CWTI: American Revolution Museum (Outside)

The outside portion of the American Revolution Museum in Yorktown, Virginia, is a living history area that is plumb full of things to see.  An 18th Century military camp is the first thing that catches the eye.  If one too quickly scans the area, one will discount is as "a bunch of tents".  In fact there is much more to see, when one peels back the flaps to peer inside.  Stocked with supplies and the accoutrements of the day, there is recreated history here, sans soldiers.  If only we could hear the conversations and smell the campfires!

We can imagine the activity surrounding General Washington's tent, reproduced here with furniture and trunks that must have been in the real thing.  We imagine the excitement of decoding a masked message from a spy.  We imagine the gruesome conditions that must have accompanied the surgeon's tools.

We also see a local cabin, complete with representations of 18th Century lifestyle, including a spilling wheel, drying herbs, a cat appropriately named Rochambeau.  We also notice the slave cabin and a barn that sports curing tobacco leaves overhead.

If we're not careful, we will see only the romanticized version of this place.  We might fail to see the ugliness that comes along with it - enslavement, blood, and tears, as well as the sweat of anticipation as the soldiers blow through this location on their ways to the British fort and redoubts, nearby, in hopes of turning the world upside down in a decisive battle with British forces that will decide the future fate of the Revolution.