When we were young and frugal by necessity, our vacations usually included a heavy dose to visiting National Parks where there was good cheap entertainment. Our girls coined these, ‘Brown Sign Vacations’.
Well, we are no longer young but we do enjoy Brown Signs. We found a great one at The Casement Museum at Fort Henry in Hampton, Virginia. This is a photo of the lighthouse that stands outside the walls of the fort. The fort was first built in 1609 and was decommissioned as a fortification in the 1970’s.
Notice in the view below that the fort is surrounded by a moat. The green area in the center is the parade ground. This is surrounded by administrative building and soldier housing. Since decommissioning these have been converted to private housing in the form of condos, apartments and private homes. Upscale and very well done.
The walls are 18’ thick having a flat grassy top with is about 12’ wide. We walked the perimeter which was 2 miles and was full of serendipity as shown by the lighthouse.
I took this photo from the top of the wall. The house is inside the walls.
Our moment of serendipity came when we came upon these Memorial Stones dedicated to the resident pets. There were perhaps hundreds ranging from polished granite to crude chiseled stones.
Forte Monroe’s most famous resident may have been Jeff Davis. After the Civil War, Jeff was incarcerated here for 3 years while the Union Officials determined his fate. Pictured is his cell, where he spent most of his time. He was shackled at one time and resisted despite his age and poor health. This was followed by outrage, his shackles released and he and his wife given quarters in the compound.
The Museum is within the walls of the forte. Those walls are supported by internal arches which are 5’ 6” high. Ask me how I know, I’ll show you the bump on me head!
Sandy is coming up the coast, we are going to evacuate to Dilion, SC and honker down for 3 days. This will put us about 75 miles inland in a relatively safe location.
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