Day 2: Monuments and Statues

School kids visit the New York Monument at Antietam

This is quickly becoming the summer tour of monuments and statues. I mean they are everywhere. And if there's not a statue or monument, then there's a historical marker telling you what happened on that spot 145 years ago. History is everwhere.

I got up very early and was out by 8:00. I was surprised that I only had to drive about 1/2 mile to Monocacy National Battlefield. I think I can actually see it from my hotel window.
This was the site of a July 1864 battle which stopped the advancing Confederate army from crossing the Monocacy River and eventually reaching Washington and is referred to as the "battle that saved Washington D.C." There's not a lot to see at the site. Mostly statues and monuments (of course) which are spread out over several acres of the battle site. There's also empty farm land and farm houses that got caught in the middle of the two armies.


After about an hour of touring Monocacy, I made the drive over to Sharpsburg, MD and the Antietam National Battlefield. This was the site of the bloodiest single day of the Civil War.

On September 17, 1862, 87,000 Union soldiers came upon the 40,000 Confederates who had dug in defensive positions. The battle lasted all day and no army really gained or lost much ground, but there were 23,000 killed or wounded soldiers left on the battlefield.

It's amazing to stand on the same spot where 145 years ago over 100,000 men were engaged in this huge battle. Even though nobody really won the battle, the South took it as a defeat because it stopped them from advancing North into Union territory. Also, photographer Alexander Gardner took those famous photos of the dead lying in the field two days after the battle. When published, people were shocked because it was one of the first times people could see the carnage of war instead of just reading about it. It helped sway public opinion to end the war as soon as possible.


Photo gallery here

Gardner's photo with Dunker Church in the background.
My view of the same church from a similar location as Gardner's

Another of Gardner's photo showing the bridge over the Antietam Creek that the Union fought to cross.

My photo of the same bridge but from the opposite side.

After a couple of hours at Antietam, I headed to West Virginia to Harper's Ferry. The town holds a lot of historical significance in the Civil War as well as the efforts to free the slaves. It's very well restored and maintained, but it was kind of boring. I didn't shoot many photos and walked around for a little more than an hour then headed back to Frederick .Greetings from Harper's Ferry

Photo gallery here

My rental Mitsubishi Eclipse. It has terrible blind spots, but the seats are comfortable and it's fun to drive.

After I got back to the hotel, I decided to check out the Frederick Keys minor league baseball team. They were playing the Kinston Indians.
The cheapest ticket at a Dodgers game: $10
The cheapest ticket at a Frederick Keys game: $8
Beer at Dodgers: Free in the press room after the game
Beer at the Keys: $8 for 12 oz.
Attendance at the Dodgers: 46,000
Attendance at the Keys: maybe 250
Better value: hmmm, let me think.


After the game I headed into town for dinner and then stopped by Frederick's only Irish pub for a Guinness or two.



Observations from the day:
I have yet to see a house made with stucco or an Hispanic person. All houses are made with bricks and most of the people are white. Where are all of the Latinos? I miss them. There's a Mexican restaurant in town, but I dare not go inside if there are no Mexicans working there making the food. They probably pronounce their tacos with a hard A as in tAcos.
There are a lot more bugs flying around than I'm used to.
Also, my shower sucks. A little water pressure would be great.


Tomorrow: Gettysburg, PA