OK, maybe blame me, but it's actually the fault of my subconscious, or whatever, considering I woke up singing it this morning after hearing it in my dreams.
Putting aside songs and dreams, and the fact that Fort Macon isn't completely surrounded by sea, my last post was a brief note and picture of me letting you all know I was still up and kickin' and that I had visited Fort Macon in North Carolina (and loved it).
I have just a few more pictures to share with you all since I didn't have time to post them with my last picture. I was being rushed because we were actually getting ready to visit a yummy Greek restaurant that would have literally knocked my socks off if I ever had the pleasure of wearing socks. Gyros are one of my favorite foods, and I used to look forward to eating them almost every weekend up at Asheville. Since I'm no longer located there, it was nice being able to dive into one again--not only was it delicious, but it reminded me a little of college again.
Now, even though we were really hungry (the gyros came after the Fort Macon invasion), that didn't stop my family and me from taking a little time out of our day to enjoy the history that Fort Macon brings the public for free.
Visiting a restored Civil War fort was pretty amazing, in my eyes. You were able to see things like real soldiers' letters, their daily rations, weapons, etc. In a couple pictures below, you'll see uniforms as well as recovered drink and alcohol bottles. The fort also served as a prison during the Spanish-American War, and it was used again during World War II.
The first thing you notice about the fort (it's pretty hard not to notice) are the massive cannons set around the entrance when you first walk in, around the base of the fort, and of course, all around the top.
I had to snap a pretty quick photo here because about twenty children were about to climb all over this sucker.
Like I just mentioned, the uniforms were AWESOME to see. There were little glass room set-ups with mannequins that I wasn't able to take a picture of because of too much glare, but you could press a button and an entire story would be told about the uniforms and why they wore which one, and so on.
The weapons, of course, were neat to see. The gun display had some mega glare going on so I couldn't get a good picture of that one either. What amazed me was seeing the artillery shells. Some of them weighed 10 pounds--some of them even weighed 30 pounds! Phew. It was insane.
One thing that really captivated me was this background image of men laughing and carrying on, drinking alcohol. I can't remember which war this was a part of, but I'm guessing it must have been WWII. There were old alcohol and drink bottles collected from the war which I always think of as being priceless.
Finally, after checking out all the rooms the fort had to offer, we climbed some steps (or, as my mom likes to say, worked on the Stairmaster) and truly had ourselves had a view. My brother was more daring and climbed on top of the TOP of the fort. There was a bit of a breeze, so I was a little weary of doing so myself. I didn't want to fall off the other side!
Looking down, I felt an immediate thought of, "Wow! How beautiful." But then a breeze hit me and that thought was followed with, "Wow! These soldiers must have hated winter up here!"
I'm so glad I was able to visit Fort Macon with my family and share the experience with you guys. Although, I don't think pictures can really even grasp how intimidating the place is once you really strive to put yourself in a soldier's shoes at the fort.
Did you visit anywhere special over the holidays?
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