Roma

Roma was fascinating.  I've always wanted to see this city.  It took the Roman Empire 200 years to rise to be the dominant power in the world which they then maintained for 500 years.  The Roman decline and fall took 200 to 300 years.  The influence of their culture and language is embedded in our culture today.  For example, about 60% of the words in English have a Greek or Latin root.  It rises to 90% for scientific and technical words.  Architecture, city design, military organization, and a myriad of other aspects of our culture can be directly linked to the Romans. 

By 500 ACE, the Christians, (Catholics) were in firm control of central Italy and Western civilization.  The Pope was the most powerful ruler in Europe with the most money and the biggest armies.  The territory of the 'Vatican' was actually the entire center section of Italy.  With the fall of the Romans, the Catholics rejected most Roman customs (including bathing) and ushered in the Middle Ages.  The Pope was the new Emperor.

The buildings of Rome fell to ruin and some of the building material was taken by the Pope to build the new monuments to Christianity.  For instance, marble was taken from the Pantheon (the most complete Roman temple in existence today) and used to build St. Peter's Basilica.  Gradually, over 1000 years, even the Forum filled up with silt and rubbish.  It was excavated and restored beginning in the early 1800's.  There's still archaeological work taking place in both the Forum and The Colosseum.

The Colosseum was super impressive.  The pictures I'd seen didn't convey the massive presence of this A.D. 80 building.  It took a decade to built it - from A.D. 70 - 80.  As a tourist today, it was easy to imagine the spectacles staged there in Roman times.  It was built by Vespasian on Nero's razed palace as a gift to the people of Rome.  In the first opening week, 9000 animals and people were killed.  The stench of blood hovered over the Colosseum during the grand opening.   To attend an event in the Colosseum, you purchased (or were given) a broken shard of pottery which was your 'ticket'. Scratched on the shard was your row, seat, and section number.  (Sound familiar?)  You entered and exited the arena based on that pottery shard.  It was said, the Colosseum could be cleared of people in 15 minutes.  Having seen the immense size of the arena, I'm skeptical.

The spectacles were massive theatrical performances in which death just happened to play a part.  It wasn't just gladiators fighting or animals killing people.  Today, it's hard to understand how killing people and animals could be 'entertainment'.  The best explanation is the Romans were conquerors.  Military campaigns were constantly being waged as they gobbled up territory and the wealth that came with it.  People in captured territories were considered less than human because they weren't Romans.  Deaths were considered a by-product of Roman conquests.  In a world in which the Romans dominated, Roman citizenship was a serious benefit and highly sought after. 

A captured high ranking prisoner could be the star of a play staged at the Colosseum; however, the play's ending always resulted in his death.   Under the 'floor' of the arena was a twisting labyrinth of tunnels, chambers, and staging areas to prepare the spectacles.  The arena floor could even be flooded, and 'naval battles' could be fought.  This area is still being excavated today in a massive archaeological dig.  The entire arena seating area was 'faced' in white marble. 

(This was prime building material, and was quickly looted.)  There's a small section that has been re-faced to give visitors the feel for what it must have looked like during its heyday.

       

Every novel of Rome I've ever read references the 'hills'.  Well, they're really there and there's lots of them.  You're always walking either uphill or down constantly.  I discovered
The older the street, the harder it is to walk on.  The most famous 'uphill' is the Spanish Steps.  That's exactly what they are - a magnificent staircase that starts at the
Piazza Spagna and goes up to the Triesti Monti Church.  Oh, that's  it's 170 steps UP.  I know.  I counted them.

The Coliseum, The Forum and the Pantheon are more impressive in real life than in pictures.  There are beautiful fountains and sculptures all over Rome.  The Trevi Fountain (sculpted in the 1700's) was unbelievably gorgeous - even surrounded by a few hundred people.

The Italians could learn something about toilets from the Japanese.  All Italian toilets outside your hotel room are smaller than 1940 telephone booths.  Nine out of ten of womens' toilets will have no seat.  Man, is that porcelain cold in December.  There are no paper towels in Italian bathrooms.  There's plenty of soap, but you have to play, "Search for the water turn on".  Could be automatic under the faucet, could be automatic above the faucet, could be a handle, could be a pedal on the floor.  This persisted every place we went in Italy.

If it's not a church, there's a cloak room - except they won't check your coat.  We got around the 'system' by Drake carrying our backpack practically empty and then, we stuffed our coats, scarves, gloves and hats in it.  Cloak rooms will always check your backpack.

The concept of 'refill' or 'go cup' does not exist in Italy.  Each drink, especially the coffee/expresso drinks are individually crafted and served in china cups with saucers, and small metal spoons.  I quickly learned there are spoons to eat food, and spoons you stir coffee, and a different sized spoon you stir espresso.  Every food product, even 'fast food' was individually made when you ordered it.  The only food this did not apply to was pizza - there are shops with ten different types of pizza slices ready to be picked up, taken out, and eaten standing up as you walk to your next destination.

We loved the food everywhere we went whether it was a sandwich or a multi-course sit down restaurant.  We must have eaten pasta fifteen times, and each time the pasta was perfect.  I also ate a lot of seafood in my pasta.  Another little difference is when you order a pizza - and they are all individually ordered in a restaurant and already designated as to type and ingredients - it comes uncut.  The diner is expected to cut up his own pizza.

We struggled to eat at 'correct' times.  In Italy, people traditionally eat dinner after 7:30 pm, and most restaurants close after 4 pm and don't re-open until 7:00 pm.  Many times, we would be the only people in a restaurant at 7:00 pm.  Evening meals in restaurants typically last two hours or more.  Getting a check is like finding hens' teeth.  The concept of 'turning the table' hasn't caught on in Italy.  Public televisions are limited to sports bars.  Most restaurants, even casual ones, didn't feature televisions, or even much music.  You can linger as long as you like.

I would be remiss if I didn't talk about Vatican City.  It's a postage stamp of a country surrounded by a 15 foot high brick wall with a few openings (or gates) to get in.  Inside is the most famous Christian church in the world:  St. Peter's Basilica.  St. Peter is supposedly buried under the altar.  The church was designed by Michelangelo and finished by Bernini.  It took decades to build and was designed and re-designed.  The Pope's 'chapel' is rather famous since Michelangelo painted the ceiling and 30 years later he painted the fresco covering the back wall.   The ceiling is pure Renaissance, and the back wall is veering into the Baroque.  The Catholics protect images of 'The Sistine Chapel' with the same ferocity Disney protects images of Mickey Mouse.

We bought 'early bird' tickets to see the chapel - we actually were there with about 20 people, and we got to see this magnificent work of art before the rest of the building was even open.  You aren't allowed to take any pictures of the Chapel.  Even in December, you can easily be one of 300 seeing the chapel.  I can't imagine the lines in July.

St. Peter's Basilica is a work of art which holds works of art.  Everywhere you look, there is something awe inspiring. 

The famous 'horse shoe' colonnade studded with statues surrounding three sides of the piazza where the faithful hear the Pope's addresses was designed and built by the famous sculptor Bernini.  He also designed the structure over the altar called a Baldachin.

The most famous work of art at St. Peter's is Michelangelo's "Pieta".  Works of art were not signed during this time period (1500).  However, he was only 19 years old when he carved the work, and he overheard other artists saying he couldn't

possibly be the artist since he was so young.  Michelangelo promptly carved' "Michelangelo made this" across a marble strap on Mary's gown.

The patronage of the Catholic church financed great works of art revered today.  Michelangelo was the favorite artist of Pope Julian II.  The Cardinal from the Borgia family was Bernini's great patron.  Today, the subject matter of the art seems restrictive, but the great talent which created it can't be denied.  It was in Rome when I realized how much I'd learned in my Art History class last spring.  I had a mental checklist of Renaissance and Baroque art which I wanted to see, and it was all so amazing in person.  Pictures just call up the memory of the actual piece.

Not only was I interested in Michelangelo, but also Caravaggio, who actually invented the Baroque style of painting, and is one of the most famous artists of the era.  Artists were

"The Calling of St. Matthew" by Caravaggio

commissioned by rich patrons, many of whom were high church officials.  We found priceless paintings in church after church.  To view this painting in the church where it's located, we actually had to deposit three euros in a locked box, so flood lights would come on.  Then we were able to view the painting.             

English is everywhere, and most people working with tourists speak more than enough.  I did find my app'translator' helpful at times.  Our main obsession, not only in Rome, but in every city, was getting our laundry done.  We did drop off/pick up 'wash and fold' in every city.  It was adequate especially when hotels charge $8 euros for a single shirt.  Our usual laundry bill was about $20 euros for a full washer load.

Drake was so clever.  He actually found an electronic device he rented for a pittance which created our own personal wi-fi network.  We kept our phones on airplane mode, turned off 'cellular data', and used the wi-fi network device.  It was the size of a cassette and created a secured network which we were the only users.  It was great to have the internet when we were on the move.

I honestly can't say I really 'know Rome'.  What I know is the tourist Rome as we went from attraction to attraction.  I've been spoiled by how we've traveled over the past ten years - spending months in a single place.  This vacation to Italy was just skimming over the top and cherry picking the obvious.  Even so, we had a wonderful time in each of the four cities we visited.  Each experience was different.

Everyone will be completely surprised that I took oodles of pictures.  Click on as many or as few as you wish

https://photos.app.goo.gl/uZDVWZBQDSL5G8NH7

     

   

Vote!

Tune in; turn on; and don't drop out - instead VOTE.  All of us of a 'certain age' remember the 60's counterculture mantra which suggested:  get politically active; don't be afraid to experiment with those alluring mind altering substances; and for pete's sake, don't just accept you have to do the same old same old represented by your parents' humdrum, hypocritical lives.

Getting politically active meant protests to the political boomers of the '60's and '70's.  Today, the radical move is to VOTE your convictions, and to convince others around you to VOTE.  If you don't like or if you do like your city/state/nation's political stance, well get out there and either endorse it or insist that it change by using your vote.

One of the most dangerous things happening in this country is overt voter suppression.  Never forget 'the poll tax', the 'literacy test' and the other Jim Crow statutes which kept Southern African Americans from voting for almost 100 years.  It makes perfect sense for power mongers afraid of losing that power to suppress the vote either through making it impossible to vote (long lines, few machines, unreasonable documentation), or by using gerrymandering (drawing lines of a Congressional District in such a way to insure the outcome of the vote). 

Voters can topple the most free spending, string pulling, behind the scenes wealthy individual or 'Political Action Committee' pushing an agenda which benefits a very narrow stripe of the electorate.  PAC's and the uber wealthy often think their opinion counts the most because they have money.  So not true.  One voice can change the world.  You don't think so?  The best ideas, the best political movements, the best innovations always start with one voice, and that voice is usually not steeped in wealth.  That's what your vote is:

YOUR VOICE

If you think this country is headed in a direction you don't like or one you do, I'm not willing to have a discussion with you about your views until you pass MY litmus test:

DID YOU VOTE?  

The National Quilt Museum, Paducah, Kentucky

(This blog entry is dedicated to my friend Marjorie Cunningham, the best quilter I know.)

One of the joys of returning to Arizona from the East Coast is you GAIN THREE HOURS since Arizonians do not believe in Daylight Savings Time.  While the rest of the country struggles twice a year to change cyclical body rhythms, Arizonians just laugh.  

It seemed to take forever to get out of the Eastern Daylight Savings Time Zone so I could suck up those free hours, but once we hit Western Kentucky, suddenly there one was.  It took me about five minutes to find The National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky, to wile away my free hour.  Drake, laughing, said, "You didn't waste any time spending that hour, did you?  As always, he was a good sport and drove me right to the museum.

This sculpture right outside the museum was rather baffling.  Here's the sign which 'explains' it.

The museum holds between 600 and 700 quilts.  They acquire award winners, think "Best in Show" from the National Quilt Show held in Kentucky each year.  They also acquire other quilts from 'sister' country quilters - usually Japan, where quilting is an art form.  Additionally, the 'Best in Show' at any major quilt show around the country can wind up in the museum.  Most quilters are thrilled and flattered to be asked for their quilts, and wind up either donating them, or allowing them to be hung for an amount of time.  The museum also purchases antique quilts from various sources.  One special  exhibit when we visited included quilts from the 1920's and 1930's.

Artists' quilts are about as far from your grandmother's 'pieced' quilt tops as you can get.  The fabrics and techniques are choices made by true artists.  In that vein,

I thought the above quilt currently hanging in the museum is the most unusual one I've ever seen, and I swear I've seen a real Tiffany wisteria window which was the model and inspiration for the quilt pictured below.

Perhaps, you prefer a more fantastical approach to your quilt.  This should be your cup of tea:

If you can't figure this out, you're looking at a quilt narrating the book, The Hobbit.  The dragon, Smaug, is sitting on his gold in the upper right hand corner.  

Here's Drake's favorite.  It's a quilting artist's rendition of an astronomical event:  The collision of two stars.

Birds were also liberally represented.  Here's my favorite 'bird' quilt:

I could continue to post quilt after quilt each of which is boggling in the colors, the textures, the subject matter, and even the size.  There's an entire nook of 'miniature' quilts.

The traditional quilt is not neglected.  One special exhibition consisted of the quilts based on the Kansas City Star newspaper patterns.  In 1928, in order to encourage women to read the Kansas City Star newspaper, the paper began publishing a quilt pattern in the newspaper.  It was free to anyone who bought a paper.   

Pineapple pattern from 1932

The museum has collected examples of the quilts created based on the free quilt patterns.  The 'sheet' shows what was published in the newspaper. 

Here's one of my favorites a 1929 airplane pattern - three years after 'Lucky Lindy' flew his plane across the Atlantic Ocean from New Jersey to Paris.

The 1929 Airplane Quilt

Another exhibition was simply entitled 'Color'.  You can see why from a close up picture of one of the examples.

Another fascinating aspect of this museum were the stories of the quilters explaining their inspirations and artistic processes.

Here's the explanation of the above quilt:

This museum is proof I never know when I'm going to encounter art.  If you want to see the rest of these amazing quilts, click the link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/sdWRsG1UToC5eCXs5  

  

Farewell, Saratoga Springs

Our time is coming to an end in this charming upstate, New York town.  We would have stayed longer except for one little hiccup:  Jury Duty.  That's what you get when you get a new driver's license.  It's the invisible lagniappe the Arizona DMV attached to our shiny, new licenses.  I was supposed to report last March (IN SCHOOL), then June (already left the STATE), so finally, now I have to appear on October 15th.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I'm done my jury duty - about four or five times in Tarrant County, Texas.  You'd think that'd be enough for dismissal.  You'd think being over 65 would be enough for dismissal.  You'd think because I only live in the flippin' state about 6 months each year would be enough for dismissal.  No, they want me to pay their state income tax, and serve on their juries.  SO BE IT.  They just registered a new Democrat eager to turn this state purple and then blue.

Saratoga Springs is about as far away topographically from the desert as one can get.  It's magnificently, brilliantly green instead of brown.  Huge trees of every variety both evergreen and deciduous cover the lovely worn down hills of the Adirondacks.  And water, well, there's water everywhere.  Thanks to glaciers scraping back and forth, there are tiny ponds, a network of creeks, rivers (including The Hudson River) and one huge Lake (Lake Champlain).  The abundance of navigable bodies of water triggered the history of the area.

When we first arrived here, we encountered a sign which read:

History

Health

Horses

The American history of Saratoga Springs is this is the place of a turning point in our favor in the American Revolution:  The Battle of Saratoga.

There's a national battlefield, but I really like the monument

They're pretty serious about Early American History around here.  Meet Ken and his personal cannon.  Yep, Ken owns his own cannon cast from an original one lost in Lake Champlain in the 18th century.  This man is a serious re-enactor.  I said, "Ken, why did you buy a cannon?"  He replied, "I go to a lot of schools, and it's a great way to teach the American history of this place."  Good enough for me, Ken

It didn't take us long to start drinking at the various natural springs dotting Saratoga Springs.  Mostly they are all YUCK - super carbonated, iron tasting, sulphur tasting or some disgusting combination.  Finally, someone tipped us the best tasting water in the area is from Spring #1, and there are four spigots continually running spring water.  There's always three to six people filling everything from personal water bottles to five gallon jugs.  And, I can testify, the water is delish.  Those other springs, not so much.

However, those other springs were flowing money in the 19th century.   As soon as the railroads built lines from Boston and New York, 'spas' and hotels appeared.  Entire families arrived for six to eight weeks to take the 'springs cure'.  Saratoga Springs as well as surrounding towns such as Ballston Spa cashed in.

A famous prize fighter with discretionary cash arrived in summer time Saratoga Springs to find bored men accompanying their wives, children, or sisters for the cure.  Not for long.  The prize fighter got together with some heavy hitters in the racing business, and the Saratoga Race Track was born in 1863 one month after the Battle of Gettysburg.  They've been racing thoroughbred horses here ever since.  The big race, named after Henry Travers (one of the racing heaving hitters) is still raced and named the Travers Race.  It's the premiere race of the Saratoga track season.

This cup, named "Man O' War" is presented at the
Travers Race every August

An off-shoot of the race track is that Saratoga Springs is the location of National Racing Museum.  After visiting, I thought the 'national' designation was a little ambitious, but there were lots of interesting artifacts as well as far too many paintings of famous horses by mundane artists.  I was intrigued by the four trophies handed out for the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont.  (Yes, I said four.)  

Kentucky Derby Trophy

Preakness Trophy - isn't this a hoot!

Belmont Plate - kind of boring

Yes, that's only three trophies, BUT when a horse wins all three, he's a Triple Crown winner and there's a special pyramidal trophy awarded - thus, occasionally, the fourth trophy.

Each side represents one of the races in the Triple Crown

By far the most fascinating exhibit was the genealogical exhibit.  Did you know ALL thoroughbred race horses trace back to one of three Arabian stallions and a small variety of 'promising dams' bred in England in the 18th century.  Today, 90% of the thoroughbreds can trace their lineage to one of the three stallions - the one who was 'FAST'.  Look at this chart!

We've discovered there should be a fourth "H" on the sign, and it should read "Heifer".  Surrounding Saratoga Springs are farms, a few horse farms, but lots and lots of dairy farms.

We actually took a 'Cheese Tour' around rural upstate New York.  In my fridge right now, there's about half a dozen types of cheese as well as a pint of maple walnut ice cream.  These farms look like picture postcards.  Many of the barns and houses date back to the late 18th century or early 19th century.  

Notice how the bricks are handmade

I had to laugh.  An older woman at this farm selling doughnuts confided HER house just down the road was twenty five years older.

The fifth "H" on the Saratoga Springs sign should be "Heritage".  There are wonderful houses here.  Some date back to the 18th century.  Mostly, though, the town was built in the 19th century.  We found some wonderful examples of architecture here.

That's Drake with the 'other' Jan Sartor

The house above dates from the 1820's.  Here's another one from the Victorian era in the French Empire style.

And, here's a Federalist house from the late 1700's.  

However, when it's all said and done, Saratoga Springs defines itself by its horses.

We've loved living here.  The apartments have been nice, and Drake's had a garage.  The food has been excellent, especially if you love Italian.  I also perfected a recipe here:  Maine Lobster Rolls.  Maine's version uses no mayo or celery.  The lobster is sauteed in flavored butter and served on those weird hot dog buns which look like a folded piece of white bread.  Yum!  The one food downfall was no matter how many places we tried, there's NO MEXICAN FOOD HERE!!!!  I'm about to die from craving Tex/Mex.

What initially attracted us to this place were the cultural performances.  We've seen five ballet performances by the New York City Ballet.  We've seen four performances by the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, and we've seen six performances by the Lincoln Center Chamber Society.  With the exception of one ballet which, as we watched, we realized we've always hated, all the performances were wonderful.    

Time to pull up my galoshes and get ready to leave, and we've so needed them.  It's rained constantly for the past four months with the accompanying high humidity.  Everyone up here has complained loudly about the summer weather.  I just thought I was living in summertime New Orleans.  Otherwise, we are sad to leave especially since we are on countdown:  Just over 30 days to wait, and Lucky will be here!

  

  

Fort Ticonderoga - Iroquois Meaning the Place Between Two Waters

Upstate New York is ALMOST as chock full of American history as coastal Virginia.  The last stop of our mini-vacation to up-up state New York was Fort Ticonderoga.  This is a place that rings some tiny bell in the back of your mind.  You KNOW you've heard of it, and you know it was important for some reason lost in the mists of your memory.

This place calls itself "America's Fort", but it's really not.  It was built by the French, renamed by the British, and captured by the Americans.  This fort is all about the military strategy of the 18th century.  In an era of few roads, whoever controlled the waterways controlled vast areas of land.  Sitting at the southern end of Lake Champlain, this fort was fought over six times and changed hands three times.  With the advent of the railroad, the gasoline combustion engine, and a reliable road network overland, Fort Ticonderoga fell into disuse, and was literally falling down when a privately funded non-profit group decided to restore it.  Their restoration efforts started in the early part of the 20th century, and  continues today.

For Americans, there is a fascinating story associated with Fort Ticonderoga and the American Revolution.  Washington, the Continental Army Commander, had problems not only with an untrained army, but also with a lack of material to fight the war against the British.  (That's why the victory at Saratoga was so important - it convinced the French to finance the war.)

It's 1775, and the war has just started.  Two young, impetuous Patriots present a crazy plan to Washington.  Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allan, with a small force of men and by using the element of surprise, propose to capture Fort Ticonderoga from the British.  Washington agreed.  To the astonishment of everyone, they succeeded on May 10, 1775!  The British retreated back into Canada.  As amazing as that feat, it's really not the story.

In early winter, 1775, Henry Knox, a 29 year old bookseller from New Hampshire went to Washington, whom he had met in the Bunker Hill/Breeds Hill battle in Boston, with an REALLY insane plan.  Knox convinced Washington he could bring the artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to the hills overlooking Boston

and thus drive the British out of Boston.  Again, with nothing to lose, Washington requisitioned $1000 dollars and sent Knox north to the fort.

Knox arrived at Fort Ticonderoga on December 1st, and he promptly began directing the removal of the cannons from their carriages. 

Knox lashed the cannon onto large sleds, planning to use oxen to pull the sleds when he couldn't use the rivers.  He devised a route consisting of floating the cannon on rafts, sliding them over frozen rivers and creeks, and sledding them through snow on a route between Fort Ticonderoga and Boston.  He called it his "Noble Train of Artillery", and it consisted of 59 cannon and other assorted artillery pieces together their carriages, cannonballs, black powder canisters, and all the other sundries necessary to the firing of 18th century artillery.

This gives you an idea how large the cannon are

As always, the weather refused to cooperate!  First, he couldn't get snow for his sleds to get started, then, several feet fall all at once.  He barely rafted the cannon across Lake George (a small lake just north of Saratoga Springs) before it froze solid.  The farther south he traveled, he discovered the large rivers such as the Hudson River weren't frozen solid enough to bear the weight of oxen and cannon.  He tried to cross the Hudson River on January 5th with one cannon on a sled pulled by a team of oxen. The ice cracked, the oxen were cut loose so they wouldn't drown, and the trial cannon wound up at the bottom of the river.  It was a shallow place, so the valuable cannon was  fished out by Patriots from the tiny village of Albany.  

Knox waited, testing the ice each day.  In a few days, he was able to slide his precious cargo across the river on ice.  Then, he went up and down hills and the Berkshire mountains dragging the artillery across Massachusetts.  He covered 300 miles in the dead of winter with thousands of pounds of artillery.  When the British awoke on March 7th to discover the  hills around Boston ringed with American cannon, they had no choice but to evacuate the city.  Not too bad for a bookseller!

Post revolution, the Knox's cannon dispersed over the Eastern seaboard and all the way down into the Caribbean.  In the 1930's the Fort Ticonderoga restoration group went on a cannon search and returned the cannon to the Fort.  Some of the cannon are British, some are French, and some are Spanish, but they represent some of the original cannon as well as others from the same period.  They all date back to the 18th century.  

Slowly, the Fort has been restored, and the foundation has scored a donation of a collection of period weapons including swords, powder horns, as well as muskets which is outstanding.  

Collection of swords

I thought the carved powder horns were the most interesting.  These were not carved by ordinary soldiers sitting around the campfire.  Instead, master carvers followed armies and sold the carved powder horns to soldiers as mementos of their service.  Here's an example:

The restoration has been done by utilizing as much of the original material as possible.   The fort was literally in ruins when the restoration started.  

I thought the most fascinating aspect of the Fort were the people.  I've been in other citadels and forts which have college kids dressed up parading around, but at Fort Ticonderoga re-enactment is taken a step farther.  The re-enactors are full time employees of the foundation and each brings an 18th century skill to the table.  Visitors as they take the self-guided tours meet these people as they perform their specialty skill.  Here's one of the cobblers.  They make the shoes of all the re-enactors using 18th century tools.  The cobbler told me he trained with a master cobbler for three years using tools which are over 300 years old.  

He's putting new soles on a pair of shoes

The cobbler told me in the British army of 1750, a soldier was issued a pair of shoes and five pairs of soles.  His shoes (and soles) were expected to last for three years.

When I asked him why he wasn't portraying the American army, he replied they switch each year.  One year they are the French army of 1740; the next year the British army of 1750, and the following year, the American army of 1775.  Next year they will be Americans.   I noticed a wooden bowl and spoon on the bench behind him, and I found out there are cooks who make 18th century recipes for lunch for the staff and re-enactors.  If you are eating outside the break room, you're expected to be eating the type of food someone of the period would have been eating.  The cobbler had pea soup for lunch the day we visited.  Vegetables for use by the cooks are grown (on a smaller scale) in the King's Garden which is adjacent to the fort.

Equally interesting were the tailors.  They make all the uniforms and clothes for the re-enactors.  The day we visited, they were working on miniature uniforms for children who visit to try on. 

In contrast to the cobblers, the tools used by the tailors have really not changed much in 300 years.

There was also a cannon firing demonstration.  It took a well-oiled team to fire a cannon successfully with more steps than I thought possible.  

We have an American loyalist officer (green), a regular British Army officer (red), and a lowly British seaman in high water trousers.  This small cannon has a range of 400 yards - that's four football fields.  Cannon generally shot a six pound ball (think small bowling ball) or a three pound ball (think tennis ball) propelled by a canister of black powder which was ignited by flame applied to a flammable material jammed up next to the canister of powder.  Muskets shot a ball the size of a marble on the same principle.  Here are some examples of actual 'shot'.

Yes, that's my foot & the shadow of my hands.
I couldn't quite get the big cannon balls on the back row

I also enjoyed the mini-history lesson of the fort presented with maps, pictures, and sometimes life sized figures such as these

This is a Mohawk warrior, a British ally in 1750

Here's David Perry, a British citizen of the Colonies, fighting with the British against the French in the French and Indian Wars.

In twenty five years, David Perry, might be a Patriot/Rebel fighting against the British.

Our last tour were the King's Gardens.  In the 18th century, the gardens were less about flowers and more about feeding the army occupying the fort.  Reduced in scale these days, it still is representative, complete with heritage plants, of the types of vegetables which would have been grown in the late 1700's.  Today, it's not only veggies, but also about flowers as well as having a quiet place to enjoy nature.

This gardener was out picking strawberries

And there were beautiful flowers in the 21st century

All in all, this was a great way to end our small trip.  The Fort and its history was really interesting and well done.  As always, there are pictures.  Using the slideshow feature will give you picture captions.  Click on the below link to see the pictures.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/SPNNSnR28RdmiELi9