Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:13:33 -0500 (EST)
From: Bwstories8@aol.com
Subject: Castaway Hotel: Next Generation, chapter 6

The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation - by BW
Copyright 2011 by billwstories
Chapter 6 -- Having More Fun.

The next morning, I called each of the rooms and made
sure everyone was up and getting ready again.  Today, we
were going to the Adventure Aquarium in Philly, since I
figured it was another activity that all of us could enjoy.
Once we were gathered together, we set out to be amazed.

We started off at the 'West African River Experience,'
where we met Button and Genny, two humongous Nile
hippos.  We learned that hippos were the most dangerous
animals in Africa and can open their mouths up to four
feet.  That's wide enough for them to be capable of
snatching Kylie, Joshie or Lucas while they are standing
up.  However, as we watched these particular creatures,
they didn't seem to be very dangerous.  Instead, they
acted like a couple of kids, as they frolicked together in
the water and pressed their noses against the viewing
glass.

"Papa, I could fit in his mouth," Joshie squealed, when
one of the hippos opened wide.

"Yes, you could, but I don't think you'd want to do that," I
teased.

"No!  It would squish you," Lucas added, while giving his
cousin a concerned glance.

The hippos were actually quite comical, but we were also
impressed by the variety of birds that were in the
enclosure with them, along with the African porcupine.

>From there, we went to 'Shark Realm,' which was a
fascinating, yet slightly terrifying exhibit.  This was due to
the fact that we were in a transparent tunnel running
through the tank and surrounded by an assortment of
sharks and other creatures.  It really made us feel as if we
were underwater and at the mercy of those terrifying
creatures.

"Can we go somewhere else?" Megan asked, as one of the
sharks swam in her direction.  "I feel like that shark wants
to eat me."

"He probably does," her brother, Jordan, quipped.  "At
least until it finds out you don't taste very good."

Megan shot daggers in his direction, to let him know she
wasn't amused.

"Well, he'd throw up if he tried to eat you," she countered,
looking satisfied.

"Not throw up," Jordan replied.  "It might look that way,
but I'd really have just fought my way back out."

The others ignored the siblings little give and take and
continued to talk excitedly about this experience.  They
did this until we left that area and made our way to the
'Jules Verne Gallery.'  Here we got to see a few of the
creatures that make the deepest parts of the ocean their
home.  This included a translucent jellyfish, a Giant
Spider Crab and a Giant Pacific Octopus.  These were truly
weird looking creatures and something Captain Nemo
might have seen if he'd looked out a viewing window in
the Nautilus.

"Those are funny looking!" Kylie exclaimed, while
pointing at the unusual creatures.

"They are probably thinking the same think about you,"
her brother, Nicky, retorted.

"I'm not funny looking," Kylie whined.  "I'm pretty.  Just
ask Papa."

While Kylie looked for my approval, her brother decided to
let it drop, since he figured he wasn't about to win this
discussion.

After we finished up there, we had to hurry to the '4-D
Theater,' where we got to enjoy the 'Happy Feet 4-D
Experience.'   This is a 12-minute clip from the movie that
has been made into 3-D, and then enhanced with 4-D
multi-sensory effects.  Of course, the younger ones loved
it and squealed in delight as the movie played.  This was
followed by a viewing of 'Planet Earth 4-D,' which gave us
a unique view of interesting animals, exotic plant life and
some splendid natural features, such as a waterfall.  This
was truly worth the time spent there and we all enjoyed it
immensely.

Upon leaving the theater, we made our way to 'Irazu Falls'
and could hear the rumble of the massive rainforest
waterfall long before we could see it.

"What's that noise?" Joshie wanted to know.

"You'll find out soon," Dion told him, "and I think it will
be more fun if you discovered what it is on your own."

Joshie seemed slightly disappointed by his father's
response, but agreed to do what Dion suggested.  The falls
is two full stories high, with 400 gallons of water flowing
into the pool below.

"Wow, that's really big!" Joshie exclaimed, as he strained
to look up, so he could see the top of the waterfall.

"I wouldn't want to be up there," Lucas added.  "I'd be
afraid I might fall."

"Oh, don't be such a baby," Kylie told him.

Her comment shocked Lucas, but didn't surprise me at all.
As I mentioned earlier, Kylie is the adventurous type and
doesn't shy away from risks, much to her parents' dismay.

The pool below the falls was filled with a variety of marine
life from the Amazon, which includes Arowana (which has
a bony head and elongated body), Pacu (which is related to
piranha) and Freshwater Stingrays, as well as several other
species of aquatic life.  As we viewed this area, we were
enveloped by the beat of primitive tribal music and
surrounded by the exotic calls of various Rainforest
animals.  This only added to the impression that we were
somewhere deep in the Amazon and occasionally caused
one of us to turn quickly, to see if what was causing the
noise we heard was nearby.

>From there, we made our way to the 'Caribbean Currents'
area, which contained an assortment of exhibits displaying
many different types of creatures.  There were brightly
colored tropical fish, sea horses, pipefish and barracudas,
along with some colorful birds.  We saw blue and gold
macaws, and double yellow-headed amazons.  I think we
all found this to be quite fascinating, but it was soon time
to move on.

Next, we journeyed to the 'Ocean Realms' exhibit, where
we were introduced to Pearl and Opal, the two shark rays.

"They really do look like a shark and a stingray had been
messing around with each other," Jordan whispered to
Little Ricky, Andrew, Jesse and Nicky.

I also overheard his comment, but didn't say anything.
However, I did wonder if anyone else had heard him or had
caught any of the other comments the boys were making
about whether such a mating would be possible.

The shark rays are also called bowmouth guitarfish,
although I'm not sure why.  These creatures can grow to
be up to nine feet long and are typically found in Indo-
Pacific waters.  They are often referred to as the pandas of
the aquatic world, because they are extremely rare and not
often found in an aquarium setting.  There are fewer than
ten places in the world where you can see shark rays on
display and this is one of them.  Knowing this tidbit of
information made our time here a truly unique and
memorable experience.

In this area, we also got to see Loggerhead Sea Turtles,
Cownosed Stingrays and a school of over 2,000 Blueback
Herring.  Joshie and Lucas seemed the most fascinated by
these creatures and continued to talk about them as we
made our way to the next location.

Before long, we arrived at 'Seal Realm,' where eleven seals
spend their day playing and swimming with their trainers
and each other.  We got to see them from two different
angles, with one of them being underwater.  We were able
to peer at them through the side of the tank, but we also
got to see them on the surface of the water and on the
land areas too.  The kids even got to observe the trainers
feed fish to the seals, when they rewarded them for
performing for our benefit.

"Can we feed them too?" Joshie wanted to know.

"I'm afraid not," Dion told him.  "Only their trainers get to
do that."

Joshie was a little disappointed with the reply.

"They're funny," Lucas commented next.  "I like their
whiskers and they do neat tricks."

"Yes, they do," Jake assured him, as we were leaving that
area and moving on to our next location.

Having arrived at 'Penguin Island,' we immediately knew
the children would love being here.  In fact, it was the
highlight of our time at the Adventure Aquarium.  As
happened with the seals, we got to see the African
Penguins from two different vantage points and were
impressed with how they swam, dived and frolicked about
in the water.

"Are they all babies, Papa?" Joshie asked, while looking
into the tank.

"No, Little Man, that's as big as they get," I answered.

"But they're tiny," Lucas added, after overhearing our
conversation.

"They are about the same size as a chicken and grow to be
about twelve inches tall."

"I was bigger than that as a baby," Kylie added, joining our
discussion.

"That's very true," I confirmed, "since you were all at
least eighteen inches long when you were born."

The kids spent the next few minutes pondering this,
because I think they all expected the penguins to be much
larger.  It wasn't easy, but we finally had to drag them
away from there, so we could see the other exhibits.

I could tell the parents were a little nervous as we entered
the next area, which was the 'Touch-a-Shark' exhibit.  This
was on the second-floor of the aquarium, where there was
a tank with an assortment of Indo-Pacific Brown-banded
and White-spotted Bamboo Sharks, along with some
Smooth Dogfish Sharks.  I was somewhat amazed to see
how bravely Jordan, Nicky Joshie and Kylie placed their
hands in the water and began to stroke the small sharks as
they swam by.  Eventually, most of the others joined in
too, but in the end, it turned out the kids were braver
than their mothers.  The women weren't as eager to touch
these aquatic carnivores, but they eventually did it,
merely to please their offspring.

>From there, we went directly to 'Creature Feature,' where
the children were able to see and touch a variety of other
animals.  There were several varieties of colorful seastars,
anemones, crabs, snails and much, much more.  This area
was a little less frightening for the parents, so the kids
were able to participate more freely here.

"How come some of them have hard skin and others have
soft skin?" Lucas asked his mother.

"Some have a type of shell, to protect them from others,"
Elizabeth told him.

"But it isn't fair if some of them have it and others don't,"
Lucas reasoned, although his mother didn't try to explain
why this was so.

The hands-on experience continued when we reached
'Interactive Inlet' and my grandchildren got to safely
touch a pulsing moon jellyfish, slimy shrimp, freshwater
stingrays and lobsters, to name a few.  Once again, the
kids were fascinated and the parents were slightly on
edge, until we left this area and made our way to our next
stop.

The 'Rainforest Rendezvous' is a Mayan-inspired exhibit
where we got to meet another collection of animals we
wouldn't normally encounter.  Here, we got to see a
chinchilla, a short-tailed Opossum, diamondback terrapins
(turtles) and a Degu -- a six-foot long boa constrictor.
Although the children weren't able to touch any of these,
for obvious reasons, they were able to handle a collection
of fossils that were hidden within this charming display.

"That temple looks the same as the ones from that group
that said the world was going to end in 2012," Nicky
observed.

"Yes, the temple was meant to represent one of the Mayan
temples," I told him, "but there is some question as to
whether they were actually predicting the world would end
or if we'd just be starting over on their long calendar."

We discussed this a little longer and Jordan, Little Ricky,
Andrew and Jesse all got involved in our conversation too.
Eventually, I think I convinced them that the Mayans
calendar did stop on a specific date, but they expected to
start a new calendar cycle, once that point was reached.

We were nearly finished seeing all of the exhibits when we
approached 'Feather Ridge.'  This area is designed as a
West African River Experience and gave us the
opportunity to view a variety of birds, which included
Cattle Egrets, Abdim Storks and Violet Turacos, among
others.  We even climbed up to the second-story platform
so the kids could feed the birds.  Megan, however, wanted
nothing to do with this activity, since she was still upset
about the earlier accident, but the others got a thrill out
of doing it.

We finished up our day at the Adventure Aquarium by
stopping at 'Gill's Clubhouse.'  This is an interactive play
zone where the kids had a chance to view the inner
workings of a shark. This was done via a shark x-ray and
then they tested their sense of smell compared to that of
a shark, by smelling some infamous odors.

"Some of that stuff is stinky," Lucas told me, once he
finished his little experiment.  I merely nodded my head
in agreement.

The children were also given a chance to build a shark
from scratch on one of the virtual games.  This turned out
to be a very interesting, and humorous activity.  I'm not
sure even Mother Nature could have imagined some of the
weird creatures the kids managed to put together.

While we were there, the kids were also able to get a good
look at some Zebra Sharks, which had only recently
arrived there.  These creatures also go by the name
Leopard Sharks, because although they start out with
stripes, they end up with spots.

We were all very upbeat as we left the building, so I
decided to stop and ask the children what they thought of
this stop.

"Did you like the aquarium?" I asked.

"It was great, Papa," Lucas answered first.  "I had a lot of
fun there."

"Yes, it was fun touching so many different things, but I
didn't like it when that bird pooped on my arm," Megan
chimed in.  "I didn't think I'd want to reach in and touch
all the other animals after that happened, but I'm glad I
did."

"Me too," Kylie added.  "I wasn't scared the sharks were
gonna bite me, so I had fun too."

Overall, I'd say these comments vindicated my decision to
bring them here.  Heck, everyone else had favorable
comments about their time there as well, even the adults.

Since our visit took us past midday, we stopped for a late
lunch and then hopped on I-75, as we headed toward our
next destination.  We arrived there in the late afternoon
and decided to spend some time at the motel pool first,
before going out to dinner.

The young ones had a great time in the water and seemed
as much at home there, as the creatures we had seen at
the aquarium.  They even interacted with the handful of
other children that were there, as they splashed and
batted around the beach ball one of the other kids had
brought with him.

As the minutes flew past, I finally urged them to get out of
the pool and dry off, so we could go back to our rooms and
change.  Once everyone was properly attired, we went out
for a quick bite to eat, before we took in a movie.  We
ended up splitting between two different theaters, as the
younger children and their parents went one way, while
Jake and I followed the older boys to a different location.
We felt there should be some adults with each group, since
none of the boys were extremely large or overly
intimidating, and I wasn't certain if I was willing to
classify Robert as an adult, after watching him with the
others.

Once the movies ended, we returned to our rooms and
turned in for the night.  It had been a long day, although
an extremely satisfying one, and we all slept very well.

The following day was intended to merely be a fun day for
the kids, because we were spending it at Hershey Park.  I
had brought the family here several years back, but since
it had been so long ago and they were all older now, I felt
they'd enjoy going there again.

When we got to the park, there was some discussion about
how we were going to split up, but this got settled very
quickly.  The older boys were more than ready to try out
the wide selection of rides, so Robert volunteered to go
with them.  Then Michael and Adrian decided they wanted
to spend some time with their sons, so they went with
them as well.  Before they left, however, the rest of us
could tell that Tim and Jake wanted to be part of that
group as well, but were reluctant to suggest it.  After
watching them squirm for a few minutes, we told them to
go ahead and have a good time.  This left the ladies, Dion,
Trey and me to take the younger ones on the kiddie rides.

I thought Megan might want to go with the older group,
since she was nearly ten, but she decided she'd rather stay
with Kylie and spend time with her.  Therefore, we set out
with our little group and got ready to enjoy the thrills the
park could provide them.

The little ones were having a blast moving from one ride
to another, and there even were a few rides that we, as
adults, could go on with them.  Not only that, but there
was a wide array of possibilities, from the water variety
that went around in circles to rides that scrambled your
insides and others that lifted you up into the air.  During
this process, the kids were also able to sit in or on a
variety of animal shapes, trucks, balloons, helicopters and
a pirate ship.

Just after midday, I called the other groups and told them
where to meet us for lunch.  I thought we should chow
down together, so we could discuss how the morning had
gone, before we split up again.  Everything was pretty
much as I'd imagined, until it was time to form our groups
again.  This time, the fathers decided their wives should
go and spend time with their sons and Jake encouraged
me to go with them too.  He also tried to get Dion and
Trey to go with the older group as well, but they wanted to
stay with Joshie, so Jake quit trying to get them to
change their minds.  I'm not certain if Jake and the other
guys were doing this for our benefit or because the boys
had taken them on so many rides that they'd had their fill
of having 'fun' in half the time.

The afternoon went about the same as the morning,
except I was being dragged on rides that were more
aggressive and exacted a greater toll than the ones I had
ridden in the morning.  These rides actually did the same
things that the kiddie rides had done, but to a far greater
degree, much to my discomfort.  My sons, grandsons,
daughters and daughter-in-law were having fun watching
me suffer; as I endured what these contraptions were
doing to my body.  No matter how bad it got, I was
determined I wasn't going to sit this out.  It was providing
me with the opportunity to see my grandsons as the
young men they have grown into, instead of the little boys
I remembered from the past.  In fact, the two of them
joined me on many rides and, at one point, even made an
admission.

"Papa, Nicky and I want to thank you for what you've done
for us," Jordan began.

"This vacation was mostly your parents' idea, not just
mine," I replied.  "You should make sure you thank them
too."

"No, it's not just about the things we've done with
everyone," Nicky corrected, "but that's been great too."

"Then what are you talking about?" I asked, puzzled.

"We're thanking you for noticing that we've grown up and
for letting Jesse and Andrew show us the stuff we wanted
to know," Jordan explained.

"Ah, the sexual experimentation," I acknowledged, in a
very hushed tone.

"Yes, it's been great and Jordan and I have learned a lot,"
Nicky added.  "That's why we wanted to thank you.  Jesse
and Andrew said they wouldn't have done anything with
us, unless you said it was okay."  I merely smiled in
response.

"At first we thought it was kind of gross that you'd know
what we were doing," Jordan admitted, "but then Jesse
and Andrew explained that you were just trying to protect
us.  They said they tell you almost everything they do and
you don't get mad at them or make a big deal about it, but
you do help them figure out what types of things would be
all right for them to do.  Since we began to understand
this is one way you help them, we figured we should let
you help us too.  We were kind of uncomfortable about it
at first, but now that we see you don't think of us as
babies any longer, we decided Jesse and Andrew might be
right and we should trust you too."

"I'm glad you came to that conclusion, but I also must
admit there were still some times I think of you boys as
being younger.  I don't feel that way any longer," I
confessed, "and after watching you closely, there's no
doubt you have each grown into very intelligent and
handsome young men.  That's why the memories I have of
the little boys who used to spend so much time with us
are just that, wonderful memories."  This time, they both
smiled.

"Do you think we could spend even more time with you
guys, when our parents aren't there too?" Nicky asked.  I
could see the anticipation etched upon his face.

"I would have no problems with that," I confirmed, "but
the final decision would belong to your parents."

"What if we talk them into letting us spend another week
with you, after they go back home?" Nicky asked,
hopefully.

"I wouldn't have a problem with that, but I'm not sure
your parents would be willing to say yes on such short
notice," I replied.  Nicky looked crestfallen, but Jordan
seemed undeterred.

"Let us worry about getting our parents to agree," he
offered.  "We'll talk to them about this and you won't have
to say a thing, except to tell them it's alright with you."

"That would be good, because I'd rather not get caught in
the middle of this, especially if your folks aren't keen
about your proposal," I clarified.

"And if they won't let us stay now, what about at
Christmas?" Nicky suggested.  "We're all coming to your
house this year, so maybe we could stay longer and go
home after New Year's."

"Again, you'll have to talk to your parents about this," I
offered.  "I would have no problems with you staying with
us, but I hope you aren't just doing this to have sex."

"No!" Jordan shouted.  "We've really had a good time with
Jesse and Andrew, but we also want to spend more time
with the rest of you too.  Please, Papa.  It's not just about
the other stuff we've been doing."

Jordan seemed to be sincere, so I took him at face value
and agreed I'd let their parents know this would be fine
with me, as long as it also met their approval.  The boys
seemed satisfied with my response and each one hugged
me, after we finished our little talk.

After going on another ride with my grandsons, I went on
a few others with my sons, daughters and daughter-in-law.
This gave me a chance to bond with them as well, since I
don't get to see the girls and Robert often enough to keep
totally in touch with what's going on in their lives.
Sometimes there are things they will only talk to me
about in private, such as when we are on a ride alone, so
this was working out well.  By the time we rejoined the
others, I think we all felt we understood each other much
better.

By the end of the day, we were all getting tired and felt we
had been on more than enough rides.  Once we left the
park, we still had to drive to the motel, which was some
distance from the park.  That was because I had previously
selected where we would stay tonight based on our last
destination.  Tomorrow would be the final day of our
vacation and then we'd be returning home, so I wanted to
make sure we were able to enjoy the final 24-hours of our
trip.

After stopping to eat, we made the final push to the motel
and turned in almost immediately.  It had been a long and
tiring day, so we were all more than ready to grab a few
winks, as we prepared for tomorrow.

After downing a quick breakfast, we hopped in the vehicles
again.  Our last stop was to be another location my
grandsons' parents had suggested and a place I had not
visited since their parents were teens.  We were going to
the Gettysburg National Military Park.  As we pulled up in
front of the Museum and Visitor Center, the boys figured
out where we were.

"This is where they fought that big battle in the Civil War,
isn't it?" Nicky stated.

"Yes, this is Gettysburg," Jordan added.  "I learned about
it in school, but I also saw a re-creation of the battle on
that television program."

"You are both correct," I agreed.  "A huge battle took
place here from July 1 to July 3, 1863."

"Wow, I didn't realize it happened so close to the Fourth
of July!" Nicky explained, as he put the pieces together.

"Yes, just thirteen years shy of the nation's centennial
birthday celebration," I agreed.

"Papa, why was this battle so important?" Megan wanted
to know.

"For several reasons," I began.  "First of all, the south had
been winning most of the battles before this and it looked
as if they might even win the war.  Second, most of the
fighting had taken place in the southern states, so the
south decided if they fought some battles on northern soil
it might turn the north's attitudes against the war and
then they'd pressure Lincoln to end the fighting.  Third,
by eventually winning this battle, the North proved it was
capable of also winning the war, which silenced many of
the war critics.  Finally, President Lincoln's speech, which
he gave when dedicating the battlefield cemetery four
months after the fighting ended, helped to immortalize
this particular battle."

"That speech started out funny," Nicky said.  "It didn't
make any sense."

"It does if you look at it closely," I replied.  "It begins,
'Four score and seven years ago, our Fathers brought forth
on this continent a new nation...'"

"But that doesn't make any sense," Nicky insisted.

"Let me explain," I offered.  "A score is a term that isn't
used much any longer, but it was a way to indicate a
period of twenty year.  Therefore, four score and seven
years ago is a poetic way of saying eighty-seven years ago.
Do you remember that I said the battle took place thirteen
years before the centennial?"  The kids nodded.

"Well, a centennial is one hundred years and thirteen
years short of that would be eight-seven years or four
score and seven," I continued.  Suddenly, I could see the
light bulbs turning on in their heads.

"Oh, I get it now," Nicky beamed.

"So he was just saying eighty-seven years ago the nation
started, but he was using fancy words to do it," Jordan
added.

"Yes, I guess that's one way to put it," I confirmed.  "The
victory here helped shift the momentum of the war in
favor of the North and was an important link in keeping
the country together, rather than splitting it in half.
That's what President Lincoln was saying in his speech
and what we celebrate at this special place."

"Why didn't our teachers explain it like this?" Nicky
wondered.  "It makes more sense now."

"I'm not sure if I can answer for your teachers, but I'm
glad you understand it now," I answered.

I felt the kids were now prepared to see the sights.  We
started at the Museum, where we saw many artifacts from
the Civil War era.  During our time there, we were able to
observe how the soldiers lived and the types of tents they
would have used when camping out.  We also saw
examples of the clothes they wore and the various items
they might have used in their daily lives.  This included
various games they might have played, an assortment of
items required for drinking or smoking, and letters the
soldiers had written home to their families.  There were
also many photographs of people who had lived during this
period of history and examples of the musical instruments
they might have used to entertain themselves and their
comrades, when they weren't fighting or marching.

The museum also had a special auditorium that featured
the Gettysburg Cyclorama.  This is a large painting that
depicts one decisive skirmish that took place at
Gettysburg -- Pickett's Charge.  What makes it unique is
that it has been enhanced with landscaping materials and
life-sized figures, to give it a 3-D feeling.  The background
was painted in the late 1800s and has been restored
several times over the years, but this display is also
enhanced with sound and light-effects, which seems to
bring the battle back to life.

As we walked outside to begin our tour, we noticed there
were a large number of people roaming about, dressed in
Civil War era costumes.  When I inquired about this, I
discovered they had arrived to participate in a battle
reenactment, which was going to be held over the
weekend.  These were the first of the 'troops' to arrive, so
they could help to get ready for the others.

"Papa, is that how the people would have dressed and
looked during the war?" Megan asked, after seeing several
of these individuals wander by.

"Yes, Megan, they are dressed in costumes appropriate for
that period," I answered.

"But not all of the soldiers' uniforms look the same and
some of them aren't even wearing uniforms," Jordan
observed.

"That's very true," I confirmed.  "Many of the soldiers had
to supply their own uniforms and some couldn't afford to
purchase them.  Those that couldn't, would either have a
family member make a uniform for them or not wear one
at all.  Instead, they would merely put on an appropriately
colored jacket or a hat that would indicate which side they
were fighting for."  That information seemed to suffice, so
we loaded into our vehicles and set out to see the other
areas.

>From here, we toured many of the different battlefields
and got to see where the actual fighting took place.  We
also got to see the plethora of memorials scattered
throughout the park, which included the Eternal Light
Peace Memorial that was dedicated by President Franklin
Roosevelt in 1938.  We also got to see all of the various
state memorials, which are dedicated to the troops that
had fought from those particular states.  This includes the
large Pennsylvania Memorial and the Virginia Memorial,
which is a statue of General Robert E. Lee sitting astride
his horse.  Once we had seen what we wanted to, we
finished up at the National Cemetery, which put a very
sobering end to our visit.

After leaving the battlefield, we grabbed a quick bite to eat
and then went to see the David Wills House.  It's located
in downtown Gettysburg and is merely a huge, three-story
brick residence from that era.  Wills was a local attorney
and had invited President Lincoln to stay in one of the
second-floor bedrooms in his house.  This happened when
the President came to dedicate the National Cemetery and
give his now famous address.  The house has since been
turned into a museum and is furnished to replicate what it
would have been like at the time of the battle.

After finishing up our tour there, we took everyone out to
play miniature golf.  We had to help the younger ones and
explain to them what they were supposed to do.  After
they insisted on doing it themselves, we were mildly
amazed when they managed to make a few unusual and
unorthodox shots.  All in all, we had fun doing this and it
was our last activity before making the long trip back
home.