concerts with a goal of introducing kids to classical music. The music is often familiar and always has a theme. The conductor explains and elaborates upon each piece, and the whole experience is enhanced with soloists, dancing, and audience participation. It is a wonderful experience, and today's show was sold out.

I am thrilled that the KSO has this introduction to classical music as part of its vision. To think that thousands of kids each year are being exposed in this way to the beauty of symphony thrills me. I grew up in a home that valued classical music. My mother had an extensive album collection and enrolled us in piano lessons at early ages (I was four). She often had music playing while she sewed or went about her day: Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Beethoven. But best of all, we had season tickets to the Smith Opera House, which usually featured either the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) or the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra.

That is one of my loveliest childhood memories. We would get quite dressed up to go to the symphony, and my mother would always wear one of her fur coats and my father would wear a tie. I believe this is the only time she wore a fur coat, and my father didn't wear ties too terribly often. Our seats were always in the balcony. The Smith Opera House (then the Geneva Theatre) is a gorgeous old theatre, one of the oldest operating in the U.S. The ceiling is blue velvet covered in twinkling stars. The seats were red plush  and perfectly musty smelling. And in my mother's pockets were lemon drops. Like the fur coat, my mother seemed only to have lemon drops at the symphony.

And so the music would begin. It was all very exciting, and it was also way past my bedtime. Inevitably, I would end up curled in the aisle, asleep on my mother's fur coat. Let me tell you, there is absolutely nothing like falling asleep on a bed of fur to the sound of violins under a velvet blue, twinkling sky. One cannot possibly have a more delicious introduction to orchestra than this.

In my teens, the symphony became an outdoor event. Our local community college had a wonderful outdoor amphitheater, which was the summer home of the RPO.  I spent many memorable nights on the lawn of Finger Lakes Community College with picnics, blankets, and friends, soaking in the RPO. The 1812 Overture with fireworks on Independence Day rivals the fur coat and velvet sky.

I have carried the love of the symphony with me into adulthood, but it has been a quiet love. Alas, symphony tickets are expensive. But every year when the KSO Young People's Concert rolls around, I am determined that I will take each of the children to one symphony performance each year.

Somebody remind me, OK? It's a precious memory to have.

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Ft. Loudoun State HIstoric Area is at the site one of the earliest British fortifications on the western frontier, built in 1756 during the French and Indian War. Each September, the fort becomes the site of an 18th-Century Trade Faire. We've been wanting to go to this for years but something always seems to interfere. Randy and Jesse went rafting with the Boy Scouts, so Duncan, Laurel and I seized the day.

Here's a view of one part of the fort. During the Trade Faire weekend, hundreds of reenactors, tradesmen, and entertainers gather to recreate a colonial trade faire. Each building in the garrison is open and reenactors explain what would have been there. We especially enjoyed the infirmary--something about that amputation saw was chilling. The battle reenactment was great fun. As our friend and reenactor Chris explained, "We (the Blue guys) lose today, but tomorrow the Red Coats lose."

Notice the plethora of dead Blue guys and the victorious Red Coat. After the battle we headed over to the magic show. Laurel and Duncan both got to help the magician with some of his tricks:


What an awesome afternoon! Those guys had to be boiling up in their outfits on this 95 degree day, but they sure made it look like fun. Chris was a fabulous tour guide. It's good to have friends in high places. Here is Laurel with Bess, in her outfit. How adorable is she in her finery?

(That's Duncan and Janice behind them in the infirmary, learning all the gory details of tooth-pulling.) And below are the tents in which the reenactors sleep during the weekend. Makes me happy for my bed tonight. But still, it looks like fun.

Ft. Loudoun is about 30 minutes south of Knoxville in Vonore on Highway 411. Right across the road from Ft. Loudoun is the equally interesting Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, which is a fabulous museum of the history of the  Cherokee in Eastern Tennessee and of the writing system developed by Sequoyah. Both the museums are open every day for a small admission fee. Ft. Loudoun has several upcoming living history and garrison weekends, which are listed on the website.

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Yesterday we visited The Children's Museum of Oak Ridge. One of the great things about this museum is that they have a Traveling Trunk program. For just a $25 refundable deposit, you can borrow a trunk that contains various items pertaining to a certain topic, including Men, Women, and Children of Appalachia; Insects; Africa; Rainforest; Early Oak Ridge; and several more. (To check out a trunk, contact the Museum’s Education Director, Joyce Gralak (865) 482-1074 Ex. 106.) We had borrowed the Native American trunk for American Heritage Girls camp, and I needed to return that to the museum. It's been a couple of years since we last visited the museum, so Duncan and Laurel were excited for a chance to go.

From the outside, the museum doesn't look like much. The building is plain and in off-the-beaten-path location in  Oak Ridge. But the inside of the museum contains room after room of hands-on activities (and a few hands-off displays).

Besides the castle, this room contains a rocketship play area and a few other things. Duncan and Laurel had a great game of Rapunzel here. I should mention, too, that there are no other people in these pictures because there were only 2-3 other families in the whole museum. I had a similar experience the other two times we were there, which leads me to conclude the this museum is not well known. But we love having museums all to ourselves!

 

This little room is called "Grandma's Attic." It's filled with dress-up clothes and other items that my mother would say in wonder, "THIS is an antique?"

I am fascinated with the strange history of Oak Ridge, the Secret City, so I loved this room full of Ed Westcott photographs that portray life in Oak Ridge during the 1940s and 50s.

Duncan and Laurel are much more interested, however, in the WaterWorks room, which demonstrates the lock system on the Tennessee River. This is Duncan's favorite room.

Not surprisingly, Laurel's favorite room contains a 2-story dollhouse that is just the right size for kids. Since hardly anyone else was in the whole museum, the kids had the dollhouse all to themselves for quite a long time.

Other exhibits include the rainforest room, a model train exhibit and train play area, a bird room, nature hallway, and several displays of life in our area in various time periods and Native American Life. While the museum is certainly not on the scale of the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, it is a great place to explore for a few hours for kids up to age 12. Cost is $6/adults and $4/kids 3 and up, or you can go in a group of 10 or more for just $3/each.

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