Our Family Vacation 2011 ~ Part 3

On Monday of our trip, we decided to drive to Kings Mountain to see some of our family history along with American History.  You see when we were trying to think of a name for Isaac before he was born, Rob started tracing back the Shelby line.  He got all the way back to at least Wales.  During the search he found out that the Shelby’s were related to men who were in the Battle of Kings Mountain in the American Revolution.  Col. Isaac Shelby was a key player in this battle that was also the turning point for the Americans.  (Later, Isaac Shelby became Kentucky’s 1st and 5th governor.)

It was about a 3 hour drive to Kings Mountain National Military Park right outside of Charlotte, NC.

By the time we arrived, it was time for lunch.  There was a state park connected to this park that had a picnic and play area.  The kids ran off some energy while I nursed Isaac and Rob fixed sandwiches for the kids.  After lunch, we loaded up and went back to the museum.

Here’s a group picture minus mommy and Isaac:

Getting ready to go in after our bathroom break;)

 

The first two pictures represent the Americans and the other represent the British.

The Mountain man, the Patriots, and the Redcoats

 

Rob going over the map of the battle with the boys and the key to the map which had Braille on it.  We had just learned about Helen Keller so the kids got to see and feel the Braille.  (Two lessons…at least…in one!)

They had a 20 minute video about the war up to the point of the victory at Kings Mountain.  They talked about Col. Isaac Shelby throughout the video.  The boys enjoyed this so much!

Getting ready for the  video.

After the video, we went to the museum.

Ferguson’s weapons (He was the enemy.)

The museum was made up of large fake trees as if you were walking through the forest.

The kids

They had lots of info with Col. Isaac Shelby.

Here’s his picture:

 

They had Isaac’s hunting knife but it was out for preservation:(

 

A quote by Col. Isaac Shelby

After the museum, we hiked the 1.5 mile up the Battlefield Trail to see the monuments.

 

Along the trail was this hill with big rocks so they decided to climb it for fun.

Waiting on his daddy and siblings to come down from the rocks.

They had informational signs along the trail and this one had info about Col. Shelby’s men.

Emma and Asa were tired.  Asa did this a lot along the way.

 

Momma was getting tired too especially after having to haul Asa up some of the way.

This is where we started seeing the 1st monument.  It felt good when we thought we had made it to our destination before we realized there was more!

 

Tired girls

 

Sarah, Mommy, and Emma

Here’s the second monument.

      

It had a plague with Col. Isaac Shelby’s name and one with Moses Shelby’s name.  Moses was Isaac’s brother who was wounded in this battle.

Emma taking another break.

This is where Col. Patrick Ferguson (the head of the redcoats) was buried from the battle.

 

Rob and our Isaac Shelby

 

After spending the day at the military park, we loaded up and headed back to the cabin.  We stopped along the way and ate supper where we each enjoyed a delicious milkshake….all different flavors.  It was a great day and one of the favorite activities of the trip.