Notes to the Boys. . . .

I know I have posted on this before but, as we approach the end of another year of school I feel it can be repeated.  I saw this on Pinterest or another site about how this mother wrote her kids a letter every year talking to them about things that happened that year and their accomplishments.  With each letter she enclosed a little money and when their child graduated she gave them all of the letters.   This gave the kids a very nice handwritten note about their childhood from their mom or dad and a little extra cash for graduation.
I have done something similar for my boys.  Since I did not get started until later in the boys lives I decided I would write to them at particular moments in their lives and more than just once a year.  This way they will have a few more letters and a little extra money.  I recently wrote to Sprat about him preparing for college and playing lacrosse.  I enclose $10 or $20 in each envelope just depending on how much cash I have on hand.
My hope is that they will appreciate having a note written in my handwriting to them personally and they will realize how much they were loved.  I do worry whether I should tell them there is money in each note.  They may just tear through the letters and not take the time to read them.   I have some old little daily note books of my grandfathers and I love them.  He talks a lot about his work and things he had to do for work but, I have a couple that mention my mom by name and my aunt and how he was going to take them shopping for shoes one day.  These are dated back in the 1930's and it really is neat to have these written in his handwriting.  I never knew my grandfather on either side, they had both passed away before I was born.  I hope my kids will keep my notes like I keep my grandfather's notebooks and appreciate their sentiment.  

The Ghost Tour. . .

I was looking for inexpensive things to do around town and found a ghost tour.  We have done a couple over the years, Big T is big fan of true and historic ghost tells.  Our first ghost tour experience was at the beach and it was a ghost/pirate tour, it was fabulous.  I love the ones that incorporate some history in them and the one we did on Monday night did just that.  It also helps to have a good guide that knows his or her stuff.  As I was finding the information to get this tour scheduled I was very sad to find out they would no longer be doing them.
Sprat asked one of his good friends to go along and the hubbs even went a little reluctantly.  It is always interesting to meet the other people in your group too.  We were of course very early and were just hanging out on the street corner talking and Sprat and his friend were playing Pokeman Go.  We met the people that run another ghost tour in an adjacent city and they invited us to come and do their tour some time.  Their tour involves a lot of Revolutionary war and Civil war history.  Our guide for this tour was very interesting and the reason he is leaving is that he is moving back to his home town.  He was a great orator and he really got into character with his actions and clothing, he knew his history of our area too.  We also had a lady and her two daughters from out of town in our group too.  I did not know it at the time but apparently the young girls were attracted to the boys, there was one Sprat's age and the other was around Big T's age.  According to Big T and my hubby the older girl could not keep her eyes off of Sprat and his friend.  Ahhhh young love, found on the ghost tour.
This was a walking tour and we went around this one particular neighborhood.  There were several tells of accidental death and hauntings by ghosts that did not realize they were dead.  One in particular was the haunting of a bed and breakfast that my hubby and I stayed in when we were newly wed.  I was so glad we did not know that story when we stayed there, I think it would have changed things just a bit.
One story involved a young man disobeying his father by taking his father's car to go on a date.  The age old tale of young love and wild abandon that ends in tragedy.  This one ended with a bit of a mystery and that bothered Sprat, he wanted to know the end of the story.  Our guide told him it was a mystery and we moved on to the next corner and the next tale.
We ended our tour back where we had begun and our guide asked if there was anything more that we wanted to know.  Sprat piped up and asked about the story that had caught his fancy before, and the guide obliged the best he could.  Come to find out that story was actually a compilation of a couple of different stories but the end was fact and was more recent than the other stories.  Our guide also shared that the trio that was with us for our tour from the neighboring town will be taking over this tour when he leaves.  I was very glad to hear that, I just hope that they take as much care in telling the true historic stories that our guide did.

This is our tour guide

This is the bed and breakfast

Another shot of the B & B

Last Trip for the Week

Yesterday we went to check out the Bechtler House.  This is the home of the man that first minted the first gold dollar in the United States and it was right in my back yard.  Big T, grandma, Alli, and I are touring this time.  
We had a great time visiting with the family.  It really is amazing at how much history you can learn that is practically in your back yard.   I bet you think the gold rush started in California, nope.  It actually began in western North Carolina.  Christopher Bechtler began a mint to aid the gold miners of North Carolina.   He started in the early 1830's with a $5 gold coin and latter made a $2.50 and $1 gold coin.  Bechtler made the first gold dollar in the United States. 

I have hit the high points on all of our trips, please check out the websites I have mentioned for each trip to find out more or maybe even plan your own visit.  I think Big T has enjoyed his adventures this last two weeks, I know I have and I think we both have learned a lot.  Our trip would not be complete without a trip to see my sisters' house and to see her sweet goats.  Big T got some great pictures of them, he is quite the photographer.  We also went by one of our local high school agriculture barns to see their new piglets.   Check out Big T's pictures below.

Exploring Local History. . .

Big T and I are still exploring our little corner of the world.  We have an unusual home in our area called Korner's Folly, Jule Korner built the house in the late 1800's to use as a studio for his furniture and interior design concepts.  Big T and I set out yesterday to see this house, our little adventures these last two weeks have been a lot of fun for us both.  We have seen things that we may not otherwise have the opportunity to visit.  Next week Big T has leadership camp and Sprat goes back to football workouts and there will not be time for side trips.
I will give you a brief run down on the house, it really is a must see to appreciate how it all comes together.  To look at it on the outside it looks like a typical two story home, when in fact, it has seven levels and ceiling heights that vary from 5 1/2 feet to 25 feet.  I will not spoil all of your fun by telling everything, it is a must see to appreciate.  Check out their website:
www.kornersfolly.org  Below are some pictures Big T took.

Stay tuned we have at least one more trip this week maybe two if it all works out.  

Trip to the Dairy Farm. . .

Today Big T and I ventured out to a working dairy farm that gives tours.  These folks were the best!  The young lady that was our guide was very knowledgeable in the history of the farm since her grandfather started it.  We went on a hay ride around the pastures and got to see these beautiful cows. They milk their cows and make cream, butter, and ice cream right on the farm. We got to see the milking room and where the cows stay when they are expecting.    These cows are treated very well.   They are milked twice a day and the rest of the time they are kept in a cooling barn especially on hot days.  Here is the website for the dairy:  www.homelandcreamery.com
If you have a dairy farm near you that offers tours I highly recommend a trip.  We also stopped by a local pre-Revelutionary War battlefield.  We got our history lesson for today.  Check out your community around you, you might be surprised at how much history you will find.  We had a wonderful day learning a few things.
On another note, Sprat is at Mission camp this week with our Church.  So far they have torn down an old shed, for a neighbor of our Church, and taken away the garbage from it.   They have a few more things like this to do this week.

Live Cannon Fire

The coolest thing of our vacation so far.  Went to Fort Macon today to check out the museum.   We saw the Fort last year when we were here.  To our delight and surprise they were having a reenactment of the siege of Fort Macon.  They had people dressed in costume all around the grounds.
We did not know they were doing the historic reenactment.   We got there as they were finishing up.  The end was punctuated by the firing of the cannon.  I did not think they were really going to fire it.  We watched as they loaded and tamped the cannon, they sighted it in.  Then when the solider standing beside the cannon put his hands over his ears, I told Big T to cover his and I covered mine.  Sure enough, they fired that cannon, and it was loud.  I felt it in my chest.  I jumped, it was loud.  Unfortunately,  that was the end for today.  Wow! So glad we got to see and hear  that.  After the took down the Confederate flag and put up the American flag.   Awesome Day!!

Ghost Tour of Wilkesboro. . .

We went on our first ghost tour.  Wilkesboro offers a ghost tour once a month starting in April.  It is a walking tour that lasts about an hour and a half.  Ours lasted almost two and a half hours, we had really good guides.  We learned a lot of local history from the Civil War era.  We got to see some historic spots in Wilkesboro and hear the local lore of who haunts what.  Our guides were very knowledgeable in the local history and Civil War history also.  We heard two stories of one hanging and how the great, great, great grandson of the hangee went into law because he said if his great, great, great grandfather had a good lawyer he might not have been hung.   He is a prominent attorney in the area today.  We saw the old jail that held Tom Dooley, yes the one the song is written about.  We were able to go in the slave quarters of an old home, the slaves had put a curse on the family that lived in the main house.  The curse was written on the wall of the slave quarters.  There were skeleton heads of a horse, a dog and some other small animals hanging from the ceiling.  Sprat swears the horse head was moving, we all said it was a draft, but the other heads were not moving.   Big T felt the cold spot where a little girl was run over by a carriage in the drive way of the main house that had the curse.   We got to see where the Tory Oak once stood.  The Tory Oak was where they hung British sympathizers.  The oak stood for more than 300 years but in 1989 Hugo took its toll.  There is another oak in its place, still young and not yet as grand.

The Octagon House?

Went out to eat on our way to pick up pumpkins in Virgina.  While we were waiting on our food Mark and I were talking with the kids.  Thomas says, "Mom I really want to go to Washington, DC."  I asked him why he really wanted to go.  He replied, "I want to go see the Octagon House."   Jack pipes up and makes a comment thinking Thomas is really referring to the Pentagon.   Jack says, "it's the Pentagon not the Octagon."  Jack began laughing.  Thomas goes on to tell why he wants to see the Octagon house and explains what it is.  He said it was the most haunted place in Washington, DC.  Mark then takes out the trusty Blackberry and googles the Octagon house.  Mark begins, "the Octagon House located in Washington, DC is the most haunted place in Washington."  We all laugh of course because Thomas is correct.  He gives a big "SEE" to Jack and we laugh again. 
The Octagon House was built for the Tayloe family back in the 1800's.  The house was first used as a French Embassy and later in 1814 was used by President and Mrs. Dolley Madison as their Executive home after the British burned the White House.
Two of Tayloes' daughters are said to haunt the house as well as Dolley Madison.  They say at times you can smell lilacs.  That was Dolley Madisons' favorite flower.  The daughters both died in the house quarreling with their father over boys.  They both fell over the balcony of the spiral staircase.  One of the ghosts appears  a crumpled figure on the floor at the bottom of the staircase the other a light that goes up and down the staircase.
We found all of this information by Wikipedia.  Thomas had all of this information because he had  been reading about different things in history.  I am so glad my kids like to read.  If they didn't I might not learn anything cool.