The Culhanes Go To The Big City

This is the last entry for our trip to Atlanta and the National History Bee . . .

Room with a view . . . this is looking outta our hotel room.

Same view, but during the day.  You could see both Kennesaw Mountain and Stone Mountain off in the distance.

Looking down into the guts of our hotel . . .

OK, here are the Culhanes I was referring to in the entry title.  They acted like had never been on a dag-blasted elevator before.  Granted, the thing was glass and zoomed at a pretty good speed up to our floor some 40-something stories up.  Dudeboy was apprehensive about getting on the thing at first, but after that first time he didn't want to exit it!

One place we always wanted to visit, but never had a chance is the Martin Luther King National Historic Site.  Well, we thought this would be a perfect tie-in with the history bee.

Dudeboy on MLK's boyhood home.  Unfortunately, tours of inside the home were booked solid. Word to the wise, if you want to tour the home, go early in the day and get a reservation (it can only be done in person).

The funeral carriage for M.L. King.

 The gray rectangle in the back at the top of the photo is the tomb for M.L.K and his wife Coretta.

"What'll ya have!"

One last stop for us before leaving Atlanta . . . the Varsity, which claims to be "The World's Largest Drive-in Restaurant."  I daresay it has to be one of the busiest, as that place was hoppin'.

Kennesaw Mountain

On the way down to Hotlanta for the National History Bee, we stopped by Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield as Dudeboy had never toured the battlefield.  The view in the photo above is from atop Kennesaw Mountain and you can see Atlanta on the horizon in the blue distance.

One of the Confederate artillery placements atop Kennesaw Mountain . . . near the overlook.

Original Confederate earthworks still visible on Pigeon Hill.  This was where one of the two attacks by Sherman was repulsed.

Atop Pigeon Hill . . .

The Dead Angle on Cheatham Hill.  It was at this protruding angle in the Confederate lines that the worst of the fighting raged.  The Union troops attacked from across the field in the background to the entrenched works of Johnston's troops.  For the most part, the Union advance was mowed down.  However, amazingly, some reached the earthworks and actually engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

This is the Illinois Monument dedicated in 1914 and is the largest monument on the battlefield.  At the bottom of the photo is the entrance to a tunnel that was being constructed with the intention of setting off a bit of explosives under the Confederate lines.  However, the Confederates withdrew before the tunnel was completed.

The mounded area in the forefront of the photo was where some Union soldiers were caught in a kinda no-mans land.  They threw up a bit of earthworks to help shield them from the Confederate line which was situated just behind where the Illinois Monument is located.  It would have been suicide for many in this situation to retreat, so many suffered out here in the open for a good while.
 

The grave of an unknown Union soldier near the Dead Angle. 

A 9th Kentucky Wedding . . .

An original ferrotype by Wendell Decker (see here and here for our previous sittings with Wendell).

Another original ferrotype by Wendell Decker.

Father and son on Father's Day weekend . . .

Dudeboy in line at one of the demonstrations for our Old Mulkey Meeting House living history event.

Apart from our annual Old Mulkey Meeting House living history event another important occurrence transpired this weekend  . . . an antebellum-themed wedding involving two 9th Ky. members Todd W. and Tara.  They met at the Old Mulkey event two years ago and fell in love. (Photo taken by Cousin JoAnne)

(Photo taken by Cousin JoAnne)

Artemisia! . . . Boom! . . . the National History Bee National Finals

Well, we have just returned from Atlanta and the National History Bee National Finals, and we are very proud and pleased to relate that Malcolm did great! There were just under 700 students from 47 states that participated. We met and talked with several families from all over the country . . . California, Texas, Connecticut. There were even kids who journeyed from Alaska and Hawaii for the event!

As I said Malcolm did great. He outright won or tied for first in each of his preliminary rounds (I should add that there were ten children in each preliminary round).  And by doing so, he qualified for the Championship Rounds. There were three championship rounds . . . the first consisting of 128 students divided into 16 sections. The top two from each section moved on into the next round where the final eight advanced to ultimate championship round. Well, Malcolm made it into the first championship round.

To show how hard it is when you get to this point in the competition, the boy who won the Nashville Region (the last two years no less) was also eliminated in Malcolm's section. Apparently some kids even have personal "history coaches." So, compared to some, we didn't really put much effort into reviewing for the event which impresses me even more knowing he was mostly relying on his existing general knowledge. (Above photo . . . to give you some idea of how large the event was, this picture was taken when I was positioned only about 2/3rds back).

Malcolm pointing to his name which signified that he was moving on to the Championship Rounds.

It was a thrill to watch Malcolm throwing out names like Eugene Debs, Samuel Gompers and events like the Bonus Army, the Prague Spring and that Artemisia was a reference to the Persian War. I must say the last eight kids in the final were amazing to watch. I was a history major and they would have blitzed me.

Our New Neighbors

Here is one of the five baby skunks (I just looked it up . . . a baby skunk is called a "kit") that live in or near our yard.  This guy was very friendly and obviously wanted to check me out, but like so many people unaccustomed to beings not like them I was a little leery.  These guys are pretty damn cute . . .