Valley Forge

So a few weeks ago I went to Pennsylvania. I went to Valle Forge on Friday and then Philadelphia on Saturday. It was thrilling and rainy and I even dislocated my shoulder!

The party started when I saw the (quaint? creepy? still-has-a-working-dumbwaiter-full-of-spiders weird?) housing.

Why yes, I did sleep in an L-shaped closet...

During the "exploration period," I found the dumbwaiter and someone found the drop-down ladder to the attic. You can bet that I jumped on that boat and went up to explore!

Unfortunately there was nothing up there but old mattresses and spiders...

The buildings were great. They looked old and smelled old, the paint looked like it was at least 20 years old (and especially thick on the window panes), it was surrounded by wooded areas and open fields, and it really felt like we were miles and miles away from civilization. Perfect for a weekend getaway.

The best part of the housing (besides the working dumbwaiter) was the wall decor. Have you ever seen such creepy paintings? They had all the presidents and their wives. Unfortunately I only snapped a few shots, but my friend saw some of the paintings and said that if she was one of them, she would come back and haunt the place until they took down the horrible painting!

Can you guess who they are?

This is a random old tractor...but painted red, white, and blue!

I don't think I really understand (or know) the history of the place, but it has this lovely wooded area with a WWII memorial (even though it is at Valley Forge...) for each of the 50 states.

There is a nice little path that winds through the woods, where the memorials are placed.

It was raining pretty heavily when we got there (they said it had been raining for 12 days!) so the woods were nice and green (and flooded!).

Like everything else, I don't know they reason for all of the birdhouses painted different colors hanging everywhere...

Here is part of the WWII memorial for Utah. They honored fallen soldiers as well as the people who donated money to make the memorials. Like I said, I don't really know why they have this, but it was cool.

There were these cute benches and a small stage set in the back of the wooded area. I was delighted to have stumbled upon this...because doesn't the red and green look so good together in the rain?

In case any of you have forgotten what I look like...

In the afternoon we went on a "tour" of Valley Forge. Our tour guide was spectacular. He even dressed the part. He was like a wellspring of information about what happened at Valley Forge, and he wasn't afraid to hop up and down with excitement about it.

On a hill overlooking the far-off area where the British camped

It was pouring rain, which only added to the excitement.

Too cool for umbrellas, we're just going to stand under the tree and pray we don't get hit by lightning...

We saw the cabins (replicas) that the men lived in during that long, long winter. 12 men slept in one of these! And what is even more horrifying: leaving the cabin to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night when it is 20 degrees and the ground is covered with ice was not always an option the men wanted to take. I won't tell you what they did as an alternative, but lots of death-by-disease in the camps came because of unsanitary conditions.

Inside the cabin. 12 bunks (6 are gone), concentration-camp style, a fireplace, and a center area.

We didn't get the "real" Valley Forge experience because the ground wasn't covered with snow, but it sure was beautiful!

The stove where they cooked most of the bread (according to Wikipedia, about 1 pound/man/day)

My professor and the tour guide

Washington lived in a house a few miles away from the main encampment. 

I don't know if this bench was part of the original decor, but it sure made for some great pictures!

Our tour guide explaining the flag outside Washington's house

They have "room reproductions" inside of Washington's house. The dining room, front room, office, bedrooms--all are roped off and set up to look like they might have during Washington's day.

"My hat, it has three corners..."

It finally stopped raining and the sun came out just in time for me to snap this beautiful picture.

 Our final stop before we headed home (to the Freedom Foundation lodges) was this delightful church with beautiful windows depicting scenes of Valley Forge and American independence. Unfortunately they were having a wedding practice (which is something I've never understood. If you have to rehearse your wedding isn't it getting too complicated? How hard is it to say "I do?" Are they afraid you will forget what to say--or worse, run away, runaway-bride style?) so we couldn't go inside the chapel. The windows outside, though, were almost as good!

I think the church looks almost like a fort...

These delightful little archways made it obvious why people would want to have their weddings here! 

And what old church is complete without a graveyard?

 After we got home (and after I dislocated my shoulder--story to follow!) the real festivities began. We ate dinner and then Abigail Adams herself came and visited us. She spoke to us for about an hour and then opened it up for question and answer--which was the most impressive part, in my opinion! She answered questions about her views on the role of women in society, how she felt about her husband's role in government, and how it was to be the wife of a president, all in character. She was great.

 Freedom Foundation (the place we stayed) even has a non-denominational chapel. The hymnbooks inside have Catholic, Protestant, and even Jewish songs of worship so that all can use it.

I also started to discover how awesome night pictures could look when I messed around with my ISO! Success!