*facepalm* Im going on vacation to florida (my brother lives there) from tomorrow to the 18th of july. I live in New Jersey, bout 20 minutes from Philly.
The closest one to me is (sadly) Detroit, where in the War of 1812 the guy in charge of Fort Detroit surrendered it to the Brits (maybe they should have kept it). Another one, much farther away is Mackinac island, where a more action-filled battle took place where the British stormed Fort Mackinac, a place i went to once. It was boring, if anyone ever goes to Mackinac City or Island, go to for Michillimackinac, not Mackinac.
Every year, there's a big 4th of July celebration at the Antietam battlefield. It's a really cool event. I went there when I was about 15 with my parents, and I'll never forget it. Antietam was the bloodiest day in American history (almost 23,000 casualties in a single day), and to sit on that same field at dusk, virtually in the middle of nowhere in western Maryland, listening to the 1812 Overture with the National Guard firing howitzers, and seeing the fireflies dance in the grass...wow, that was an amazing event.
We americans kind of adopted the 1812 overture for playing by our military bands. Why, I don't really know.
Nope, I'm not Czech. I'm American. Born and raised in California. Got my master's degree in Germany. Recently graduated. Now I'm an English teacher in the Land of Big Cheekbones and Beer (Czech Republic). I really don't mean to confuse anyone! And StephenColbert27 is right...we Americans have adopted the 1812 Overture for many of our independence celebrations. And why not...it's a universally great piece of music! It's particularly stirring to hear it on a battlefield that played a part in the survival of your country.
It was really cool. I liked it. However, if anyone ever goes there I suggest bringing your bike. There is a lot to see and you can't see much from the car and walking would take too long. Also, don't join a tour group get your own guided tour mp3 thingy. You get to do the tour at your own pace and then explore some more because you'll have time left over. Devils Den was my favorite part, with all those rocks to climb around.
Well what I really want to do is do by walking, since that's historically how they did it, and I want to do the tour in 3 stages, going about where they fought day by day. Go to Mcpherson's woods on the first day, to little round top second day, and the high water mark on the third day. It would take time, but it would be really cool.
