8. Field Trip!

Yep.  I said field trip.  This homeschooling mama is absolutely counting one of our days of vacation as an instructional day.  And how could I not?  Riding a ferry, checking out a Civil War fort, investigating tidal pools, and exploring an aquarium....all in one day!  Surely the North Carolina Department of Education will have to give me credit for all of that!

The best way to get to Ft. Fisher is by ferry.  

Or, at least, it's the most fun way!

Visiting Ft. Fisher is always a sobering experience, partially because it's so small...  What you see in this picture pretty much encompasses the whole fort, so it's hard to believe that this tiny little piece of land was so important in the Civil War that 8,000 soldiers (4,000 Union, 4,000 Confederate) died here fighting for it.  Geographically, this little fort opened-up mainland North Carolina to whomever won it.  After the Union finally captured Ft. Fisher, the South surrendered shortly thereafter.  How heartbreaking to think of 8,000 mothers losing their sons over this teeny tract of real estate.  War is so tragic sometimes.

The trees at Ft. Fisher are beautiful, and HUGE! I can't imagine how they've weathered so many hurricanes and still stand strong.

I have no idea why sitting on a Civil War fort canon made my daughter feel prissy in this picture.
Little girls are befuddling sometimes.  ;)

The United States Flag during the Civil War, the current US flag, the North Carolina flag, and the Confederate Flag that was flown in North Carolina during the Civil War.

The last thing we did on our vacation....ummm I mean field trip.....day at Ft. Fisher was visit the Ft. Fisher Aquarium.  And the good news was that now that we're members of the North Carolina Aquarium, we got in free!  (Everything's always better when it's free!)

This is Christopher's signature "Let Me See If I Can Stick My Head In It" picture.  

One of the most interesting things in our aquarium visit this time was the area about hurricanes in North Carolina.  I guess you study them a little closer when you live close to the shore!  We even found our own city of Rocky Mount mentioned.  

One school day down, 179 to go.  :D