Exploring the local history.

On Friday I explored the closest mall with an Army wife friend of mine for a little while. Truth be told, there's not too much in that mall that interests me except for a couple decent department stores. I've heard that there's a nicer mall somewhere a little farther away, though, so perhaps someday we'll try again. Regardless, it was nice to go somewhere new for a change, and it's not like I do much shopping anyway.


At seven AJ's class leader wanted to take us out to dinner to get to know us a bit, so we went to the Italian restaurant that's very close by. It was a bit more of a business dinner than something to do just for fun, but I still enjoyed getting to know C better and it's always a treat when someone wants to buy you dinner. 


On Saturday the weather was finally decent enough for us to visit Pamplin Historical Park, a museum I had actually visited on a family vacation when I was my sister's age. I remembered loving it when I was about twelve so I was really hoping that it would be just as great the second time. And it was! Brief history lesson: Petersburg was under siege up until the end of the Civil War. The Confederate Army was focused on defending their supply lines in and around the area where we live, which was crucial to continuing the war. The Confederates constructed trenches and earthworks all around the city to keep the Union Army from capturing it. The Union Army eventually decided to try to capture Petersburg in April 1865, and they outnumbered the Confederates defending Petersburg 5 to 1. The Union soldiers charged right over the defenses the Confederates had built and chased them all around the area, eventually raising the American flag over Petersburg. General Lee surrendered at Appomatox Courthouse (very close to us) just a couple days later.


We started our visit to the museum with the inside exhibit, where you learn about different aspects of life as a Civil War soldier through headphones. At the beginning you pick a real soldier to follow throughout the exhibit, and you hear about their experiences in the war until the end, where you learn their fate. Both of our soldiers died of disease during the war. :( After you go through that exhibit you can tour the grounds, which are set up to be like they were during the war. You can visit slave quarters, a farmhouse original to the property, a reproduced Confederate winter camp, and the original earthworks where the battle took place. We also saw a rifle demonstration, where they teach you all the steps it took to fire a Civil War rifle and actually end up firing it for you.


The day was unbelievably humid and periodically rainy, but we still had a great time. AJ the soldier loved learning about the Civil War as much as I did and we got to appreciate the history that happened right where we live. 


That night we went out for sushi with J and R, which was fun as always. R and I laughed about our fears that we're going to end up running or driving into some top secret gate when we're out and about on post by ourselves. That's when J told us that the Army tries really hard to make families feel at home on post, so no one would purposely intimidate us or make us feel uncomfortable. Here's an example: Soldiers aren't allowed to run with headphones on post, but the MPs and other soldiers are very careful not to bother anyone who looks like they might be family. Post doesn't always feel very home-y to me, because it's clearly an Army base, but the more time I spend there by myself the less intimidated I am by the military. I'm learning that people in the Army actually have a lot of respect for us family members and know that without our sacrifice and support we wouldn't have the Army that we do in the U.S. I really appreciate the way the Army acknowledges and respects me as a wife. It's not always overt respect, but I can tell nonetheless.


This morning we went to church and Bible study again, which we like a lot. Our Bible study has a great mix of military and non-military, and it's funny to hear military members use the lingo accidentally or poke fun at themselves. It seems that there are Army people transitioning in and out of the group pretty often, so we're definitely not alone. Last week the JAG commander for Fort Lee was there (AJ knew him because he gave a UCMJ briefing) and today we found out that one of the leaders is a Major and a Quartermaster like AJ. He has been instrumental in making us feel at home and even suggested we have lunch with him and his wife sometime. AJ and I are by far the youngest members of the group, but we actually really appreciate learning from couples who are older and more experienced than we are. We spend so much time with people in their 20s that we think it's healthy to be in a Bible study for more middle-aged couples. People still ask us all the time if we have kids, though! I mean, I know that it's common to have children at our age in the military, but it's really strange to get asked that when we look so young and just got married!




Now we're just hanging around the apartment for a change. AJ has a group project meeting tonight, and I'd really love to just chill today for once, but I'm thinking we need to get started on our wedding album so as not to worry my mother. ;) Peace out from Petersburg.