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| OAFS Photo |
The view from our Airbnb looking north. The place is three and a half miles west by south of downtown Gettysburg. Place was just refurbished, the outside wasn't that pretty, but the inside was very nice. You can see hay on the ground in the foreground where new grass seed has been put down. The front had the same. It's a work in progress but very comfortable and very convenient to the battlefield.
The Airbnb was the kids' idea, after all, staying in a hotel/motel with two very active young boys would have been a "treat" for the other guests. This way, they can scream and carry on to their hearts content. Save the parental units stepping in to provide riot control.
It was a nice mini-vacation and just the thing for me - not too far away, grandkids present, and a trip to a battlefield. Fun for me, I dunno about The Missus Herself, for a non-historian I think she's had her fill of battlefields.
I'm still recovering from the drive, seems the older I get the less my body likes sitting in one place for eight hours at a time and having to remain ever alert for the idiots in this country who somehow manage to obtain a driver's license.
I sure hope some of you noticed Dakota Viking's historical fiction snippets in the comments of the past couple of posts. He's got a right knack for setting the scene and putting you in the midst of the action. Seeing as how the action was on the banks of the Little Big Horn, it was a bit scary as well.
DV - I want more!
That's all for today, my butt is plumb tuckered out. Maybe I'll rewatch The Killer Angels, I still need to find my well-worn copy of the book.
Be seeing you.
Second on DV's fiction!
ReplyDeleteFor longer stays, I think I prefer Air BNBs (or other such alternatives) above hotels. We have now done them in Iceland, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and San Diego. The price is not that much more than a hotel and it feels a little more like a vacation from a home than a "vacation in a hotel".
They are better, no need to deal with other guests us the big thing.
DeleteThank you TB!
DeleteAnd TB is a writer as well.
DeleteSounds like a fun little trip! Perhaps exhausting but worth the effort!
ReplyDeleteIt was definitely worth it!
DeleteHey Sarge, those drivers clearly forget everything they learned. Or they just don't care. The lack of fundamental driving skills seems to be a growing pandemic. By the way, I have been reading the blog everyday, but I am still unable to come in from my work computer and I forget to use my phone later to make any snide comments. That's probably a good thing!
ReplyDeleteThat was supposed to say comment from my work computer.
DeleteTuna #1 - I don't know what those drivers learned, if anything, but yes, it's getting worse.
DeleteTuna #2 - It's possible your work computer has software which won't let you comment. It's a thing.
DeleteThank you for your kind words, they mean alot considering how long I've "known" you. I don't always have something to say, and I promise not to get "wordy". I have another bubbling up, we'll see today or tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteRoger that.
DeleteNot to steal any thunder, but I've been inspired by your recent trip.
ReplyDeleteThey'd marched all night to catch up with Lee. Johnny's left shoe was coming apart, sole slapping the dirt.
(just realized I could take that opening line to both sides, two different stories) Hmmmmn.
Tired, one foot in front of the other, infantry... marchers. slap, step, slap. Shade of trees up front, call to halt, hungry, a bit of dry hardtack and a gulp of warm water. Hot air, puffing through the trees, gunsmoke, death, fear and bodies, all smelling, like all the other battles he'd seen. The artillery was busy now, ahead and to the right, some men flinching with each shot, clouds of smoke rolling out as the brass barrels rang like bells. Rippling, buzzing,moaning shot started bouncing into the trees from across the field. Group of officers just ahead, talking heatedly. When they dismiss, a Seargent yells "Form up! Dress Right!
Damn, Johnny grabs a length of twine from one of the ration packages and hurriedly ties it around his left toes, should hold till tonight he thought. "Advance!" a bunch of instruments started playing somewhere. They stepped off, out of the trees, forming up with other lines of Butternut and Grey. "Straighten those lines Boys!". That was a long stretch of open ground, a line of new smoke rolls down the opposite line. Round shot bounds through them, exploding shells make holes. "Tighten it up boys!" They were just more than half way across that damned field when they ran into the split-rail fence line. Some started to climb over or through the rails when the stone wall erupted with rifle fire... the whole army seemed to groan, slaps of lead hitting bodies, screams, return fire. Can't see a thing through the smoke... pouch, cartridge, bite the paper (never liked the taste), pour, press, ram home. "Tear it down Boys!" last words of his uncle, before BOOM! no one was there anymore. Driving his rifle butt into the rail joints freed some up and with many hands and shoulders, the fence was down, "Forward!, Follow me boys!" he heard. Pushing on, bullets whizzing so close so loud. Johnny finally puts a fresh cap on his rifle, pauses to fire, thud and smoke. The man next to him goes down, was from the next town over, had a cute sister. Step on, find the guy to the right, form. A blast rips out from in front, so close. Men seem to explode. He's down, confused, body trembling , head ringing, wet... not his blood. Johnny pulls himself to his feet, pouch, cartridge, bite, spit, pour.
Then... nothing.
Nothing.
I swear I saw that fence at Antietam.
DeleteDamned good stuff.
Could be a number of places, for the vagueness of it (intentional to not clash with history). Those fences are an icon to those battlefields, and they sure add to the "Feel" of the places. I'm hoping you picked up Pickett's charge vibes from this.
DeleteAbsolutely. I looked out over that field, long way to go.
DeleteWorking out another story from the other side, need to look at a couple details, I'm vague for historical reasons , but, it is history, gotta get close. William... (Billy) yank is next.
DeleteBilly Yank and Johnny Reb, adversaries during the war, remembered with honor.
DeleteGet this author a writing platform!
DeleteSeriously DV, great stuff.
He's most welcome here.
DeleteSarge, for some lighter reading (if you don't already have it) "A Civil War Treasury of Tales Legends and Folklore" by B.A. Botkin. Each entry is short, and if some stories are not true, they should be.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds familiar.
Delete