18 July 2024
Breakfast was at 9. I was up by 5. While waiting for breakfast, I met a woman from New Jersey. As we got to talking, she asked where I was headed next. I said Greensboro. She said she was heading to Greensboro. I said I was going to visit my cousin. She said she was going to visit her cousin. As we continued to talk, she mentioned she had been quoted in the New York Times. I said my friend Michael told me last night he had been quoted in the New York Times. Actually, I was mistaken, Michael was quoted in Esquire – which is better. She and I became breakfast companions.
Breakfast was ho-hum. It was a biscuit with a vegetable quiche thing, sweet potatoes and onions, and one sausage patty. It was preceded by a small fruit cup. I’m not sure about serving a vegetable quiche and then sausage. What’s the message? The cook told me tomorrow will be something sweet.
Michael arrived shortly after 12:30 and we walked to a restaurant near the BandB. It’s called Billikens Smokehouse. I’ve never eaten barbecue in such a luxurious mansion.
The barbecue was excellent and Michael treated me to lunch. I had brisket, baked beans and baked apples. It was our waitress’s first day on the job and she did pretty well.
From there, Michael drove me to the Fredericksburg Battlefield. We watched the movie of the battle at the Welcome Center and then toured Marye’s Heights where the retaining wall of the sunken road was found. I have been mispronouncing this word “Marye” as Mary. It should be pronounced as Marie. I’ve always wanted to view the wall. I’ve read several books about the Civil War and Marye’s Heights and terrible carnage on the Union soldiers and the incompetence of Burnside.
Near the wall was the Innis House. You can look through the windows and see the bullet holes in the house.
Michael and I stopped under a magnolia and I insisted on a selfie. Michael thinks he looks terrible in selfies. So do I. Years ago Michael and Tom took a selfie under the same tree.
Behind us is the memorial of the Angel of Marye’s Height. After the battle, he took water to the wounded soldiers.
From the battlefield, Michael drove us to Chatham Heights. The house served as Burnsides’ headquarters.
From there you overlook the town of Fredericksburg.
From Chatham Heights, the Union army shelled Fredericksburg with great effect. The house also served as a hospital during the battle and Clara Barton and Walt Whitman served as nurses there. The house earlier had hosted Thomas Jefferson and later Abraham Lincoln.
Michael also pointed out what he thinks is the oldest catalpa tree in the U.S. This is the location that limbs amputated were dumped.
Michael had never heard about catalpa worms so I explained the life cycle and told him about how good of fish bait they are.
Not all catalpa trees get worms (larvae) on them and people who have the larvae sometimes try to “infect” other trees. The moth lays eggs on the leaves and the larvae feed and fatten. They drop to the ground and burrow into the ground and pupate there. After pupation, the adult moth climbs out of the ground.
Michael has promised me that if I come back, he’ll serve as tour guide to DC and environs. I think it’ll have to be a fall trip because the heat here is pretty intense.
Stay tuned!
