Day 4

Today we had to wake up bright and early to be on the bus by 7:30 AM. Today, our first stop was the Petersburg Museum. At the museum we split up into smaller groups and we had to find our favorite artifact in the museum and sketch it. After we went to the Petersburg museum, we then went to see The Crater and the mine. This was a very important part of our America history. We were all surprised with how sturdy the tunnel still was, but how small The Crater was compared to what we were expecting. If Mr. Habel hadn’t warned us, everybody would have thought that the painting of a civil war soldier at the end of the tunnel was a ghost. All of us were also astonished by how close each side’s (Union and Confederate) picket lines were to each other.
We then drove to Pamplin Park and had a really good lunch. We had fried chicken, barbequed pork and cornbread. Then we went on a guided tour through Pamplin Park. We saw the original trenches of the Siege of Petersburg which were really amazing. We learned about a man named Captain Gould who was the first man of the Union lines to run over the Confederate trenches. You might think he would be killed like that but he survived and won the Medal of Honor. We then saw rebuilt trenches of what they would have looked like when the siege was going on and that was also very interesting. We saw a rebuilt plantation house and slave house and watched a video about slavery with opinions of people in the 1800’s. We then went inside and went through an exhibit called Duty called me here which was about civil war soldiers. You picked a soldier, Union or Confederate, and heard their story on an audio tour while you looked through an exhibit. When you went to one part of the exhibit you felt like you were in an actual battle.
We then spent the night in Williamsburg, Virginia and some of us went swimming. -- Christina Haser and Raina Dwinell

Day 3

Today was a very fun day. Like yesterday we had to be up bright and early. Everyone had a good night and we were ready to go.
Our first stop was Monticello. We arrived early, before any other school group. We had to take a shuttle up to the top of the hill where Thomas Jefferson’s home is. Once we were at the top we waited for or tour of Monticello to begin. Our tour guide was very energetic and was fun to listen to. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the building, which was unfortunate. We also saw the outside. He had a smoke house, ice house, and all of the fancy things they had back then. We also visited the garden and got to sketch a flower. We then sat in front of Monticello and got to sketch that. It was a long sketch, but we did very well on it.
We then piled on the bus and went to lunch at Michie’s Tavern. It was a very good lunch. Chicken, mashed potatoes, cornbread, biscuits and other very good colonial food items. After the filling lunch, we drove to Appomattox Court House. This was about an hour drive.
This was a very historical place. In Wilmer McLean’s house the war ended. When this happened General Lee of the Confederate army surrendered to General Grant of the Union army. Grant was very generous and instead of punishing the men for treason, he let them all go home.
We then drove to Petersburg VA. We did a lot of driving today, but it was worth it! -- Caleb Longenecker and Brett Boyer

Day 2

Today, we had to be up and on the bus by 7:30 am. Almost everyone was ready, but one room was late.
Our first stop for the day was New Market Battlefield. We started off a little bit slow, just explaining the basic battle plan. An interesting thing about the Battle of New Market is that about 260 VMI Cadets walked to the battle and helped. Ten lost their lives. We went to a spot call the Overlook. It had a beautiful view of some of the Shenandoah Valley. Expect pictures.
Next we drove up the road that the cadets walked down to get to the battle of new market. When we got to V.M.I. we sat in front of the statue of Stonewall Jackson and learned a little about the history of the school. We went on a walk around the campus and looked at the dorms chapel and museum. We ate lunch at the cafeteria with the cadets.

Our next stop was the Washington and Lee University. It was right next to VMI the campuses sort of merged together. We sat out side the Chapel and learned a little history about the Chapel. We went inside and looked at the statue of Lee. It was extremely well done and accurate.
Our final scheduled spot to visit was Confederate General Stonewall Jackson’s grave and house. Neither was very spectacular, but they were interesting.
Finally, on the way to our hotel, we took a detour to an overlook of the Shenandoah Valley. The views were breathtaking.
We had sometime left until we needed to be at our hotel so we made a stop at the University of Virginia. We walked around the campus and looked around at some of the amazing architecture.
Finally we got to our hotel at around 7:45. We had a chance to go swimming at the hotel but first we needed to get our homework checked by the teachers.
--Colin Ley and CJ Stempeck

Day 1

We left the school parking lot at 4:00 on the dot. Everyone had planned on sleeping the whole way there, but only the lucky ones actually did. By 5:00 everyone was wide awake and playing games. We had quite a few decks of cards and we played poker, uno, and war. After a while we started a movie. We watched Gods and Generals, and then National Treasure. We read magazines and talked to each other. The 16 hour ride went fairly quick. For lunch we went to a rest stop and there was a Sbarro and a McDonalds. Then for dinner, we stopped at a gas station and got Subway and KFC. We finally got to our hotel at 7:00. Everyone was really tired so we went to bed right aw ay. -- Kelly Jordan

Start of a New Adventure

Keep looking here to see what is happening on our Virginia trip!