My kids are going camping overnight on

[Marthe48]

Blennerhassett Island. I sure hope they enjoy the experience

[True Dough]

1. At least they didn't go

on Friday the 13th. Some rather unfortunate things have been known to happen to campers on Friday the 13th, but mostly at Camp Crystal Lake.

[Marthe48]

2. lol

The outing includes a paranormal investigation of the (rebuilt) Blennerhassett Mansion and the grounds. The blennerhassetts were friends of benedict arnold and planned to use their island home to launch a traitor army against the young government of the U.S.A. Big fail.

The families have all of the camping gear they'll need for good weather or bad. There will be a bonfire, restrooms, and limited electricity available. They camped on the Appalachian Trail last year, in a primitive cabin. They had planned to use their tents, but it rained almost the whole outing. Hope this time is better

[True Dough]

7. Interesting historical tidbits there, Marthe

I'm guessing the Blennerhassetts would be big Trump supporters if they were still around today!

[Marthe48]

8. gab13by 13 posted a link below

about the blennerhassetts and this bit of American history.

I agree that blennerhassetts and bendict arnold would have supported traitor.

I don't think I knew about the traitorous link when I first visited the island.

[MOMFUDSKI]

3. Cool!

We tent ⛺️ camped for years and then there came the day when we said No More in our sixties. Lol. My son and family camped this past summer and he called me to say ENOUGH and that he gave all the camping equipment to his son. He is 53. I laughed.

[Marthe48]

9. Over 50 years ago, we camped

pretty much parked the car, let the kids sleep in the car, and we slept on the ground in blankets. Good times. We camped like that several times. We got a pup tent and used that to camp at Pirateland near Myrtle Beach. Then we rented a camper a couple of times.

When I was a kid, my best friend and I would camp on the ground in her yard, or on the ground in my yard. One time, we slept on roof of my Dad's workshop (the building roof was M shaped, and we slept on one of the slopes on the inner side, no danger of falling off) Not much sleeping, though-we made a little mischief on our street. lol

[gab13by13]

4. The Tragedy of Harmon Bennerhassett

https://www.varsitytutors.com/earlyamerica/early-america-review/volume-10/the-tragedy-of-harmon-blennerhassett

cool read.

[Biophilic]

5. Interesting, thanks for posting.

[Marthe48]

6. We visited Blennerhassett a few years ago

It is a lovely place and well-maintained. I was disappointed when I found out the current mansion was constructed in 1973, after the existing foundation was unearthed. I thought that it was the original building. Oh well, it is a beautiful home, in a park setting.

When I got home, I read as much information as I could about the Blennerhassett family and their ties to bendict arnold, and then read about him, too

I feel as bad about the blennerhassetts falling in with a plot to overthrow the government as I do for living Americans supporting a modern traitor's plans.

[Staph]

10. I have overnighted on the Island.

It's wonderful, as there are no vehicles and very little artificial light. It's surprising how well your eyes will adjust to wandering around by starlight and/or moonlight.

[Marthe48]

11. Nice!

Was it a special event?

[Staph]

12. It was at a Civil War reenactment.

Well, actually, three different ones, going back to the early 1990s. My friends and I have a large canvas wall tent, and we portray refugees, trying to escape from the war.

One of my most memorable moments, not just in reenacting but in life itself, took place on the Island. We were sitting under the tent fly on a miserably rainy afternoon, sipping tea and feeling sorry for ourselves. Running around in full-length dresses is no fun on a muddy, rainy day.

Then in the foggy distance, we spotted Abraham Lincoln. No, really! There is an amazing actor named Fritz Klein, based out of Springfield, Illinois, who makes his living as a Lincoln impersonator. He is as good as Daniel Day Lewis in the movie Lincoln, without the excessive Method acting nonsense.

Mr. Lincoln was drenched, so we invited him to join us and gave him a cup of hot coffee. For an hour or so, he chatted with us in character. It was surreal, to be conversing with the President. Before he left, he offered my eight-year-old nephew a job, as Secretary of the Interior, with a signed certificate.

It was magic!

[Marthe48]

13. We might have mutual friends

I have a friend who participates in reenactments, but I think they are into Revolutionary War era reenactments. Can they overlap?

[Staph]

14. I know folks who do both Civil War and Revolutionary War era.

The Rev War folks do more frontier reenacting than actual war. They show the lives of those who crossed the Appalachian Mountains both before and after Independence, as settlers, fur trappers, explorers.

I also have a few friends that dress up as Klingons for the occasional weekend. I have a weird bunch of friends!

[Marthe48]

15. I'll if they ever went to Blennerhassett for an event