32) Springfield Armory

Visited: Saturday, January 15th, 2011

And finally - caught up.

I had no idea, going in to our visit, just how large a role the Springfield Armory played in US History. The site isn't particularly large - there's a movie, a room showing how weapons were manufactured, and a room showing artillery produced at the Armory. But while the artillery display isn't particularly fascinating (save for the organ, an impressively mounted collection of firearms), the story of how the guns were manufactured is well explained in the movie, and then supplemented by the displays. One element that stood out was the slow acceptance of African Americans, particularly as compared to their ready acceptance in the whaling industry (and the role New Bedford played in the underground railroad as a result).

This isn't a site that takes a long time to visit - but it's time well spent.

31) New Bedford Whaling

Visited: Wednesday, December 29th, 2010

The park site here actually came after the establishment of the non-NPS Whaling Museum. And we spent far more time at the Museum - which is very well done, and very informative. The national park site is well done - particularly notable is the interview with a whaler, done back in the 1990s. But we spent little time at the smaller NPS site, and to be honest the two buildings cover much the same material.

30) Acadia

Visited: Saturday, September 25th, 2010 -> Sunday, September 26th, 2010

In general, the Eastern NPS locations are historical in nature, the Western NPS locations are - well, natural in nature. Perhaps the most notable exception among the Eastern parks is Acadia. It is a beautiful park; one of the loveliest sights I have ever seen is sunset from the top of Cadilac Mountain. But much like Yellowstone, there's a wide variety of things to see and do in the park.

And we only scratched the surface. I'd love to spend a week there sometime - there are a lot of things that look like they would be fun to try, but only if one had enough time to really appreciate the park.

29) Saint Croix Island

Visited: Saturday, September 25th, 2010

The Easternmost NPS site - and the only _International_ historic site - Saint Croix was a must for me to visit, as between Jamestown, Roanoke, and Santa Fe I've developed an interest in early European settlements in the US. Saint Croix isn't a very large site - and it's close enough to Canada that we got warnings about being charged for international roaming charges - but I'm glad to have visited; the site was interesting in particular for how the attempt to settle compares to Jamestown, and how it impacted the settlement of Canada.

But honestly - unless you're trying to hit all of the national parks, it's a long way to go for what you see.

28) Fredericksburg Battlefield

Visited: Monday, July 12th, 2010

Unfortunately, July in Virginia can be quite hot - and this day was no exception. As a result, we primarily enjoyed the visitor's center, and didn't tour the battlefield, as I would have liked to have done.

Growing up, I had the chance to visit a _lot_ of Civil War battlefields, and while I didn't really appreciate them at the time, I did find the differences between the various battles fascinating - and a few sites made an impression. Fredericksburg, while interesting, wasn't really one of them; but I really should get that battle out for my next play of Battle Cry.