Visited: Wednesday, August 23, 2017
This was probably the most trivial NPS for us to visit, besides those we've already seen, since it's 15 minutes away from my parent's home. And, in some ways, it's the least interesting one for me to visit - I grew up here, and saw portions of the park, long before it was designated a national park. But still - we had the chance, and there is enough of the park I hadn't seen as to make it well worthwhile.
The most notable feature of CVNP to me, at least, was how integrated it is with the local communities. This is no Yellowstone or Acadia, where you know you're in the park, and when you leave the park; there are indications, but if you look at a map of the park - it's not quite as holey as Cuyahoga Falls, but it's not dissimilar. This isn't really a bad thing, but it's not _immersive_.
The Canal Exploration Center was manned by a delightful older gentleman, who was thrilled to have folks really interested in the park; in many ways, CVNP seems to serve as an exercise area, as much as anything else. Brandeywine Falls was rather enjoyable - and remarkably well removed from I-271 given that it's less than 100 feet away. Oh, and at the main visitor center there was a constant stream of folks looking to take advantage of the $10 lifetime park pass for seniors, before the rate goes up.
Thursday, August 24, 2017
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
111) River Raisin National Battlefield
Visited: Tuesday, August 22, 2017
On our way back from my brother's place to my parent's, we stopped by River Raisin - surely one of the few NPS sites commemorating a US loss. (Oh, wait, we're visiting Pearl Harbor later this year...)
I was always aware of the presence of Native Americans in the War of 1812, and their contributions to the British side, but didn't know of their specific impact. Now, I know - well, something. The alliance was not really a fair one - the British didn't really, from what was presented, have a much better idea of the Native American's ways than the Americans did - but it served the British purposes to foster conflict in the Michigan and Indiana territories.
What most impressed me about the site was the amount of fighting and damage, given the small scale of the battle. Oh, and the cry "Remember the Raisin!", adding Raisin to Maine and Alamo in my list of war cries to recall.
On our way back from my brother's place to my parent's, we stopped by River Raisin - surely one of the few NPS sites commemorating a US loss. (Oh, wait, we're visiting Pearl Harbor later this year...)
I was always aware of the presence of Native Americans in the War of 1812, and their contributions to the British side, but didn't know of their specific impact. Now, I know - well, something. The alliance was not really a fair one - the British didn't really, from what was presented, have a much better idea of the Native American's ways than the Americans did - but it served the British purposes to foster conflict in the Michigan and Indiana territories.
What most impressed me about the site was the amount of fighting and damage, given the small scale of the battle. Oh, and the cry "Remember the Raisin!", adding Raisin to Maine and Alamo in my list of war cries to recall.
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