Shilo Battlefield, Tennessee

Shilo Battlefield is the first Southern Civil War battlefield I visited.  After checking out Gettysburg a couple of years ago, it has been a goal of mine to see as many of the Civil War battlefields as I possibly can, and the South is absolutely littered with them (the town I lived in Tennessee for a short time was the site of a short skirmish, as was Nashville).  Shilo was kind of strange to me. I had pictured it being more about the South, the Confederates and their attempted charge to glory.  However, it wasn't.  The North won in Shilo, and the victors are the ones who write history. The Confederate presence there was only due to a large memorial that the Daughters of the Confederacy commissioned in 1917.  There is a National Cemetery there, but those that are interred with proper headstones are only the Northern soldiers who lost their lives there, with three exceptions.  The Confederate soldiers were all put into several mass graves, of which only five have currently been found.  Ulysses S. Grant's camp residence location is near where the cemetery is today, and he is the General that is detailed in the Visitor's Center.   The battle was a fierce and horrible affair. Confederate troops surprised the North on April 6, 1862, but soon became confused in an area known as The Hornet's Nest.  The Nest is a deep entanglement of trees, vines, and underbrush, and it was difficult to know who was who. The North ended up overcoming the surprise to win the battle by the next day.  P.G.T Beauregard, the junior Southern General in the conflict to Albert Johnson, has been criticized since for his actions in the battle which resulted in General Johnson's death.

I visited the battlefield over Memorial Day 2013, and they had some pretty cool events going on.  They did a demonstration of guns used in wars and conflicts throughout the history of the United States, complete with full period dress ranging from the Revolutionary War to The War on Terror. They also had tents and encampments set up demonstrating what soldiers have had to deal with over the years.  It really was a great experience. I come from a family with a history of soldiering, and it was great to be able to kind of step in the shoes of what my Grandfather may have experienced in the South Pacific, and what others in my family have experienced.

Memorial over looking the river

United States Soldiers

Revolutionary gun being shot

Confederate flag placed by the Daughters of the Confederacy Memorial

Daughters of the Confederacy Memorial 

Right outside of the Hornet's Nest

US flags on one of the Confederate mass graves to commemorate Memorial Day

Mammoth Cave System, Kentucky

I've been very slowly working through my back log of images from the last eight months and am now back to posting things!

Last September, I took a venture to Mammoth Caves near Bowling Green, Kentucky.  Unfortunately, tripods weren't allowed in the cave, so I didn't get as many images as I would have liked, but I am happy with the few that turned out! The cave system is the longest in the world; it goes under most of Kentucky and Northern Tennessee.  The main cave is absolutely massive, and has been used as shelter for hundreds of years. Ruins of ancient civilizations cover parts of the cave's interior.  One of my favorite parts of the main cave was called The Star Chamber.  A ceiling full of scratches resembles the night sky.  Our guide for the tour of the main cave (you can't really wander around by yourself) was phenomenal, and her detailed history of the cave was fun to listen to. I grew up in Southwest Montana, where our caves are dripping and wet, floor to ceiling stalagmites and stalactites. Mammoth cave only has one real chamber with formations in it, but that didn't diminish the amazingness that was this cave experience.

Star Chamber

Our guide to the cave

A walkway going up from an underground river. 

In super rainy times, this chamber is fully flooded.

The one formation chamber! 

Land Between the Lakes: Hummingbirds

This weekend I ventured to the Land Between the Lakes National Park on the Tennessee and Kentucky borders.  A narrow strip of land surrounded by two lakes, Land Between the Lakes contains hiking trails, deer, buffalo, and millions of hummingbirds.  I ventured to LBL for a Sunday drive, and at the visitor's centers encountered several of these delightful birds.  I have inherited the love of bird watching from my mother, and felt like an excited child as I watched the hummingbirds flit around the sugar feeders, chirping at each other, and occasionally attacking one another.  I only spotted one male, and unfortunately, didn't get a very clear picture of him.  I included three blurry images of him only so that you can see the difference between him and the females.  This was my first time photographing hummingbirds, and really the first time I've ever been able to watch them, so it was a great weekend experience.

Washington D.C.

It's been about four months since I've been back in the States, and I've done very little traveling.  So it was with great excitement that I went to Washington D.C. over the 4th of July weekend.  I had never been to my nation's capital, and it was really great finally seeing the monuments that I had read so much about.  The Washington Monument looked wider than I had imaged, but that was mostly due to scaffolding covering the structure.  I took in the fireworks show at the National Mall, spent hours studying photographs and national treasures in the various Smithsonians, and toasted my favorite president (Lincoln) with a mini chocolate cupcake bought at Sprinkles Cupcakery.  The trip was short, but I had a great time nonetheless.

Protester outside of the White House. His sign says, "Obama's Banana Republic."

Jefferson Memorial

View down the National Mall from the Lincoln Memorial

Korean War Memorial