martinzoo

Today we had a field trip to The 1611 Citie of Henricus. It was a blast! GB got to experience being “Militia for a day. ” Henricus was named for James I’s eldest son, Henry. It was the first successful economy, due to tobacco crop prosperity. They also boasted the first English hospital, Mt. Malady: and the charter of America’s first college in 1619, the Colledge of Henricus. Henricus was also the first English home of Pocahontas, who was the daughter of Chief Powhatan.

W e will have to go back someday soon, because our tour today did not include the hospital or the colledge (isn’t it cool how it was spelled?), or the Indian village. Today we focused on one of the strengths of the settlement: the militia.

The first thing we did was tour a soldier’s one-room home. It had a tiny cot for sleeping, a fireplace dominating one wall, and pegs held his armor and weapons and artillery. It was pointed out to us that the house was made of mud and wooden planks and the roof was made from thatch. It was a very short house because they had to make these homes quickly so they could occupy them. But they weren’t tents, so that was an improvement for many of them.

We also learned the importance of the garden. Vegetables were so necessary for well-being and health. They also had an herb garden. The children got to use a hoe to help with the planting that the park will begin shortly, since it is Spring. Nice free labor, and the kids thought it was GREAT fun. In fact, GB asked me if we have a hoe…LOL!

The kids got to check out a real watch tower and put muskets through the holes in the wall. And since our group was about 90% boys, they thought this was a good time for a pretend battle. Luckily, our tour guide was the most patient man ever. He answered SO many questions, many of them from my little man. He said he loved homeschoolers because they ask such great questions.

The big hit of the day was militia training. The children spent close to 45 minutes learning drills. Some kids were targeteers; they were charged with protecting the musketeers while they were reloading their muskets. And some, like GB, were musketeers; they stood behind the targeteers and shot the enemy with musket guns. GB was thrilled to be handling his fake little musket. He and the boy next to him were really enjoying the practice.

I’m not sure this was part of the tour, but ALL the kids wanted to try on the armor - even the girls. And the tour guide was very indulgent. I think it was supposed to be a one hour program, but it ended up being almost two hours. They really looked SO cute in the armor. Those little girls could barely stand up, the armor was so heavy.

It was a great trip, and as you can see from the photos, the kids were all into wearing orange and maroon in support of Virginia Tech. I’m afraid I was slacking in that department since all of our orange sport shirts have UVA emblazoned on them. But our hearts were with them all day. And GB explained to some of the children that the flags were raised at half-mast to show honor to the victims of the shooting.