Please read this...Escaping to the past...for a little while anyway

Call me old-fashioned, 'cause I guess in some ways, I am, well, old-fashioned.

I don't do Facebook, even though it appears to have become a necessary tool to utilize as part of The Journey Through Life in the 21st century. Ditto for cell phones, which I also don't like, but tolerate.

(FYI: I am not a Luddite. I do like my laptop. And my digital camera. My laptop is way better than the typewriters I used back in days of covering the pharaohs. And I much prefer a digital camera to the old-time tools that used film.)

For a while, a couple of weekends ago, yours truly had an opportunity to escape (sort of) from the wonders of the 21st century. In order to escape, though, I had to utilize one of the wonderful inventions of the last hundred years or so. That would be an automobile.

An automobile was necessary, mainly because I didn't want to walk the 80 or so miles which would be covered for my escape. Someday, it might be interesting to walk that far. Someday.

The escape involved a journey to the annual Fort Massac Encampment. The encampment is held each October at Fort Massac State Park in Metropolis. We've made the journey to the encampment for many, many years, and we have many fond memories of our experiences.

Lots of other folks seem to like going to the Fort Massac Encampment, too. And I truly mean "lots" of folks. Thousands of them.  

With the potential for such a crowd at the event, we've tried to get to Fort Massac as early as possible on the day that we go. Sometimes, that works. This time, not so much.

Yours truly arrived in Metropolis at about 10:30 in the a.m. on the Saturday of the encampment. The event takes place on a Saturday and Sunday. Activities were scheduled to start at 10 a.m., so I figured that 10:30 would be plenty early enough to beat the crowd.

Wrong. 

Getting into the park for the encampment took about 250 years, which wasn't all that bad, considering where I wanted to go. Got the car parked, somewhere in Joppa or Brookport. Not really. But I did get to take a nice long walk to the fort.

I spent about an hour and a half just wandering around, talking to folks, taking pictures, enjoying a bit of a break from 2017. 

One of the folks I talked to was a Lewis and Clark expedition reenactor. Nice guy. But I couldn't help but notice that the guy from 1804, or so, had a smart phone in his hand. He probably does Facebook.

Listening to music from the 1700s and early 1800s is one of my favorite things about going to the encampment. Fifes and drums. Bagpipes. That's my kind of music. The Other Half just shakes her head. 

You'll note that there are pictures of musicians with this week's colyum. If you allow your imagination to work, you might be able to hear the music... 

There's one other thing about the encampment that I like. Cookies. For a number of years, one of the groups at the encampment has baked cookies in a stone oven which is situated on the grounds of the fort. The molasses cookie I had was really good...

Enough for now. Got to get back to the 21st century. Unfortunately. 

The Gazette-Democrat

112 Lafayette St.
Anna, Illinois 62906
Office Number: (618) 833-2158
Email: news@annanews.com

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