On the Road to Historicon

I left Hesse Seewald at 9 AM on Tuesday and drove about 530 miles to Ligonier, PA so that I could see Fort Ligonier the next day. It wasn't the easiest f drives, but I was able to pick up the signal for WSCR "The Score" sports radio all the way to Toledo, Ohio which killed off 3-4 hours of travel. After that , I listened to a book on CD called The Rise and Fall of Alexandria which is really a fascinating listen. That took me the rest of the way to Ligonier. I would have to visit the fort the next day.

My mission was two fold: see the SYW artifacts and take pictures and measurements of the British artillery equipment for Fife & Drum purposes.


The fort has a very impressive collection of SYW in Europe artifacts from Prussia, Austria, Russia, Sweden, France and Britain. It is difficult to post more than a couple of pix on the road using my iPad so I will post the rest of the pix when I get home. Or, you can become one of my Facebook friends and see them now.

My second goal was to take pictures of the 2-wheel and 4-wheel ammo carts, the Conestoga wagon, the British 12-pounder and 5-inch howitzer and other items. I measured wheel diameters and carriage lengths for my equipment sculptor. I nearly melted in the heat, but mission accomplished.

Then I hit the road again to Fredericksburg and hit a traffic jam on I-81 in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately, the next exit said Antietam so I got off the freeway and made a side trip to Antietam. I really only wanted to visit the bookstore at park HQ and look around the museum, as I've been to the battlefield more times than I care to count, and besides, it was getting late in the day.

Then I meandered around the countryside trying to get south to Winchester, VA, but I always seemed to be heading west as there were no roads in the area going south. Finally, I got back on the interstate and arrived in Fredericksburg and checked in to my hotel.

I waited too long to book a hotel so I am about ten miles away from the Historicon site. The convention expo building is in the midst of the largest collection of malls and chain stores that I have ever seen. I think that EVERY SINGLE franchised store is in this retail park.

I'm getting tired of tapping on the iPad, so to make a long story short, I set up my booth at the Age of Glory booth and am next door to Eureka. Steve from Age of Glory was kind enough to offer me some space at his booth so we are piggy backing. This helps me get the lay of the land in the dealer area and hopefully I will learn how to run a dealer booth at a convention.

My fingers are tapped out on this iPad thingy, so good night.