R.I.P. Sue Mundy

Sue Mundy
1992-2009

The Nina, Pinta and the Falls of the Ohio

The end of last week was very busy. Friday we went to the Nashville zoo for the Homeschool Afternoon. I learned about animal husbandry: raising domesticated animals. We met a skunk, an owl, and a rabbit.

On Saturday we went to see the life-size replicas of the Nina and Pinta that were docked in Louisville. I got to go aboard both. The Pinta was bigger and faster. I was able to go on the top of the Pinta and then on the lower part of the deck but not inside the ship. On the Pinta there were two models of the ship: one of it being built and one of it finished. The Nina was the smallest ship. They said that this is the most historically accurate replica ever made of a Columbus ship. I was surprised at how small the ship was, just 65 feet long.

Then we went to the Fossil Fest at the Falls of the Ohio. It's supposed to be one of the largest deposits of Devonian fossils. We walked to the fossil beds to get to the tents set up for the festival, and I couldn't take a step without stepping on a fossil.

At one giant tent we bought several fossils and rocks: a fish fossil, a coprolite (fossilized tortoise poop), a shark's tooth, and a piece of malachine ( a green mineral from Zaire). I almost went for the green goldstone which is man-made. We could have spent a lot more money on fossils.

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Hart County Civil War Days

Saturday we went to Hart County Civil War Days. First we went to the Woodson house by the real battlefield. We saw a display of artifacts found by a man who finds relics from the Civil War and before: glasses, bullets, and anything else a metal detector can find. He had a large collection of bullets and even a metal star from a Revolutionary War uniform, and he gave me a bullet. We got to use an apple cider press. A basket-maker showed us how he uses honeysuckle vines to weave very, very small baskets. We walked around the trail that circles the real battlefield.

After we went into town, we saw the model of the Hunley ( a confederate submarine) that was there. We even got to turn the crank that powered the submarine. When they raised the Hunley, they discovered a rubberized cloth hose, rubber gaskets and elastic suspenders. Isn't that a surprise!

Next we went to a tent they had set up like a confederate hospital. We saw medical tools that helped give anesthesia. We learned that 98% of Civil War operations used anesthesia. Mostly they amputated when the patient was asleep, not like I had thought.

We went to the museum and saw Lincoln give a speech about his life, and I got to have my picture taken with him, again. After we saw Lincoln, we went to the reenactment which was inaccurate because it was not at the site of the original battle.


Then we went to Kentucky Stonehenge. I stood on the stone in the middle decorated with a compass.