I have to start packing soon....?

I just got back from a WONDERFUL VICTORY at our final Jeopardy extravaganza--> I messed up a few times during the game, getting names wrong and such, but redeemed myself by knowing the answer to the Final Jeopardy Question and winning candy bars for my team. HUZZAH!-- so I'm a little adrenaline crazy. Also the other three girls that are on my floor and in Civil War and myself had a dance party, which was fun. :D I'm definitely going to miss them!

On Wednesday we visited Gaines Mill Battlefield and Cold Harbor National Cemetery, and today we visited Shockoe Hill Cemetery, the Hebrew Burying Ground, and Hollywood Cemetery. This basically means I stepped on a few graves and saw lots of dead people. You might be wondering why we went here- aren't we supposed to be learning about the Civil War? Well, we were talking about how people remembered the Civil War, which I found fascinating coming from NJ and having a more Northern view. I loved seeing how Southerners memorialized the war and remembered their dead!

We walked the path that Confederate soldiers from Texas charged up as they forced the Union soldiers to flee at the Battle of Gaines Mill. We also reenacted it, which involved me running up a hill; I took a very blurry video.

Cold Harbor National Cemetery; a very sedate and peaceful place.

A medal of honor recipient!!

A marker memorializing all the unknown soldiers buried there; some are inside the cemetery's walls and others are buried outside the wall. I can't even believe the amount of unidentified bodies they must have found; brutal!

I placed a penny on the grave of this unknown soldier; this symbolizes that someone has come by and paid their respects.

John and Mary Marshall's graves in Shockoe Hill Cemetery!!

The grave of Elizabeth Van Lew; a woman of high standing in Richmond, she was a spy for the Union during the Civil War. She not only gave aid to Union POWs but also helped some escape prisons!

The graves of some young girls who died during the Confederate Laboratory explosion; it was a munitions factory that exploded during the Civil War. Mainly young women were working here; some were as young as twelve!

President James Monroe's fancy grave aka The Birdcage!

'His Accidency' John Tyler's grave.

The view from Hollywood Cemetery; beautiful!!

Tomorrow is a pretty free day; we're meeting with admissions people in the morning, but other than that I'll be working on my journal!!

I can hear the Colonial people returning, so I have to go continue writing my journal!!

-Tessa :D