Field Trip: George Washington, Part 2

Yesterday, we finished school early and completed the second leg of our George Washington field trip by heading over to Jockey Hollow with my parents. 

Inside the Visitor's Center, we shook hands with a [handless?] colonial soldier, then the kids tried on some authentic tattered clothing for themselves. 

Brrrrrr, it's COLD in these rags in the knee-deep snow!

Sam leading the army. Onward!

I loved the gardens at the Wick house, maintained by the Herb Society of America's New Jersey Chapter. It was such a beautiful - albeit COLD - fall day.

Good thing they closed up the well!

 

The smoke house.

Anybody know what kind of fun and funky mushrooms these are on the tree stump? 

The four reproduction soldier cabins near the Pennsylvania Brigade encampment were super cool.

Each one was meant to house 12 soldiers in four sets of three-story bunks running along three of the four inner walls. The chimney was on the fourth wall. 

(Her teeth are growing in quick!)

(Sweet boy)

All they could fit inside the cabins besides bunks was this little "table and chairs."

I asked the kids what happened to this cabin - Jacob said it "got fired" and Sam said it was a fireplace. Hah!

The officer's cabin was farther up the hill and separated in half, housing just two men on each side, each with its own fireplace. How posh. 

There was much hill rolling. 

And hill climbing. 

And fence climbing. 

Once the Wicke house finally opened, we were able to see how the higher-ranking officers lived, as compared with General Washington (in a veritable mansion 5 miles away at the Ford house), and the soldiers (either in the freezing cold snow or in the slightly-less freezing log cabins). 

(Good thing Jacob was available to hold up this fallen tree!)

I'm glad we were able to spend the time fully exploring George Washington's northern Jersey stomping grounds. I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to full embrace the field trips - I'm finally feeling some relief from the stress of teaching two grades at once for the first time, and the stress of "getting it all done."

Next trip: the Liberty Bell and Ben Franklin museum. Philly, here we come!

Jump back to Part 1