I am actually trying to make good on my promises to have fun field trips. Today we attempted to go back a few hundred years and visit how the Potowatami Indians lived in the 1750s, see the pre-civil war log cabin from the 1850s, and see the 1910 farm at a local living historical farm.
I say attempt because our trip was cut short by a thunderstorm that moved in. I was heartbroken that we made the 45 minute trip, only to be able to stay for an hour. We did get to see the farmhouse and the cabin, but we barely got a chance to see any of the planned activities at the Indian camp because of the looming storm. Knowing that just the day before, bad tornado ripped through our area (hitting mostly the IL side of the border), we weren’t up for taking chances (and neither were the re-enacters), since we had no idea where we would find shelter in the case of a really severe thunderstorm or tornado. My children, still very young, saw the black wall of clouds and were very scared. We were at least a mile from our car and we left with the children really upset another tornado was going to come through. Fortunately, we were on the southernmost tip of the storm, so we barely were affected by it. However, you never know because these storms can quickly change course, and home was in the direction of the storm.
I was able to snap a few pictures before we had to head out and find shelter though.
In the 1850s log cabin:
At the Indian camp
An Indian actor (okay, maybe not a real Indian, but you get the idea):
The wigwam without it’s protective cover:
Outside a wigwam:
On the inside:
Curing meat
closeup:
But I am totally bummed because we didn’t get to participate in the woodland games, or participate in the music they were going to do. While the farm is open during the summer and early fall season, the Indian Camp was only for this weekend. I’m so sad that it got cut short.
Well, we can’t complain too much. It was FREE. We did get to see some farm animals, and see apples and pears and cherries growing on some trees. We had a nice (albeit very windy) picnic lunch before hand. It was much better than vegging at home playing video games.
The Wonder Years 