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“THERE’S A USO DANCE TONIGHT?!”, or How a Trip to See Gettysburg Quickly Devolved Into Hours at a WWII Reenactment

The day we spent attempting to see Gettysburg was an eventful day for our group. Camp Misty Mount, where we were camping, was just a half hour or so away from the famous Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg. Being a kid from the West, I had never visited a Civil War battlefield before (although there are TONS around DC) and thought this would be a good way to spend our day. I was ready to buckle down and learn about a new-to-me period of history! “The Civil War: let’s do this!” I thought, and probably said. Little did we know what fate had in store for us that day.

We got to the complex at Gettysburg around 10:30, and that place is HUGE! There’s a museum and visitor’s center that were completed in 2008, both of which are beautifully done. What we didn’t know before arriving was that President Eisenhower’s private farm is nearby, so when you got to tour the battlefield it works out well to pop by the President’s house and then continue on your driving tour of the battlefield. On the fateful day of our visit, guess what was happening at President Eisenhower’s farm? I don’t think you’re going to guess it, so I am going to tell you: a World War II reenactment, complete with a battle (which we missed), actual WWII veterans (of which there must be only a few left in the U.S.- these guys were old!), and a USO dance in PERIOD COSTUME. As you can imagine, our little group of Europe nerds was sold. We had to go check this thing out!

The Eisenhower farm is a worthwhile place to visit in its own right. The farm is a national historic site and is maintained as it was when Ike lived there, including local farmers growing crops that were planted in the surrounding fields back in the day. I didn’t know much about Ike, so the tour of the house was interesting and provided a good overview of his presidency and personal life. While we were wandering the reenactment campsite, I overheard a woman who was meeting one of the Vets there telling him that she was President Eisenhower’s granddaughter! I think it’s pretty cool that she was back at the house and that there’s still a family connection to the property.

After a comprehensive tour of the house, we were let loose in the reenactment encampment. It was history nerd heaven! All manner of tents, vehicles and people dressed in period costumes were scattered across a couple acres of farmland. We set to work straight away strolling among the tents, asking people questions and poking through all their equipment and supplies. There were tents with all kinds of themes- a medical tent, an auto mechanic, a sewing/quilting tent, a mess hall, an officer’s tent, and lots of refurbished military vehicles. Most of the tents were focused on U.S. troops, but there was also an international presence- Finnish, British, Italian, Polish, Russian, and German camps were also set up.

The German encampment was kind of disturbing- all of the people who were doing reenactments of the Nazis didn’t seem like they had a very good idea of the history behind what they were doing. None of them spoke German except for one woman with a very specific knowledge of Krankenschwestern (Nurses) on the Eastern Front. I have to be honest- they were a little skeezy. The other weird part about it was that it takes a lot to get your hands on old Nazi loot in Germany, so to have amassed such a huge collection of it in the United States seems strange to me.

Katelyn, in her infinite good luck and friendliness towards all, secured us a ride on one of the restored military vehicles that a few of the friendlier U.S. camps had. We got to take a quick loop around the fields complete with period music and our driver greeting everyone we passed by addressing their rank (“Move along there Corporal!”). It was excellent in a way that only a ride in a historic vehicle can be.

We wrapped up just in time to head back to the visitor’s center to check out the Gettysburg museum (I’d recommend it if you’re in the area- it’s huge, new, and very well-curated!) and do a half-hearted version of the auto tour of the actual battlefield. I am a lackluster Civil War history buff, but a good time was had by all before we returned to camp to cook dinner over a campfire that barely puttered along no matter what we did.

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Camp Misty Mount in Maryland

Doesn’t Camp Misty Mount sound like the title of a feel-good children’s movie? I’m thinking the Parent Trap meets a coming-of-age teen romance. There would be s’mores, and life lessons, and at least one incident in which someone falls into a lake fully clothed.

In September, feeling adventurous, I rented a cabin with a few friends in Maryland for a weekend of glamour-camping fun. Actually, I take that back. It wasn’t glamour camping. Camping is inherently not glamorous. Camping is all about tying stuff together with a piece of rope you had in your trunk and eating stuff that fell on the ground and cooking as much bacon as possible. All of the bacon. More bacon than is reasonable for any four (fine, two- Katelyn and I did most of the bacon eating while the rest of the group was still asleep) people to consume in one morning.

Camp Misty Mount is cool because it was built during the Great Depression as a public works project, which means its a little dated and mostly used for scout groups these days. The cabins themselves were in great shape, but there are just SO MANY BUGS ON THE EAST COAST. It is horrifying. I’m not a squeamish person, but I still get the heebie jeebies around here when I find some of the bigger bugs. They are all such creepy crawlies! One pleasant new experience for me on this trip was ACTUAL COCKROACHES trying to snag bites of the food we set out on our picnic table while we were cooking. Nothing like checking your handful of pretzels for a cockroach under your headlamp before chowing down. Given the bug situation, I think I’d actually rather sleep in a tent that provides full on anti-bug netting than get the “perk” of sleeping on a cot in a cabin. After I got back to DC, I was telling a friend about our experiences and she proceeded to tell me about two times that she stayed in similar digs- one during which a raccoon came out from under the beds while the group was asleep, and another during which a LIVE SNAKE FELL ON HER FACE FROM THE CEILING. I will take a tent for all future camping trips, please and thank you.

Other topics of note for this trip: I scored big time before we left and got an awesome vintage two burner propane stove at goodwill for $7. It worked great! We also went on a hike the day we left at the nearby state park that was fine- not hard at all, but at least it was good to get outside. That’s pretty much my measurement of hiking around here now- are you outside? If the answer is yes, it’s a good hike for the East Coast. Our big activity while we were staying at Misty Mount was visiting Gettysburg, which turned into an epic day of history nerdiness. Stay tuned for another post on that.

Obermeyer out!

Garden Update: The End, The End

Pardon my major garden update delay- the damn thing started producing so many tomatoes that blogging about it, much like managing the amount of fruit coming at us, seemed like a futile endeavor. I’ve just returned to the DC after a month away, and the garden has held up fairly well even with the beginning of cold weather. The photos above are from the end of August.

Tomatoes– The tomatoes I planted all did pretty well, but the winners by a mile were the Cherokee Purples, both those that I bought at the Arboretum plant sale and the ones I grew from seed. Once they started ripening they just couldn’t stop- we had massive tomatoes and massive amounts of them. In my over-zealous planting extravaganza last spring, I also put a few tomato plants in 10 gallon buckets. This ended up being a terrible idea once the novelty wore off and the watering schedule set in- things planted in buckets require water, like, all the time. This every-other-day watering got old fast, the plants didn’t grow nearly as fast as those we had in the ground, and the few times we had big storms they got blown over and nearly knocked out of the pots. Next year I am going to skip the buckets and only use our garden bed.

Basil– The basil we grew was amazing and lasted all summer as long as I kept pinching back the flowers. We barely used any of it at our house (sadly- how did I skip making caprese salad even one time this summer?!) but it was a great thing to be able to give to people in great big bunches. I think I will plant some again just for that purpose.

Beans– I planted some scarlet runner bean seeds as an experiment alongside another bean plant I bought as a sprout at a nursery. The scarlet runner beans were nutrient-deprived (as was much else in the garden, more on that in a minute) and could barely compete with the other bean plant for much of the summer, although once the larger green bean plant started to die off the scarlet runners were still holding up pretty well. The beans all looked pretty good, but again, I never ate them. Wah-wahhhh.

Kale and Lettuce– I pulled up the lettuce about half-way through the summer, but we ate a lot of it when it was doing well and I would certainly plant it again. The kale never really took off as I expected, but I did make kale chips a couple times. I think I need to restrain myself and plant it later in the year next time.

Jalapeños and Bell Peppers– these were both awesome to have around. We used a surprising number of jalapeños for pizzas, salsa, pico, and more. The bush of them that I planted grew really well and produced a surprising amount of fruit consistently throughout the summer. My only beef with these things is that whenever I would cut them up my hands would burn for hours afterwards- and they weren’t even that spicy! It was weird. The one bell pepper plant we did produced some tasty peppers but only a total of about 6 over the summer. Next year I’m going to quadruple our bell pepper plants and cut way back on the tomato situation. I also planted a small salsa pepper (I think that’s verbatim what the label said) and one very hot pepper plant, both of which were productive but neither of which saw much action on the dinner table.

Dahlias– These were my favorite thing I grew this year. I bought two bushes at the Arboretum plant sale in April, and for whatever reason one of them took off like a bat out of hell, growing to 10x its original size and producing endless small purple flowers. I cut them to take to work, to give to friends, for my room, and for our dining room table. It was great!

Zinnias– I bought a packet of zinnias on a whim for a dollar fifty, and they ended up being another nice floral addition to the garden. They grow super fast and multiple as you cut flowers from the plants, so by the end of the summer they were producing a few blooms a week in all different colors.

Watermelon, eggplant, and Mexico midget tomatoes– I don’t think I will plant any of these again next year. The watermelon and eggplant completely failed and the Mexico midget tomatoes did a weird thing where they would grow, produce fruit, die, and then start growing again in weird directions. The garden gets plenty of sunlight but they ended up super spindly anyway.

Next year I’ve got a few changes in mind, namely planting a lot more flowers, cutting back on the plants I put in containers outside of the garden bed, improving the soil quality by purchasing a bunch of dirt (that’s when you know you’re an adult- when you’re psyched about buying dirt), and planting more bell peppers for our culinary enjoyment. T’was a lovely summer of growing things!

Lost Lake and Ned, or Grizzled Old Salmon Eaters

On my warp-speed July Colorado trip I tried to get in as much outside time as possible. I decided to branch out a bit and try out the hike to Lost Lake, which is really close to the tiny town of Nederland (just up the canyon from Boulder) and a very popular destination out of the front range. Indeed, the trail was pretty busy when I went up, but the views were amazing and the Indian Peaks Wilderness (one of my favorites) is just stunning. The Fourth of July Trailhead (where this hike, and many other favorites of mine, like Diamond Lake) is always packed, so I took a shuttle from the park’n’ride in Nederland up to the trail.

Ned is a funny place- it’s a hippie haven, but still retains that old west feel. There’s a big fancy German restaurant (a must for a good mountain town) and a bunch of shops selling crystals and all manners of goodness for your inner goddess. Definitely entertaining to check out if you get the chance.

My shuttle bus driver was a great Nederlander example- he was super friendly, and while we were waiting for others to board the bus he realized he had hit a bee on his windshield, which he promptly scraped off and saved to “identify later”. This was all accompanied by joyous whooping and discussion of the different types of wild bees.

In true Ned fashion, another grizzled old mountain man boarded and proceeded to ask his fellow bus riders how long we thought salmon would keep unrefridgerated. The bus consensus was about a week- I’m not sure how accurate that is, but this guy looked like he had probably already eaten a lot of weird old stuff out in the wilderness, so I’m sure he was fine.

The hike is short- maybe 4 miles roundtrip- so I finished the whole trip from Boulder to the lake and back in about 4 hours. Arriving at the lake, I kept with tradition and peeled off my hiking boots and socks to dip my toes in the water. It’s a real treat to get to spend some time gazing out at the mountains on a sunny day, even more so when you don’t get to see ’em all that often. I then set up my hammock at a campsite by the lake for a brief nap, which was glorious. Bringing a hammock hiking is always a good idea.

I’m about to bike to work and will hopefully miss the Pope-pacalyptic traffic that’s due to strike the nation’s capitol today. Happy Wednesday!

Music Mondays: Lost It To Trying (Paper Towns Remix) by Son Lux

Guys, the soundtrack for Paper Towns is amazzzinng. 10/10, would recommend to a friend on the internet.

What will we do now, we’ve lost it to trying…

A Quick Trip to Boulder

I went to an absolutely lovely wedding this summer in Boulder. I had a blast revisiting wonderful people and a wonderful city set in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Colorado, you may be getting crowded, but damn. You still got it.
I hiked the 3rd/4th Flatirons during the day before the wedding; the place was packed for a Friday but the sweet peas were blooming and everything was delightfully green. I tromped into the grass to get these photos, following the footsteps of what must have been many a couple taking wedding or engagement photos before me. What a backdrop, eh?

A Pittsburgh Tea Party, or The Raven and the Writing Desk

Have I told you all about my friend Katelyn? Katelyn is a journalist, and she lives in Pittsburgh. She has the best stories, is always willing to eat pastries with me, and can strike up an interesting conversation with anyone. Katelyn, of course, had the great idea to host a tea party one weekend when Bridget and I had come up from DC for her improv (!!!) show, and it was a great afternoon. There’s not much that’s better than a good excuse to bake ALL THE THINGS, and this was one of those opportunities. I don’t think we get enough of them.

The menu included staples like the SVC (Swedish visiting cake), tiny British almond cakes, baked Brie, Trader Joe’s white cheddar, and whole variety of delicious teas from Katelyn’s collection. And what interesting people she had gathered! One woman teaches at a Jewish boy’s school in the city, and she had some very interesting stories about the kids she teaches who are in the middle of growing up in an orthodox community.

I should probably also take this opportunity to rave about improv- what great fun to watch! Bridget and I had reasonable expectations going in to the show, but were totally blown out of the water by how fun and funny it ended up being. And to think that none of the material existed before it began! It takes some bravery to stand on a stage in any circumstance, let alone in an improv show, so props to everyone for doing such a great job. What also made it fun was that we had met several of the other women in the group beforehand, and it was great to have gotten to chat with them and then watch them struggle and soar through various scenes. It was a gutbuster of an evening, and I will gladly be back.

I’m so excited I wet my plants! or A Garden Update for June

Nothing like a little plant pun to start your Friday off right. It’s time for a garden update. Last time I waxed poetic on the topic (here), the garden was but a shadow of its current existence. Things have exploded everywhere! Let’s go through and see what’s been going on with all the plants. This a long one so settle in and make some more coffee before you get started.

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General Notes

The garden came with the house and was well along with tomatoes, beets, and carrots when we moved in last summer. This year, I added almost nothing to the soil composition in an effort to save money on buying gigantic bags of soil. I added as many leaves as I could scoop up to stir in in the fall and then added a large amount of compost from our pile in the bottom of each plant I put in and on top after I realized the tomatoes seemed to be growing a little slowly. Things are growing, but I wouldn’t say they are growing well, and I would expect that in this kind of extremely humid and warm climate everything should be growing like a weed. I think the soil has also been compacted since the garden plot was first installed; looking at it now, there is a solid 4-5 inches of wood showing around the edges of the plot. If I choose to do a major soil overhaul next year, it will take a LOT (I’m thinking 6-8 giant bags of soil) to really resupply the soil in this bed properly.

There seems to be a real dichotomy between plants grown at the west end of the plot versus those grown at the east end. The house blocks the sun for part of the day on the eastern side, but there is still a good amount of direct sun on the entire area for most of the day. I planted many of my plants on an East/West line this year, for next year I would think about planting them along the North/South axis.

I think we lack pollinators in the city. I rarely see bees in the garden and I think it is impacting the production levels of the plants. So sad.

The Lettuce and Kale Situation

Lettuce is the plant we’ve used the most so far from the garden. I’ve been putting a lot of it on sandwiches for lunch, and it’s really nice to not have to buy an entire head when you just want a few leaves. I didn’t think I really wanted to plant any lettuce and elected to grow it primarily because I thought it would be an easy plant not to kill, but it’s ended up being eaten fairly regularly on our end. What a nice surprise!

Kale, on the other hand, is doing fine. Not great, just fine. I grew it, the lettuce and a few other plants directly from seed, and I think I started them all way too early. The lettuce and kale in particular were clamoring to be released from their sprout container chains weeks before it was safe to put them out. Next year I either need to get a small grow light, purchase stronger seedlings, or be patient and wait several weeks longer before starting seeds. I wonder if it will grow slowly all summer and then flourish in the fall- Kale isn’t supposed to like intense heat like summer in DC. The local school has a gigantic kale plant in their garden that survived over the winter that I am very jealous of. #Heidiproblems

Basils

The basils I planted are, again, growing very slowly but seem to be doing ok. There were a lot of initial problems with all the seedings and bugs, but organic insecticide and increases in size seem to have stifled their plant eating progress sufficiently. Both types- Thai and regular- have surprisingly small leaves and, again, don’t seem to love the heat the way I would expect. The regular basil is pretty good but has a slight bitter tang, which I suspect is from the poor soil quality.

Watermelon and Eggplant: A total bust

I had planted seeds for moon and star watermelon that were all eaten or withered away as soon as they sprouted. On a run to a local nursery I decided to try buying another watermelon seedling and it has been a total fail so far. It’s been in the ground for about a month and hasn’t died, but also has not grown AT ALL. I don’t think this bodes well. The eggplant I purchased is the same way- same nursery, same problem with no growth but also not dying. It’s just sitting there. I’m curious to see what happens with these two and have tentatively added them to my “don’t bother” list for next time.

Tomatoes, particularly Ja’mie, Private School Tomato

The tomatoes are doing great! At least, enough of them are doing great that I am 99% sure I will get a few fruits out of the deal. I planted three different types- Cherokee Purple, Gold Medal, and Mexico Midgets. The Cherokee purple have proven to be amazing- they are doing well in both their potted and in-ground forms and are forming several large fruit per plant already. I expect more to come. The Gold Medal plants that survived (2) are also doing well but seem much slower than the Cherokee purple. They also have produced fewer fruits per plant so far, but it could be that they just need more time to ripen or produce more fruit later in the season. Ja’mie, Private School Tomato, is a Gold Medal and she is doing great! I just repotted two container tomatoes into 5 gallon buckets because I was sick of constantly watering them. The Mexico Midgets were slow to get going but now are coming into their own, and several of them have fruit in a few places.

Peppers: The Unsung Hero

The peppers have also faired surprisingly well. Who knew jalapeños were so easy to grow?! I have two jalapeño plants and they are both doing quite well, although one is producing the majority of the peppers. We’ve used several of them now in guac and on pizzas and they are delicious. My bell pepper has also produced two peppers and is now starting to form new leaves and flowers since I took away the energy suck of the two peppers that had already grown.

Flowers for everyone!

The two dahlias I bought are doing amazingly well! One has turned into a huge bushy plant with lots of blooms, a total steal for just $3 at the National Arboretum plant sale. The other seems to be more slowly growing but is still blooming prolifically. I grew several Johnny Jump-Ups from seeds, but was lazy and only planted one before they got washed out in one of our heavy rainstorms. They are doing well and quietly multiply by themselves. They remind me of my grandmother who always had lots of them filling in the cracks of her garden. I’ve started some Zinnias also but need to put them into the ground. They have been nailed by bugs munching on the leaves but are still salvageable.

Zucchinis: The easiest plant, but why so hard?

My zucchinis are completely failing. So far no fruits that have lasted and many leaves are yellowing and falling off. I think they are overcrowded and now getting pollinated to produce fruit as there have been many blossoms but no fruit so far. These are supposed to be ridiculously easy to grow, so I must be doing something wrong.

Beans and Peas please!

I bought one pea plant on a whim and then planted some scarlet runner beans as well to see if I could get some of their pretty red flowers to bloom. So far no flowers, but I love how the pea and bean plants look climbing up the trellis. Next near I plan to create a wall of them between the garden and our seating area out back so that they form a natural shade barrier- it gets extremely hot out there with direct sun in the afternoon, which makes it tough to grill or sit outside for dinner. Peas to the rescue!

Other Random Plants

I also have mint (growing vigorously, obviously), green onions I stuck in a pot from the grocery store (doing great), and cilantro (almost done, but grew very well).

Rogue Plants

I’ve let a few rogue plants stick around and am now kind of regretting have done so. I transplanted one rogue cucumber plant into a pot and it is doing pretty well, but I don’t love it. Another one sprouted in the compost pile- pictured above- and has totally taken over that part of the yard. No objects though- I think it’s a pretty natural barrier around the compost pile. I also let a tomato continue to grow that I thought was of the same amazing cherry variety that we loved last summer in this garden, but I think it’s growing from some random grocery store seed that was in the compost. It’s very leggy and the fruit that it’s producing is tear-drop shaped- any suggestions on what to do with this one would be appreciated.

We have blackberries! They are amazing and just starting to ripen. That’s been a nice surprise.

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In conclusion, things are growing, mostly well. Only time will tell what the future will bring me in terms of vegetables! Any tips or tricks for some of the problems I’ve mentioned above? I’d love to hear them!