Today reminded me a lot of last year when we went to Lexington and Concord- it was like you were literally walking in the footsteps of the British and Continentals. Walking through the park you could practically picture what it was like in the winter of 1777/1778 as the soldiers wintered there. Everything was so peaceful there today, but you know that wasn’t what it was like. I couldn’t even imagine making it through a day during that time, let alone a whole winter! I also really enjoyed being able to see George Washington’s headquarters- can you believe all the planning and organizing that must have occurred there; if only those walls could talk! I can picture Washington peering out his window and contemplating what he was going to do next. Wow!!
One thing that also amazes me are the ages of the men (or boys) that were at the camp and just fighting in the Revolutionary War in general. Some of them would have been the age of the students that I teach, and to me they still seem like kids- how could they have possibly gone through such a life-altering event at such a young age.
The day couldn’t have ended any better- taking history teachers into a “vault” filled with actual artifacts from Valley Forge- and the best thing was they actually let us take pictures!
Can the trip to Princeton top this?? Probably, because I must admit I am pretty excited to see another Ivy League school.
