Wednesday 28 May 2008

Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson - Mr. Universe 1861


Bec, Rob, and 3yr old Max turned up fresh from Disneyland, complete with Mickey ears, to stay with us for two weeks. We headed down to Shenandoah National Park and stayed in a cabin there, did some walking, and tried to stop Max torturing various forms of wildlife - mainly ladybeetles and worms, no bears this time.

We also checked out Lauray Caverns, which are some of the best caves I have ever seen. The photo on the left shows what look to be like a city of delicate stalagmites but it is actually a reflection off perfectly still, clear water. This cave is a serious money spinner - it has a shopping mall size carpark and the whole cave is wheelchair accessible!

On the way to Shenandoah we checked out the Civil War battle site at Manassas. This was the first major land battle of the Civil War and the place where Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson earned his nickname.

If you believe the statue (see photo), Jackson was Mr. Universe for 1861 (look at those arms!), and rode around on Farlap. We got a awesome walkthrough blow-by-blow of the whole battle from a ranger, while we walked in the soldiers' footsteps out in the fields.

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