We went as a family this weekend to an amazing annual event at The Jamestown Settlement, “Military Through the Ages”. I would have never known about if my fabulous sister had not found it in her local paper. Unfortunately, so many of these great programs at historic sites are not well publicized. Our mission at A Day’s Outing is to give you one place to find great events and destinations, just like this one. I will make sure we have this event for next year. And, while I hate to read about great events after the fact, I have to tell you about this one.
Re-enactors from the Viking period, the Third Crusade, Hundred Years War, French and Indian War, American Revolution, War of 1812 and American Civil War. Re-enactors representing World Wars I and II, and Korean and Vietnam wars also took visitors through the 20th century. Until yesterday, the only re-enactment groups I knew of were from the Civil War time period. These groups depicted soldiers throughout history and joined forces with modern-day veterans to demonstrate camp life, tactics, medical treatment and weaponry. My kids loved it! The re-enactors were great with kids, allowing them to try on armor pieces, gas masks, Kevlar jackets…you name it. They were allowed to sit in vehicles, lie down on a prisoner’s bed, practice sword fighting, march with soldiers, etc.
I think another lesson I learned from this day was that no matter how many times you have visited some of these fabulous destinations, their special events are worth going back to attend over and over again. My kids learned so much yesterday…and so did their parents.
The next event at the Jamestown Settlement is Jamestown Day on May 16th. There will be maritime demonstrations, military drills, archaeology and programs on English and Powhatan contact and exploration. There is also a great ongoing exhibit right now, “Jamestown and Bermuda“. Historic Jamestowne next door should also not be missed, you may even see archeologists excavating at the actual fort.
