Valley Forge

Yesterday I visited Valley Forge National Park. It's about half an hour northwest of Philadelphia. It was a really beautiful day, and I'm very glad I went. It is a HUGE park including more than ten miles of sites. The lady at the Welcome Center told me that a lot of people walk it, and I started laughing before I realized she was serious. Needless to say, I did not walk it. I would have passed out halfway through. The park is car friendly though, so it was ok.

For those of you rusty on American history (like I was), Valley Forge is the place the Continental Army under George Washington passed the winter from 1777-1778 during the American Revolution. At the time, the national base of power was Philadelphia, but the British had captured the city so the Continental Army needed to stay as close to the enemy as possible. Valley Forge provided a location far away enough that they were safe from daily skirmishes, but close enough that they could keep an eye on the enemy. It was a hard winter, and lots of men died from disease and exposure to the elements while at Valley Forge. Those that survived were much better prepared for the battles to come, as they used that winter to train the troops. *end of history lesson*

While visiting the assorted sites I ran into several groups of people. They were mostly older. My favorites were some very nice retirees from Tennessee. The two men (who were there with their wives) were WWII veterans and reminded me a lot of Granddaddy. They were very friendly and talked to me a lot. One of the men told me about masonic symbols at the statue next to the Memorial Arch (the statue and Arch were both sponsored by Masons in honor of George Washington...who was Grand Master of his Masonic Lodge while he served as the first U.S. President).

My favorite part of the park was the Washington Memorial Chapel. It was really lovely.

Unfortunately my camera batteries died just as I reached the park, so I had to use a knockoff disposable camera from the gift shop for my pictures. I had the pictures put on a picture disk when I got them developed today but they are of very low resolution/quality. Ergo, these pictures do NOT do the park justice.

The whole experience, minus the camera issues, made me feel patriotic.

The inside of the arch had the following passage:

And here
in this place
of sacrifice
in this vale of humiliation
in this valley of the shadow
of that death out of which
the life of America rose
regenerate and free
let us believe
with an abiding Faith
that to them
Union will seem as dear
and liberty as sweet
and progress as glorious
as they were to our fathers
and are to you and me
and that the institutions
which have made us happy
preserved by the
virtue of our children
shall bless
the remotest generation
of the time to come.
Henry Armitt Brown

Here are pictures:



*Memorial Arch*
Inscription Reads:
Naked and Starving As They Are
We Cannot Enough Admire
The Incomparable Patience and Fidelity
of the Soldiery
-Washington at Valley Forge
February 16, 1778



Inscription Reads:
In Memory of Unknown Soldiers
Buried at Valley Forge
1777 - 1778
Erected by Valley Forge Chapter
Daughters of the American Revolution 1911



Huts that Soldiers Used
(In black and white because the color and resolution of some of these sucked so much that I turned them black and white using Picasa so they would look less terrible).

The rest of the crappy pictures are here.