My Civil War Plans - If anyone cares! :)

WARNING: RAMBLING AHEAD
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So, yes, the sesquicentennial is here! I have been WAITING for this! I told my mother the other day that I am actually excited about this! I then asked her if that was a crazy thing to be excited about the anniversary of the start of thousands of men dying, but she told me it wasn't. So I guess I have to believe her, right??

First of all, I get this starting tonight:
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It has been a LONG time since I have watched it and I am really looking forward to it this week.

Second, Tuner Classic Movies will have Civil War-themed films on every Monday and Wednesday this month. http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/373965%7C0/The-Civil-War-Mondays-Wednesdays.html "Gone With The Wind" will be starting it off on Monday (I will be watching Ken Burns instead). But I do plan to watch "Raintree Country" afterwards. Some other film highlights for me will be "Friendly Persuasion", "Little Women", "The General", "Uncle Tom's Cabin", "The Outlaw Josey Wales", "Abraham Lincoln", "Siege at Red River" and "Virginia City". The best night for films, in my opinion, will definitely be Monday, April 25th. After all, it starts of with my all-time favorite film, "Glory". I saw that in the theaters (twice) when I was 11 and I loved every minute of it. I love that movie so much!! It is followed by "Gettysburg" - haven't seen that in years! I recently read The Killer Angels (one of the best books that I have ever read) and it put me in the mood to see "Gettysburg" again. The night ends with "The Red Badge of Courage". So that is a good night.

Rumor has it that the History Channel will be having something once-a-year for the next 5 years. So that is good for me. I have something to look forward to.

As for events in the state, I don't know if I will go to any of them. There is this big reenactment every year at a place called the Wade House. I was really hoping that they would do a battle every year that represents a battle from 150 years ago. Meaning, I read that they were going to be reenacting the battle of Franklin. Technically, if they were going to do what I wanted them to do, this wouldn't be reenacted until 2014 and not in 2011. Personally, I think that is kind of silly. I really think that since it is 2011, they should do a 1861 battle. Then in 2012 reenact an 1862 battle and so on. But what do I know?

So, finally, trip plans. I need a job. And the outlook still isn't too good. I just know that when I get one, I will have to make sure that they know these things are planned. I will NOT miss any of this for anything. I waited for the 150th anniversary. I have to do these things. After all, who knows if I will still be alive 50 years from now? And if I am, maybe I will not be physically, or even mentally, capable of going on any trips again! So this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing for me that I have been waiting for.

Anyway, these are my plans (yes, I know they are all "big" ones, but what the heck? why not?):

August 2011: Wilson's Creek - I loved this battlefield. It was great. I want to get back there so bad. I know they will have events for the 150th going on. They just haven't listed any yet. I can't wait to get back there, though. Hopefully there won't be a loose bear running around there like the last time! Wouldn't you know I would go there at the time they are warning people about that!

September 2012: I went there last summer. I loved it, but it was SO HOT!! So I am hoping it will be different when I get back there. Plus, there was this particularly appealing park ranger.

July 2013: Yeah, I know it will be brutal there then (I swear the rudest people are tourists that go to Gettysburg!), but come on! IT IS GETTYSBURG!! It will be my third time there. There are still so many things that I have seen there both on the battlefield and around town. I will have to make sure to do those things then!

2014: I have no Civil War plans (as of yet) for this year. I would love to get back down to Franklin, Tennessee (I swear that Tennessee is the second best state next to Missouri), but the time of year when I would have to make that trip just isn't too great. It would be in November/December. I don't feel like making that drive down there. My big thing was that I always wanted to go to California by 2011. Since that isn't happening, I think I will aim for that in 2014. I just might try to make it to the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival that year (of course, this year - the year I always thought I would get out to CA - they are doing musicals! I hope that comes up again by 2014).

2015: Appomattox and DC. I've never been to Appomattox. So that is as good a time as any. Also, I love Ford's Theatre. Call me morbid, but I want to go there then. Also, I've been to DC twice and there are still so many places that I haven't been to (it was too hot last year to do anything! ).


So, there you have it, thus far. Boring info, I know. I know none of your lives are better for it, but there it is. Hopefully I will be able to accomplish it all!

By the way, I know I will be so depressed when 2015 is all over with. I suppose that is a little crazy, but it is what it is!

I noticed one of the films to be broadcast was "The General". If this is the Buster Keaton classic, PLEASE make sure you watch it.

Sounds awesome. I would love to do an East Coast Civil War tour, but that won't happen anytime soon. Killer Angels is one of my favorite books. I've read the whole series by the Shaara's. It's been a while since I've seen Burns's doc or Gettysburg. I actually took a Civil War course in college. Very neat.

Joe wrote:

I noticed one of the films to be broadcast was "The General". If this is the Buster Keaton classic, PLEASE make sure you watch it.

Yes, it is that one. And I have seen it. It is a very good film. I think it is Keaton's best film.

bethandmanly wrote:

Sounds awesome. I would love to do an East Coast Civil War tour, but that won't happen anytime soon. Killer Angels is one of my favorite books. I've read the whole series by the Shaara's. It's been a while since I've seen Burns's doc or Gettysburg. I actually took a Civil War course in college. Very neat.

I've yet to read the other books, but I did manage to find the others at a couple of different book sales.

As for Gettysburg, I first went there in November 2000. It was cool weather then and there really wasn't anyone around. It was SO NICE!! But then I decided that since I didn't get anything accomplished other than the battlefield - and I didn't do everything that I wanted to do there either, that when my mother, nephew and I went out east last year we would go to Gettysburg. It is SO different than it was 10 years ago. All I said to my mother was "It has turned into the Dells". Very touristy. I don't care for that. And there were SO MANY people there! And it was SO HOT!! So I still didn't get to see and do everything that I wanted to around town and the battlefield. I have to say that I REALLY like the new visitor's center. I loved that. And they always did have a fantastic gift shop.

But the people! Oh, the people who were visiting the town! I swear most of those people are there just to say they went because it is the "thing" to do. Most of them had no interest in it and I would be surprised if they truly understood what happened there. I have two examples of the wonderful tourists there. They have this thing where you can donate towards preservation of the field. You put your money in the box that is for you state. So my mother and I wanted to see how much Wisconsin had in there. There was this woman, her kid in the stroller and her mother in the way. They just wouldn't move. Then the daughter walked away with the stroller. Isn't that our invitation to then look? So we walked up and her mother told her to come over. That was when she just stood there and said "I can't even get in the front door!". WHAT WAS THAT??? There was an even better event in the gift shop. This man was standing on one side of this shelf and my mom and I were on the other side. He came into OUR way. Then he looked down at my mother and said "Should we get out of your way? Or should you get out of ours?". Then really disgusted he said "I'll get out of yours". That, and that alone, is enough to make me hesitate to go back there (along with some other incredibly rude things people have done!).

Still, the battlefield is pretty good to see. It really is.

If I decide to just not go to Gettysburg (I may save that for a non-anniversary time), I think I might go down to Vicksburg instead in 2013. I have never been to Mississippi. So I have never been to Vicksburg. I am still making up my mind about Gettysburg.

Wow, I am so excited for you! You're right, you HAVE to do this...don't let anything stop you! You are so fired up about it, obviously you have to make it happen.

bethandmanly wrote:

Sounds awesome. I would love to do an East Coast Civil War tour, but that won't happen anytime soon.

Me too....what a dream that would be. Honestly I'd rather do something like that with my family than go to Disneyworld! My goal is to get to Tennessee though first, camp in the Smokies, and see all the historical spots. Like Miss Oleson was saying, I've heard just too many wonderful things about it and must see for myself!


*EDIT*....Are you aware that there is a Cival War series on PBS right now?

Amy wrote:

Wow, I am so excited for you! You're right, you HAVE to do this...don't let anything stop you! You are so fired up about it, obviously you have to make it happen.

Thanks! Let's hope all will work out as planned! These past couple of trips have kind of been disasters (well, the one last year really was), but there are still good things that came out of it. This time, though, I just want to be able to do everything that I have planned to do. I want to try to make sure that I don't miss out on anything.

Amy wrote:

Me too....what a dream that would be. Honestly I'd rather do something like that with my family than go to Disneyworld! My goal is to get to Tennessee though first, camp in the Smokies, and see all the historical spots. Like Miss Oleson was saying, I've heard just too many wonderful things about it and must see for myself!

I hope that you can make it to Tennessee! I love it there!! The Smoky Mountains are really something to see when you see them in person! If you go to any cities there, my recommendation is Nashville. I loved that place. I didn't deal much with Memphis except to see Graceland. I was going to stop by the Shiloh Battlefield that year, but time didn't allow me to do it when I got towards that part of the state.

Amy wrote:

*EDIT*....Are you aware that there is a Cival War series on PBS right now?

Of course! That is what I have been watching for the past 3 nights!

MissOleson wrote:

Thanks! Let's hope all will work out as planned! These past couple of trips have kind of been disasters (well, the one last year really was), but there are still good things that came out of it. This time, though, I just want to be able to do everything that I have planned to do. I want to try to make sure that I don't miss out on anything.

I hope it works out for you! I have experience with 'not so perfect' trips too.

MissOleson wrote:

I hope that you can make it to Tennessee! I love it there!! The Smoky Mountains are really something to see when you see them in person! If you go to any cities there, my recommendation is Nashville. I loved that place. I didn't deal much with Memphis except to see Graceland. I was going to stop by the Shiloh Battlefield that year, but time didn't allow me to do it when I got towards that part of the state.

I just found out some friends are going to the Smokies in the fall too....soooooo jealous! And I've heard so much about Nashville---I can't imagine not enjoying it there!

MissOleson wrote:

Amy wrote:

*EDIT*....Are you aware that there is a Cival War series on PBS right now?

Of course! That is what I have been watching for the past 3 nights!

I had my parents over last night to watch Survivor, and we flipped over to that afterward. That is one great series---Ken Burns is amazing. I love the narrator for it---he's the same guy who narrated for the movie Seabiscuit. And of course, you can never go wrong with Morgan Freeman.

Sounds like it will be really interesting Miss Oleson.

Amy wrote:

I hope it works out for you! I have experience with 'not so perfect' trips too.

Well, last year I lost 2 hubcaps, then a third because my tire hit something and tore into complete shreds on the interstate and someone then deliberately smashed the last one that I had left. Then it was SO HOT!!! It was hot beyond hot! I never experienced anything like this. If there is such a thing as frostbite but with the damage coming from heat, I think I experienced it. The whole rest of my summer was miserable because of it. And because of those things, NOTHING went as planned. Either things had to be cancelled because other things came up (i.e. the tire) or it was just too hot to do anything. There is so much more to this, but I will spare the whining about that trip.

Amy wrote:

I just found out some friends are going to the Smokies in the fall too....soooooo jealous! And I've heard so much about Nashville---I can't imagine not enjoying it there!

Oh, I bet it is so beautiful there in the fall!! If you ever get to the area (I know it is still a bit of a drive, though), you should try to get to the Biltmore Estate. It is in Asheville, North Carolina. I know it is expensive to get in (and I think they rose the ticket prices since I went in 2008). But it is worth it to see it at least once. I loved it. If I ever get back to NC, I think I will scrape up the pennies to go again. I think I would like to go when it is a little bit cooler, though. It was early June, but it was already so hot. This is my favorite picture that I took from there:
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It was so hot that day and I kept going back further and further and no matter what, I still couldn't get the entire house in the photo! I eventually gave up because it was too hot that day to walk further (I am not a fan of heat). It is a magnificent place to see, though!

Amy wrote:

I had my parents over last night to watch Survivor, and we flipped over to that afterward. That is one great series---Ken Burns is amazing. I love the narrator for it---he's the same guy who narrated for the movie Seabiscuit. And of course, you can never go wrong with Morgan Freeman.

That is true about Morgan Freeman! There was an episode of "Family Guy" that I saw once that had Morgan Freeman (well, someone sounding like him ) starring in a film called "The Narrator". I thought it was funny. In fact, I quickly searched a video for it. Here is the audio.

alexczarn wrote:

Sounds like it will be really interesting Miss Oleson.

I think it will be! I, of course, will let you all know how it will be after each trip. Here are some of the pictures from when I went to Wilson's Creek Battlefield in 2007. This is where I want to go again this year in August.
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I will have new pictures from when I get down there in August.

ChristinaAL wrote:

Wow, that's awesome planning ahead, Julia! My dad is a BIG civil war buff and has gone to Gettysburg once, but I know he'd love to go back. His birthday is this month, and I bought him "A Glorious Army: Robert E. Lee's Triumph", by Jeffery Wert. I think it's fairly new, I found it at Border's and I know it's one he's not read. He loved the Shaara books, and I read "Killer Angels" to for a history class I took in college and really enjoyed it.

Has you father ever read the diary of Elisha Hunt Rhodes? I finally read it last month. I decided to read it before they replayed the "Civil War" on TV. It is an excellent read. You should see if you could find that for him. The "official" title is All for the Union: The Civil War Diary & Letters of Elisha Hunt Rhodes. I think he would really enjoy that one.