Re-enacting at Port Gamble

Just got back from Civil War re-enacting at Port Gamble on the Kitsap Peninsula. This was my second tour of the event (the first). A few pics:

Cleaning my weapon, my favorite part of re-enacting -- NOT.

Ronnie and the kids surprised me with a visit on Saturday afternoon.

Reese may have had a deep-fried twinkie on her mind.

A view of Union camp.

Walking the kids -- neither stroller nor traffic cones period corrrect.

A view outside Port Gamble General Store at 4 am Sunday. The snoring was so bad in my tent I left early.

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Jonathan Sees the Elephant

This weekend Jonathan and I did the Civil War reenacting thing up in Ferndale, near the U.S.-Canada border. It was Jonathan’s first reenacting experience. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough gear to go around so I watched the battles from afar. That gave me ample time, however, to snap pics with my iPhone. A few of them:

Over a game of Shut the Box (memo to the WSGC: we didn't play for money).

Chillin'.

The flag of the 4th.

Just about ready for battle.

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The Family Hits Port Gamble

This weekend Cole, Rhonda, Reese and Finn joined me for some Civil War re-enacting at Port Gamble on the south end of the Kitsap Peninsula. Never been there (or even heard of it) but it was a pretty cool place I gotta say. I really can’t see any reason why it couldn’t be a destination along the lines of a Friday Harbor. It’s certainly a lot closer to Seattle.

Anyway, we got lots of pics from the re-enactment. Among them:

I followed it up with a Father’s Day round of golf at Washington National on Sunday morning . . .

What a difference eighteen hours makes.

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Civil War Re-Enacting, Yakima Style

Today I joined John Strand and Bernie Moskowitz on a day trip to Yakima for a Civil War reenactment at Fort Simcoe. The Fort was originally established for the white man to keep their eyes on the natives. It’s been there ever since. One of the four buildings that make up the Fort is reportedly quite haunted. Ghosthunters, anyone?

That's me, fourth from left.

We staged two battles for the one hundred or so civilians who ventured out into the middle of nowhere for our D-Day reenactment. In between battles a few reenactors and some of the kids and I played a modified version of town ball — basically the Civil War era’s version of baseball.

Okay, this isn't from Fort Semcoe, but we did get in a good game of town ball.

Next up — Port Gamble on June 19-21.

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Civil War Reenacting at Historic Fort Steilacoom

This weekend I participated in my first major Civil War reenactment. This was the 160th anniversary of historic Fort Steilacoom.

It wasn’t easy.

Yours truly among the men of the 4th U.S.

Five battles in twenty-seven hours and two twelve hour days. Good fun, although I can do without the breaking down camp part of it. Can’t say I’ve been that exhausted in a good long while.

The event received a fair bit of local press. (See what The Olympian had to say.) We actually made King-5 News.

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Civil War Re-enacting: I Finally Took the Plunge

After roughly two years of thinking and talking about getting involved in Civil War re-enacting, I finally took the plunge. I signed on with the 4th U.S. Infantry, Company C, an outfit based in historic Fort Steilacoom near Tacoma. I even started a blog for the Company.

This weekend was my first big outing. The 4th put on a School of the Regular — basically a weekend of drilling, eating circa 1863, and hanging out with good guys. I’ve already blogged on the weekend in full on the 4th blog so I won’t again here — except to post a few pics:

Private Jenkins.

Lining up to get afternoon rations.

Onion, hardtack, coffee, rice, bacon -- just like the soldiers did it.

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