INDEPENDENCE DAY 2014

Guilford Courthouse Battleground

Kernersville 4th of July Parade and Fireworks too!

           LET FREEDOM RING!

 

 "I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward and forever more." 

John Adams on Independence Day-1776

 We began the day enjoying the annual 4th of July Parade in our hometown of Kernersville, North Carolina.  It is a display of Americana at its best....if you want to be in the parade....just show up...

 You can show up with your running shoes and participate in the 5K run....or walk...

The Kernersville Finest showed up in dress blue and led the parade with an impressive color guard....love the fireman's axe!

The crime Dawg had a nice John Deere six wheeler....

 
Miss Fourth of July showed up in a sporty white Mustang Convertible and the Grand Marshall road in a nice red Mustang convertible

Lots of veterans showed up in some really neat old cars....all received a warm welcome from the crowd.

  







Then others showed up in trucks....






 



Some Trucks were big and green and others were just ugly green...but one was pretty neat looking green....
 
 

Then there were a few politicians...who

showed up looking for votes....one was smart enough to pose with his beautiful daughter.....he is getting my vote!

This lady is a fan of Susan Frye for Clerk of Court...

But in Kernersville....a parade is not a parade without tractors....yep...folks in Kvegas seem to really love their tractors...even a recent UNC graduate demonstrated his tractor driving skills to the community.  His family was so impressed!

 Then there was the old lady cheerleading squad....and the skateboarder doing tricks...

and a church band playing old hymns while riding in a trailer....nicely done too....and of course the Chick Filet Cow showed up....saying Eat More Chickn!

 The best part of the parade was watching it with our new grandson, William Lee "Billy Buck" Hunter who grew tired of looking for Chicks with Sparklers and nodded off.....but the FBWG went looking for an Independence Day hike....and found one nearby. 
       LET FREEDOM RING!

After a great brunch and a nap...the FBWG and his hiking companion took a historical hike at the Guilford Courthouse National Battleground Park...a wonderful park with a nice 2.5 mile historical loop trail...detailing this important battle in our war for Independence.

The battle was the culmination of a chase by General Cornwallis across the Carolinas seeking General Nathaniel Greene and his Patriot army.... who lured into the battle Cornwallis, and he fell into a carefully laid trap...This obelisk commemorates the deeds of a 6'7" Colonial soldier, Peter Franscisco who fought with a broadsword, killing 11 British Redcoats in the battle. 
 
 



















We found the encampment of the Guilford Militia who provided us with a wonderful display of frontier marksmanship.

 

 General Greene arranged his army in three lines, the first two mainly militia, the third were Colonials. At this point they commanded the hill...looking down on the British redcoats...Cornwallis eventually drove the Patriot army from the field achieving a tactical victory but in the process lost a fourth of his men, ending his southern campaign...ensuring a Patriot victory and an Independent America.

The Guilford Courthouse National Battleground is a great hike with a wonderful lesson of history thrown in....be sure to take it in in March when over 200 reenactors recreate the battle.

     LET FREEDOM RING!

We ended the day at Kernersville Raider field where the Chamber of Commerce sponsored a concert by Danny Woods, a former member of the legendary beach band Chairman of the Board. Danny got some fans to help out doing the Funky Chicken on stage...

A good time was had by all....but what folks really came to see was the fireworks...

I recalled all day the words of John Adams about how we should celebrate Independence Day....

"It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward and forever more."

But as I walked through the Guilford Courthouse Battleground Park, I was reminded of the sacrifice of those who paid for my liberty with their lives....as we left the battleground I stopped at the graves of three Colonial Soldiers from Deleware. The bodies of William Drew, John Toland and Cornelius Hagney were discovered over 100 years after the battle. Each were born in Danfanagh, Ireland. Irish immigrants who died in defense of liberty, March 15, 1781.

 I recalled then the words of my friend Captain Ivan Castro:  "To be born free is an accident.  To live free is a blessing. But to die free is an obligation."

 

FOLLOW THIS LINK....YOU WILL BE MOVED BY THE MUSIC OF A 17 YEAR OLD PATRIOT

Let Freedom Ring...Great God our King!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CabLh8jJ_Lk

 

 

 

 

 

 

State Capitol

CAPITOL MORN 

in Downtown Raleigh

Proving once again that a hike is where you find it, the FBWG woke up early in Raleigh and finding the gym at the hotel closed decided to take an early morning hike to the State Capitol.  Leaving the hotel I had two choices....south to the Raleigh Auditorium or north the the State Capitol.....I chose north.  At 4:30 in the morning, the Fayetteville Mall is deserted....accompanied only by the chirps of waking birds I set out to visit our State Capitol in the early dawn!

 On the south lawn of the Capitol is a statue of the Father of our Country, George Washington....the first of many statues I visited ....all photographed in shadows in front of the back drop of a brightly lit Capitol Building.  The State Capitol was opened in 1840 and was the seat of government from that time until 1962. It is considered one of the best preserved examples of Greek Revival architecture.  Housed in the Capitol is the formal office of the Governor but the rest of the building serves as a museum restored to its 19th Century appearance.
 http://www.nchistoricsites.org/capitol/STAT_CAP/Tour.htm

The west side of the Capitol presents a columned portico....the silent sentinel photographed above is dedicated to Ensign Worth Bagley.... a North Carolina naval officer who was the first North Carolinian to die in the Spanish American War.

Along the sidewalk on the southwest lawn is a memorial to the Daughters of the Confederacy and a small granite rock commemorating the "Wildcat Division" in World War One.

 The western entrance to the Capitol is the eastern terminus of Hillsborough Street where stands a tall obelisk dedicated to Our Confederate Dead. Cannons on both sides of the monument guard against attack from the west.....too bad, 'cause when General Sherman marched on Raleigh he came from the east!  ... maybe that is why we lost.....ya think?  



But the Spanish naval gun captured in 1898 next to the Bagley statue is however pointed eastward...trouble is it was invented 40 years too late to help the Johnny Reb.

Ashe County is named after Samuel Ashe, a former Governor .... But this Samuel A'Court Ashe is the first editor of the News and Observer. Why you would honor him with a monument on the northwestern lawn of the Capitol, I haven't a clue.

Not far from the Ashe monument I got a really nice contrasting view of new versus old through the columns of the western portico of the State Capitol.

Labor Dept

The northern lawn of the Capitol is dominated by a large obelisk memorial to North Carolina veterans of both World Wars and Korea...It is from the north side of the capitol the Fayetteville Mall continues to the General Assembly Building....but before I ventured in that direction I  first I had to snap a couple of pics of the Department of Labor and the Department of Agriculture.

Fredrick Olds-founder of the museum

Nathan Day- African American furniture maker

The mall serves as the entrance to the Museum of History and on the steps are some interesting  statues....Fredrick Olds, Thomas Day and a Saura Indian woman.....

The terminus of the mall is the main entrance to the General Assembly Building which was constructed in 1962.  The architectural design is a curious change from the traditional and the internal layout is so confusing it is called the "Puzzle Palace". However, on this early morn, I got the first glimpse of the light of dawn against which the building is silhouetted. 

Reversing my path I again returned to the old Capitol grounds and on the northeastern lawn found the the statue of Duncan McIver the first president of Women's College (UNCG) 

and Vietnam War Memorial over which I photographed a nice view of the steeple of the Christ Church against the morning sky.

The eastern side of the State Capitol features the impressive statue of our three Presidents. At least two of the people honored were actually born in North Carolina!

Andrew Jackson astride a horse is impressive until you realize he was actually born in South Carolina. (http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2011-03-07/dispute-continues-over-presidents-birthplace )
Interesting that all three of these men made their home in Tennessee.  James K. Polk, perhaps the most successful president in history was born in Mecklenburg County, and Andrew Johnson was born in Raleigh....more on that later.

On the southeastern lawn there are statues of two governors facing each other.  One is of Zebulon Vance, the other of Charles Aycock.

Old Zeb is an American iconic figure.  He was a born in rural Buncombe County....graduated from UNC at Chapel Hill...was elected to Congress as a supporter of the union but when Lincoln demanded troops from North Carolina to put down the rebellion in South Carolina, Old Zeb resigned from Congress and formed the 26th North Carolina Regiment to fight the Yanks.  Elected Governor at age 32, he shepherded the state through the war of North Aggression and subsequently became the elder statesman of the State serving as a United States Senator.

Charles Brantley Aycock was Governor at the beginning of the 20th Century is remembered as the Father of Education, but in truth the man was a virulent racist and should be vilified as the Father of Jim Crow. A third of the money for the cost of the statue came from school children. It is an embarrassment to the state that we honor such a man on our Capitol lawn and Statuary Hall in the US Capitol. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-rodda/hey-north-carolina-maybe_b_143974.html
I would like this statue removed and replaced by one honoring the Rev. Billy Graham...a real North Carolina hero.

Eastern Portico State Capitol

Near the Capitol I paused to take a photo of the Supreme Court Building....a building recently made famous for a scene of the mini series "Homeland" having been shot there.

Leaving the Capitol and walking east on the Fayetteville Mall I glimpsed a granite monument beside the Newbridge Bank Building nearly covered by grass.  Not being able to see it in the shadows, I took a flash photograph and when I viewed the photo I learned something.  I was but 125 feet from the birthplace of President Andrew Johnson. http://goodnightraleigh.com/2014/03/andrew-johnson-birthplace-raleigh-n-c/ Across the street is a Hardware Building, built in 1913, now converted to apartments.

Sir Walter Raleigh

Continuing my hike, I decided to visit two other venues.  The Raleigh Civic Center is behind my hotel that features a large statue with no name inscribed....about which some time ago when my wife first saw the statue inquired....
"What is a statue of Ponce De Leon doing in downtown Raleigh?"  Well duh!


I ended by walk at the Raleigh Auditorium which is a wonderfully remodeled venue for the performing arts.

For an early morning hike which I never planned it was a real treat....no one was out....I was distracted only by the chirps of birds.... I explored every statue on Capitol lawn and probably hiked 2.5 miles....If you find yourself in a hotel in downtown Raleigh and you wake up at O'Dark Thirty....you may enjoy this morning walk.   

                          "First at Bethel"

Henry Lawson Wyatt was a nineteen year old from Tarboro, a member of the Edgecombe Guards....missed him on my Capitol Walk but his statue is so compelling I had to add him to end the blog... killed at Bethel on June 10, 1861, he was said to be the first Confederate soldier killed in the War Between the States. He was not, but he was the first of nearly 40,000 North Carolinians who lost their lives on both sides of the senseless war.
 http://www.nccivilwar150.com/features/nc-civil-war_death-study.htm