Wednesday Walk/Make Me Smile

This is not a recent walk I have undertaken. This was a visit to Fort Delaware from a few years back. I've decided to share it for today's Wednesday Walk (#wednesdaywalk) because, one, it's gross, grey, wet, and dreary outside, and I don't want to go out, and two, the gross, grey, wet, dreary day is also filled with coronavirus and it makes me not want to go out. The "stay at home" order also has something to do with it, I suppose.

This also double's as today's #makemesmile hosted by @elizacheng.

So @tattoodjay suggested for today that we share an older walk, and this is one I haven't shared before. I bring to you: Fort Delaware

Fort Delaware was originally built just after the War of 1812 and was a POW camp during the Civil War. It never really saw action outside of that, but it was intended to be a harbour line of defence in case of an invasion up the Delaware toward Philadelphia. Now it's a State Park.

The Fort is kept up as best as it can be, and there are volunteers who run re-creations on it during the summer months. They're a lot of fun to interact with, as they play the part of their character.

This is the Captain's office. He has a nice room.

This is in the Captain's private bedroom. He has a nice room, too. Much nicer than the enlisted men.

And no, that's not a ghost in the mirror. That's my son.

This is a re-enactor (re-enactress?). She was playing the part of the officer's laundress. Yes, the officers had a laundress dedicated to them. The enlisted men did not.

The big fun for me in the Fort, however, is not the living quarters, but the rest of the Fort where the real work was done.

Yes, baby: cannon balls. Or artillery, which is the correct term. This is an army installation, not a naval one.

This is not a cannon. This is an army base, and cannon's are only used on ships. This is a gun. A big gun. A gun that can shoot out to two miles into the river.

And a gun firing. These beasties are loud. I can't imagine having to fire one from inside the fort itself. It would have been deafening. According to these re-enactors, it really did take this many people to load and fire these guns.

They also have a blacksmith re-enactor. This is one lucky blacksmith, because he actually does get to forge things. Here the boys are forging some hooks that they got to bring home. I still have them hanging on my wall.

A full-frontal of the fort, as seen on our way out.

I always manage to get my 10,000 steps in at the Fort. Usually much, much more. It always exhausts the kids, too. Luckily there is an ice-cream store not far away. It helps boost some spirits at hte end of the day.

(c) All images and photographs, unless otherwise specified, are created and owned by me.
(c) Victor Wiebe

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