We set out one beautiful autumn day this past
October with the intention of geocaching at Wolcott Mill Metropark in Ray,
Michigan.
We expected that we might also take a few photos of
the park’s historic and picturesque grist mill.
What we didn’t expect to see was a large Civil War reenactment
taking place at the park that weekend.
There were too many folks around the area where we
intended to geocache, so that meant a change of plans. We ended up spending a
bit of time watching the reenactment activities and taking a few photos of the
event.
The historic grist mill setting contributed to the
feeling generated of stepping back into the 1860s. I did catch a jarring
juxtaposition of old and new when I saw this scene of a Civil War-era tent headquarters
next to large electrical high-tension tower and quickly grabbed the shot.
Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for
creating and coordinating Photo Friday to link travel photos and blog posts
across the Web.
© Dominique King 2009
Looks like a beautiful, peaceful place to take a walk, so I bet it was a bit disappointing to find that many people. But hey, still great pictures.
Posted by: Carolina | January 16, 2009 at 01:46 PM
That is really cool! The added visitors made for some incredible photos.
Posted by: Angela Nickerson | January 16, 2009 at 06:03 PM
I like that shot of the modern and historic side by side. They do re-enactments of a historic battle at Edge hill where I was staying after Christmas, although I've never been to one.
http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/friday-photo-a-winter-walk-on-edge-hill-near-banbury/
Sad to think that horrible things took place in such beautiful countryside.
Posted by: heatheronhertravels | January 17, 2009 at 06:11 AM
I love the first photo, especially. Besides the photos' merits, as I watch the snow fall outside and know that it's about 20 degrees out there, they also give me hope that Spring isn't too many months away!
--Brandon, www.urbaneblog.com
Posted by: Brandon | January 18, 2009 at 09:54 AM
Carolina-the day was still a success because we caught a couple of caches in a nearby cemetery, plus we had the bonus of seeing part of the reenactment that we wouldn't have gone to on our own. Meanwhile, there will still be caches to find in the park next spring!
Angela-It was kind of cool. The setting really was perfect for the reenactment.
Heather-I usually spend a bit of time trying to make sure a lot of extraneous posts, poles, electrical wires don't make it into my photos...nothing worse than taking a perfectly nice photo to get it home and realize the person in the portrait you took has a plant growing out of their head or something equally as out-of-place. But this particularly juxtaposition struck me as being the photo in and of itself.
Brandon-I'm kind of happy to see some nice snow on the ground. We live behind a park and it looks like we can -finally- enjoy cross country skiing back there this week.
Meanwhile, it was a beautiful fall day when I took these photos. This was the first time we'd really been out to Wolcott Mill Park, and I'm thinking it will be a great place to go back to come those warm spring days :)
Posted by: Dominique King | January 18, 2009 at 04:52 PM
How cool! My history buff husband would have been in heaven. One of our fav places to visit in the US was Williamsburg because there are so many reenactments!
Posted by: Jen@Heading North After Naptime | January 18, 2009 at 05:43 PM
Cool! They use to do these near where we lived in Santa Cruz in a place called Roaring Camp. We could walk to it and loved experiencing it! The people who do it REALLY get into it! ;)
Posted by: Soul Travelers3 | January 23, 2009 at 03:03 AM
Jen-Yup, your husband would have liked this! It was fun because we literally just stumbled upon this, so it was an unexpected bonus that day.
Soul3-Roaring Camp looks like fun (I looked it up with Google). It looks a little like the narrow gauge railroad trip I took from Durango, Colorado with my parents to a mining town.
Posted by: Dominique King | January 23, 2009 at 05:23 AM
There weren't any real Civil War battles in Michigan, were there? So these were reenacters of the Michigan contingents?
We have a battery nearby that goes from place to place with their horse-pulled cannons and joins others from the 1st Minnesota regiment.
Posted by: Linda | January 23, 2009 at 09:09 AM
Linda-I'm not aware of any Civil War action here in Michigan. These folks were recreating actions that took place in WV if I'm remembering correctly.
Posted by: Dominique King | January 25, 2009 at 06:50 AM