Interested in opinions...

[plankmaker]

If you come through this way, we could go to Ridgewood and have some BBQ (slaw on the side) and pie. Have to go somewhere else for beer though.

Mark Campbell
Piney Flats, TN

[Quickstep]

Beer, pie, cole slaw and BBQ! Dang, this is sounding better and better.

[thunderbunny]

Glad to see you gentlemen worked everything out. Since Kansas City has the best BBQ in the world *teasing the gentleman from TN*, head on up this way

[bsbaker]

Originally Posted by thunderbunny

Glad to see you gentlemen worked everything out. Since Kansas City has the best BBQ in the world *teasing the gentleman from TN*, head on up this way

Best in the world? I thoroughly disagree. Maybe you should overnight me a BBQ Sammage and change my mind?

[hiplainsyank]

Arthur Bryants ribs--heavenly!
Their 3 inch high sliced meat sandwiches--awesome
Their fries, beans, and pickles (even though they're from a jar)--WOW.

KC is a BBQ paradise.

[thunderbunny]

See Joanna agrees with me. Send me your address and I'll send you that sammage

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

BBQ - "Bringing the country together, one reenactor at a time"

[flattop32355]

Pie: Bringing the country together, all at once, right now.

[Micah Trent]

All this talk of BBQ and pie just brings me to tears cause everyone is getting along so well.... Sniff....Sob....Sniff....That's just not how these forums are suppose to work.

[GAR]

Originally Posted by thunderbunny

I'm curious to know what all of you think. Do you think if actual Civil War soldiers knew that, after 150 years, there are countless reenactors that go out every chance we get to honor them, their memory and their cause, that they would think we're all nuts or do you think that they would be rather proud?

Rita,
Who knew that such a simple question would yield so much variety in responses? Great thread. I've really enjoyed reading this one.
As you know, I'm fresh fish. When I took a hit at Fortescue, I didn't die. I laid on the ground and groaned, and focused my mind into what it must have really been like to have been gut shot. The burning numbness, the inability to get back up. The roar of voices, guns and canons raging around me and the fear of not knowing what would happen next. Would I survive this wound? Staring up at the white clouds against the beautiful blue sky and then watching it all gray out as the battle smoke obscured it, as the vantage point from laying on one's back is horrible. It is impossible to see which way the battle was going. Were we advancing or falling back? Would someone come to try and help me or would the next person I see be the enemy, standing over me with a bayonet? In Gettysburg, a farmer's hogs got loose and ran wild, feeding on the dead and wounded. Good God. Was the grass dry? Could it catch fire? Would I die never again to taste how sweet water could be when all I could taste was dust?
It was a cathartic experience for me. I've read about it, but this was so much more personal.
The ACW was an enormous, hugely monumental event and everyone in 1863 knew that what was happening was history being written. If they jumped into their future and saw us, they might be amused by the smallness of our events. If, on the other hand, they came to our present with the knowledge of all that had transpired since, especially both Word Wars, I believe they would be grateful that there were people dedicated to preserving the memory of THEIR great event. Keep in mind, most veterans of the ACW attended reunions right up until the 1950's, until the last one died. I don't think they want what they did to be forgotten and would appreciate our "small" attempt to keep it alive.
Who knows, maybe 100 years from now people will reenact the first moon landing or the fall of Saigon.

Gary