Independence Day Celebration - Fort Benning 2019

I worked our annual Independence Day Celebration last weekend.  I always have a blast even though it's an exhausting day!

I got these great Magellan brand shorts from Academy, they are really light and dry real quick!  I also found these great Sketchers sandals on amazon.  I have been trying to find a good price on a pair of Chaco's but I couldn't find a pair I liked at a price I was willing to pay.  These are GREAT sandals.  I wore them from 9am to 11pm Saturday and my feet didn't hurt at all the next morning.  My quads were another story!!

Early in the morning while the stage was still being set up.

 

 My morning shift from 9-2 was helping set up the Freedom Club tent. 

By 1245 I'd already walked 3 miles!

At 2 I transitioned to helping the food and beverage manager as a "backstage ice runner".  My job was to make sure each of the three artist's rooms had ice and they didn't need anything.

I changed into my event shirt and away I went!

I bought this runners belt for like $16 bucks on amazon.  It had two zippered pouches.  I kept my phone, debit and ID card and my tokens for food in it.  This is also how I counted my steps with my phone sitting right on my lower back.

Two of Lady Antebellum's tour buses!!!

Me and my trusty cart doing our every 30 minutes lap!

It's 4pm and we are ready to kick off Independence Day 2019!!! 'merica

330 and up to 5 miles!

Seriously my feet were DIRTY after walking around in that grass all day!  But comfortable shoes!!!!

Corn is usually not allowed on my diet but I LOVE this vendor's roasted corn.  I figured I had already walked 5 miles at that point so I totally YOLO'd.

Ohana stopped by and came and saw me inside where I was working.  The older girl was complaining that her feet hurt and she had blisters.  Asked her if she was wearing socks and of course not because that wouldn't be cute with those shoes!  I had brought a pair of sneakers should I need to change out of my sketchers and a pair of my favorite no shoe socks.  I went and gave her my socks and all was right in her world!

The trainee's meeting Bailey Bryan, one of our artists for the night.

LADY ANTEBELLUM!!!!!

Just like last year I had an awesome view!!!

One of the dancers was also at the concert so we snagged a picture together.  She was on one side of the fence and me on the other.

My view for most of the concert.

Fort Benning doesn't mess around with fireworks.  We put on a 25 minute show!!!

Y'all TEN FREAKIN miles I walked on saturday!!!

Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park

We have been to Chattanooga a number of times.  Never once have we stumbled upon this spot.  Neither one of our iphones were trying to let us use the maps on them.  Normally our maps find the quickest route (as my installed GPS in my flex is 7 years old - it doesn't find new roads that make routes quicker), but because they weren't working we had to use the GPS in the flex.  We took the shorter route (though it said it was longer, because we weren't going straight highway, and in our experience it usually isn't that much longer since we are bypassing Atlanta traffic. We ALWAYS find some cool stuff along the way.)

So the GPS routed us through the Chickamauga battlefield.  Like you drive right through it.  We didn't have time to stop on our way into Chattanooga but knew we would take time on our way back through to tour what we could.

 

We first stopped at the visitors center.  They had a gift shop, a gun collection and a huge map.  Also the rangers of the park were on hand to welcome us and let us know what we needed to know about the park and navigating it.

 Entrance to the visitors center.

They handed us a pamphlet with some facts/history on it as well as the park's map.  They pointed out that there was an interactive guide to the park.  Each stop is marked with the cannon balls and a number (below picture), and that's how you know which number stop to play and a lady comes on with a pre-recorded history "lesson" on what happened at that spot.



Cannonballs at tour stop 2.

This is the big map in the middle of the visitors center.

 This area had some artifacts and static displays in it.

 Cale loved the tent.

 

 How a spencer rifle changed the tides of the war.  Even had a little video of how it was to shoot both types of guns. 

 This room had 300 guns in it.  It was a husband and wives private collection, before it was donated to the center.

 

 More displays.

 Had a short video of how Chickamauga happened.

 We were inside long enough to catch the video on the 3 day battle.  Apparently girls are stinky so they chose to sit in the middle of the theater.

 

  Outside the park where you can take the driving tour.  Each state/battalion/battery that had a part in Chickamauga has a monument set up.  This is Florida's.

  I believe this is Kentucky's.

 

  Wisconsin

 I believe this is tour stop 3 and it had a little hike you could take and go farther back into the woods.

 I was pinteresting the park before we got there and it looked like a lot of people had taken pictures and "ghosts" had appeared in them.  So Cale took a ton of pictures to try and catch one.

 This is the tallest monument in the park. 

 We didn't make any more tour stops as most of them required you to get off the highway and not into a parking lot.  So we just drove through.

 Can't really see but there is another monument WAY out in the distance in the middle of the picture at the tree line.

I think this was a great experience for us a family, as it was our first battlefield.  They are all over the south but this is our first being able to stop and tour.  As we were touring Kennedie mentioned she had done a report on the battle last year.  I thought it was cool to be able to seen the park after her report and get a first hand experience.