Appomattox

We got to Virginia on Sunday and spent the day at Memaw and Pawpaw's.  Monday we got up and drove over to Appomattox Court House National Historical Park.  It's the place where General Lee surrendered to General Grant to effectively end the Civil War.    It's a beautiful and peaceful area with several buildings set up so the children could see life in the early 1800s.  We also watched  a lovely movie expressing the emotions the soldiers on both sides felt at the surrender and the dignity with which they treated each other in that moment.  

This is the McLean house- the house where Lee surrendered.

The kitchen in a separate back building-

Slave quarters-

When we asked for a picture this gentleman said, "What is a picture?...Oh, do you mean you'd like to take my likeness?"

After touring the historical park we drove over to the Museum of the Confederacy just two miles away.  It was amazing- they had the actual uniform of Robert E. Lee and the pen he used to sign the surrender. They also had his death mask-

The boys were learning about taking the seeds out of cotton, which was often a child's work.