Last Friday we did school in the morning and then had lunch. After lunch the family all loaded up and headed off to Brownville, Nebraska. This wasn’t quite as far a drive as last time and we were able to get in fairly early. There weren’t a whole lot of people there when we arrived. We got ourselves registered and were given a map marking where we were supposed to set up. Brownville is on the Missouri River and is quite a hilly town so they had to split up all the camps throughout the town. Mom, Emma, Katie, and I were camped down by a used and old bookstore just south of main street. We were the first ones there so we got to pick the best spot to set up our tent. We got it all set up and then headed off to set up dad’s camp. Dad was camped about a mile away up a very steep hill. Mom told him that we probably wouldn’t visit him in his camp. We got Dad all set up and then headed out to find somewhere to get dinner. Once again we ended up at a Subway. Emma, Katie and I all split a foot-long ham sandwich and a bag of Cheetos. After dinner it was back to camp where we got our bed set up and everything all organized. Dad got changed and headed up the hill to his camp while started getting ready for bed. We decided to stop by the bookstore before bed to use their restrooms as they had something going on there and were still open. When we got inside they had all kinds of food and a man playing music on a guitar. We sat for a little while and listened. Katie had a hard time sitting still and not getting up to dance. We enjoyed listening for a while then headed back to get a good nights rest. Unfortunately, we had gotten quite a few mosquitoes in our tent so Mom ended up battling them before finally turning in to bed. Once the war was over I was able to sleep without being woke up by buzzing mosquitoes.
Early Saturday morning I awakened to the sound of soldiers drilling. Mom said I could get up and get dressed, which I did. Katie was the next to awaken. She and I got dressed but didn’t make it out until they were done drilling. We sat outside our tent and had breakfast while Emma got dressed. After we were all ready we headed over to meet our neighbors. We were actually camped by a Confederate military camp but they had several ladies who were set up there and they had a boy who was my age. After saying hello we headed up to Main Street to check out the town. The night before when we were driving into town we had seen a dog in a wheel (kind of looked like a large version of a hamster wheel) and so we were quite excited about getting to check it out. On Main Street we were able to watch the dog running in the wheel. Mom showed us how the wheel had ropes running around it over to other ropes and pulleys and it was set up to spin the man’s grindstone. We watched that for a while and then decided to head off to the sounds of fighting. We headed back south of town over a bridge and just half a block to our left we saw Dad and the rest of the Confederates in the middle of a fight with the Yankees. As we stood and watched they retreated right past us and set up a new line of fire. We decided to back up a little out of the way and watched the fight for a little while. As they started to move on we decided to head back to our camp. There we visited with our neighbors and I played with the boy. He had a wooden train and we had a good time making tracks and rivers in the grass and playing. Dad joined us a short time after the battle through town ended and we had lunch together. Emma and I went back to playing but Katie decided to rest a while. I think she was kind of tired.
Here’s a picture of Emma and I outside our tent taken that afternoon
And as you can see from this next picture we have quite a bit more room now that we have a wall tent.
Playing outside the tent
Dad stopped by again after the main battle on his way back to camp and told us how the battle had gone. We had decided not to walk down to watch it as we weren’t sure how far away it was and there were so many hills in town. Instead we enjoyed visiting and playing. He also came back after dinner and we all walked up to Main Street where they had a little street concert going. We looked around in a small type of museum they had showing some old carriages and other old tools. Then we listened to the music for a while before headed back to our tent. This time we were much more cautious and didn’t let any mosquitoes in our tent. Mom was careful to keep the lantern down low so as not to attract any bugs while we got our bed set up. Thanks to our cautiousness everyone slept very well without any buzzing or annoying bugs. We slept in a little on Sunday and once again Katie and I were the first ones dressed and out for the day. I pulled out our groundcloth outside the tent and Katie and I went out to eat breakfast and watch a few of the neighboring Confederates drill. For some reason Katie must not have been listening to the Drill Sergeant’s commands because he was very clear when he said “Ready, Aim, Fire!” but it apparently didn’t phase Katie. She started screaming and ran into the tent to Mom with strawberry jam from her granola bar all over her face and chest. It made quite the amusing picture. Unfortunately we didn’t catch that one with the camera. They apologized for making her cry and Katie decided to spend the rest of their drill time with Mom. After breakfast we went next door for church call. Then we headed up to town because Dad told us they were going to have an execution since they had a court martial and he had lost his case as the defense attorney. We missed the execution but we saw the guy afterward. They had a sign around his neck that said “deserter”. After that we went and watched the dog for a while then headed back to our camp for lunch. Here’s a picture of Emma and I on our way back to camp.
Once back we had our usual fare of chicken and rolls for lunch. As you can see that is still Katie’s favorite part of reenacting.
Raiding Mom's plate while she takes a photo
After lunch Emma and I were quite taken with the creatures we and the boy had found. We enjoyed putting a fuzzy caterpillar on the train and watching him. We also found a snail and put him on a box so we could watch him when he came out. Much like a watched pot never boils so a watched snail rarely comes out of his shell. Here we are waiting and watching.
Katie on the other hand was content to play with her doll.
Once Dad got back from the battle we got all our stuff packed up and ready to go. But in case you are wondering since Mom is never in any pictures yes she does dress up. Here’s one Dad snapped of us in front of our tent before taking it down.
After loading up we hit happy hour at Sonic and were back on the road again after another successful and enjoyable reenactment. I must say though, as fun as we have it is always nice to be home again (and at least for some of us to get to take showers and baths again…).
