July 4, 2015

• Family on the Fourth

  Yesterday, we browsed the upcoming events in the newspaper trying to decide what we would do for the 4th. There were several events to choose from, but we finally decided to head to Port Royal. We were up early this morning so that there would be time to eat breakfast and pack a lunch before leaving.

  Sometime around 1650, one of Dean's ancestors was killed in an Indian raid near Port Royal, and he wanted to check out the museum to see if he could learn anything further. When we arrived, we saw signs for event parking, but we headed to the museum instead. It didn't look like much was happening, but a couple of guys said they would be opening soon. We waited to give them time to open up, but when we walked up to the door at 10:00, it was locked. We stood there awhile reading the flyers and maps that were posted around the door and discovered that we were very near the farm where John Wilkes Booth met his end. We also noticed a place in Maryland named Port Tobacco and we took off in that direction.

  We hadn't gone far when we noticed a sign that read "James Madison Birthplace Tours". Since James Madison was a very distant cousin of Dean's, we turned in and drove down a tree-lined driveway towards a house sitting on the north side of the Rappahannock River. We admired the house and took pictures, but we didn't see any signs directing us towards the tour, so we traveled on up the road. We hadn't gone long until we stopped to buy our annual pack of fireworks.

  

  We crossed into Maryland, and soon the boys were asking about lunch. Never mind that it wasn't lunch time. We found Port Tobacco and drove right on past because there wasn't much there to indicate that we had arrived. We turned around and found another museum that wasn't opened. The signs indicated that it should be open, but after trying a couple of doors we left and passed out the sandwiches.

  On our way home, we stopped at the first museum only to find that it was still closed so we headed home munching on our lunch. We saw a farmer's flag-decorated haystack in time to snap a picture. There was a flag on both sides of the stack and one hanging from his silo as well.

  

  We had a pleasant outing even though we hadn't accomplished our goal. We enjoyed the countryside and each other. Now as the sun begins to set, the boys are watching the sky for darkness. JJ came to me and let me know that he was ready for the 4th of July.

  

  Family time, flags, history, fireworks, closed museums and mismatched shoes. We've enjoyed our day.

  • 8:04 pm
  • 1 Comment