7/20/2008

Hopewell Furnace - Day Trip

Yesterday was Saturday and for our day trip we went to the Hopewell Furnace.

This was another historical site I had wanted to visit for quite some time. When we used to live in Pa somehow we never ended up going there but finally I can say I have been there.

The ride was short and sweet about thirty minutes, the heat and humidity however were something else. *phew!* I know your saying but she is from South Carolina and she should be used to it. Let me tell you the humidity up here is quite different than what you experience in the south. I have no clue why or perhaps it is all in my head but it just feels so different.

The site is quite nice and very well maintained. We were lucky for they were reenacting the setting up the charcoal pit as it would have been done back when the furnace was working, they had men showing how they created casts of the parts of the stove and they even had a blacksmith working.

We were able to walk around and enjoy the sites at our pace. The ranger was quite friendly and was willing to answer any question that we had about the site. The first item we did was watch an intro video about the furnace (nice to have some background information), then check out the artifacts that were found and finally head down to the site.

The boys really enjoyed themselves and even completed a fun little activity paper to teach them more about the site. When they were done, they earned a badge for this National Park.

Along the way home we stopped at another furnace in the area, this one there really was not much to see except the furnace.

It always amazes me how far we have really come through the years.




**more pictures to follow
Sandy
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