Exploring History Close to Home with My Parents – Fort de Chartres and Kaskaskia, Illinois

Repetition with a bit of the unexpected is what you can count on during an adventure with my mom.  Aren’t the trees beautiful.  It’s just the perfect weekend to look at the leaves.  Jess look at the leaves.  That skirt is great deal.  I think I am going to buy it.  I want a turkey leg.  Just look at the leaves.  What a great day to look at the leaves.

Aaron and I were planning a day to cross the river and visit the Fort de Chartres Rendezvous. I decided to ask my parents to tag along. I knew my dad would enjoy the history aspect and my mom, well, I figured she would be game for just a day out.  

If my parents were going, I knew that it needed to be a slower, low-key kind of day.  The only real plan I had was the time we were leaving – 9:00 am – and the destination – The Rendezvous at Fort de Chartres.  Everything else we would play by ear and my dad’s blood sugar count.

It was a last minute decision for my parents to go with us, but the first thing my mom was worried about was what I was wearing.  I generally check the weather to see what to wear, but I’m not laying out my outfit the night before or anything.  My mom on the other hand does just that.  So when my mom asked what I was wearing, I didn’t have much input.  And the first thing she commented on when we picked her up was she wasn’t sure if she had worn the right shoes.  She had considered boots but thought it was going to be too hot.  She continued to doubt the choice of her flats all the way up until the point she saw that yellow skirt then things were right in the fashion world.  But I will get to that in a little bit.

So we set off Saturday morning heading to my first rendezvous.  I was excited about this particular event for two different reasons.  The first being that I love a good living history lesson and this promised to be a good one.  The second and most important was the opportunity to see my former co-workers – Rocky and Crow Swearingen.  They have been attending the event for years and Crow from the beginning.  I hadn’t seen them in years and was eager to see them in their element.

The easiest way to reach Prairie du Rocher, Illinois is to ride the ferry across at Ste. Genevieve.  I had just taken for granted that my mom had done this before, but come to find out she hadn’t.  So this was a first for her.  It is a unique experience that everyone should do at least once.  And every time I cross the Mississippi on a ferry, I can’t help but imagine a different time period when people were crossing it on rafts or paddling upstream in a canoe.  

After reaching the Illinois side of the river, it is just a short drive to the fort.  Now a lot of times when arriving at a historic fort, it is just the ground where the fort had been.  This isn’t the case at Fort de Chartres.  The walls and buildings are still there.  Now only one building is thought to be the original – as in the 1730s or so, but the others were built in 1920s to what was believed to be the original plans.  There are some foundations left from the original building on the grounds. It is an impressive sight to see.

Even more impressive on this specific weekend was arriving and see the participants in the rendezvous in full dress truly living the part of the time period – the 18th and 19th centuries.  If you can’t tell by the name, the fort is French, so that was the main focus of the rendezvous.  But other cultures were represented as well.

We started on our day at the back of the fort and worked our way forward.  In the back we found the museum and a few other buildings that were replicas of the originals.  We also found the ever important food vendors and a few camps. Also back here is an outside brick oven where fresh baked samples were being provided.

The museum was interesting and informative but a little crowded, so I didn’t spend as much time looking as I would have on another day.  The information on how to care for the elderly and illegitimate children caught my attention, so I spent some time reading up on those.  The replica buildings were a church and soldier living quarters that were furnished with period furniture.  A look into the everyday life of the fort.

 

One of the small buildings was housing some “souvenirs” of the event – t-shirts and mugs and such.  But among those items were some time period clothing that was reasonably priced.  And because my mom can’t pass by a bargain or a fashion statement, she had to have the yellow skirt.  The yellow skirt that she was determined to put on at that very moment in the middle of the courtyard over her capris.  It was at this very moment that she realized that those flats she had been doubting were just perfect for her new more appropriate outfit.  When in Rome, Lisa does as the Romans do.

 

Among the camps along the back, I found the one that I could live in.  It was the “glamping” of the 19th century – a stove, curtain dividers, a table, dishes and most importantly a bed with a mattress.  The owner was nice enough to invite us in and allow us to take a few pictures.  I could rendezvous like that.

 

As we were walking among the campers, I kept scouring the tents for a glimpse of Rocky and Crow.  Mr. Huffman had given the general vicinity to look in.  (Huffman is another former co-worker who has visited Rocky and Crow for several years at the rendezvous.)  And then that’s when I spotted them.  Crow was in his tent selling his custom wares, while Rocky was next door at the teepee cooking lunch for the visiting Huffman crew.

I’m not a hugger but I felt the need to hug these people.  Rocky had been there “through it all” and who doesn’t love Crow?

 

We visited and chatted for awhile.  I introduced them to my parents and Aaron.  My mom shopped and bought a few things from Crow while Rocky and Aaron realized they had a mutual friend.  It was a nice visit.  I enjoyed the reconnection.

 

After my friendly visit, we continued to make our way through the other campers and proprietors.  Some had more formal tent setups with tables and displays while others just laid their offerings on a blanket laying on the ground. That is where my mother found the hat.  The hat she needed to try on and complete her outfit.  The hat that made her look like a cross between Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty.  At this point, Aaron didn’t know what to think.  My dad and I were just going with the Lisa flow.  Unlike the skirt, the hat wasn’t a necessity and she didn’t buy it, but I couldn’t resist a picture.

At the end of the vendors, we found ourselves at the front of the fort which is has an impressive entrance.  On the inside of the entrance, visitors can climb the steep ladder and look over the gates to see over the outside grounds. I’m not a fan of heights and the view didn’t bother me but going down the steep ladder did bother me a bit.

Next we made our way to one corner of the fort. This particular corner housed the powder keg building which upon further reading it is original to the fort.  Also in this corner is a turret that visitors can climb into and check out the view.  The limited view of the gun slots was quite surprising.  Now the steps to this are narrow and again steep with nothing to hang on to.  Not a big deal going up, and I didn’t think it would be a big deal going down.  The steps were very short, so it was hard to get a good footing.  Aaron went first and even made a comment on the uneasiness of it.  I was very apprehensive about the descent as you can see in this picture.  Thanks mom.

Now you haven’t heard me mention much about my dad and that’s because he was doing what he normally does – hanging in the background while everyone else does their own things.  He usually does this while having to hold my mom’s things.  He does this without complaint.  For this one picture, she held her own belongings so there would be proof my dad had been an active participant of the day.

 

Since we had seen everything we needed to see at the camp and the fort, we decided it was time for lunch.  The lines were much longer then when we initially passed by but still didn’t take too long.  We decided to divide and conquer.  Aaron and my mom headed to the pie stand and bought sandwiches and of course pies.  My dad and I were getting the homemade root beer and cream soda.  Now in hindsight I should have realized that homemade soda wouldn’t be A&W.  I have only had a few sips of a soda in the last two years, but in the name of Lagom, I was ready to down an ice cold cream soda.  Except that it wasn’t ice cold, carbonated or A&W.  It was different.  I didn’t make it all the way through my brown bottle.

Our day at the Rendezvous was coming to an end.  But like any Lagom Adventure, we try to squeeze as much as we can into one day.  Since it was only about 1:00 in the afternoon and Dad’s blood sugar level was still good, we decided to extend our adventure by driving down along the Mississippi to the Kaskaskia Historic Site.

 

Look at the trees.  They are so pretty.

 

In my research on Ancestry.com, Aaron found that a portion of his family had come through the earliest Kaskaskia settlement when it wasn’t part of the United States yet.  So he was interested in visiting the historic site and the town itself.  The town is home to the Liberty Bell of the West which Aaron knew about but I had never heard of before.

We stopped at the Fort Kaskaskia Historic Site.  Unlike the Fort de Chartres, this is just the ground where the Fort was and a display of what the fort most likely looked like when it was there.  Inside the park a little ways up the road is an overlook of the Mississippi River and the site of the Illinois state capitol when it was there.  It’s a beautiful view even on an overcast fall day.

 

Such pretty fall colors.

 

While we were walking along the grounds, my dad joked that I should find a trail and hike it.  I told him that they were lucky I hadn’t looked for at least one trail to hike that day.  A small silence fell over the crowd with the fear that I may have been a bit serious about that.  But I know my audience and this wasn’t the crowd to throw in a hiking adventure.

 

The leaves are just beautiful this weekend.

We then decided to cross the river at Chester and visit the town of Kaskaskia which is in Illinois but on the Missouri side of the river.  Strange isn’t it.  We were in search of the Liberty Bell of the West.  We found it quite easily housed inside a brick building for protection next to a lovely old Catholic Church that was preparing for Saturday Mass.  It was a little reminiscent of Dorothy knocking on the gates to OZ because on the door of the building is a paper that reads, “push the green button and the door will open.”  Or something similar to that effect.  (I wish I had taken a picture of that).  All visitors are allowed to do is look through the gated door to peer inside at the bell.  If you visit and it looks like it is closed it isn’t.  You actually push a button and the door will swing open on its own to allow you to see inside.  It’s worth stopping and checking it out.

At this point we thought our day was over, but Aaron and I decided we were hungry and it was a good time to introduce my parents to the Dew Drop Inn in Bloomsdale.  I figured Saturday at 3:30 in the afternoon would be a good time to visit.  We were mistaken.  We pulled into a full parking lot but were able to find one empty table in the corner.  My parents weren’t too hungry so they decided upon an appetizer of onion rings.  Aaron and I are a fan of fried mushrooms so we ordered those as well.  After a little debate, we settled on a deluxe pizza with extra cheese and banana peppers (Aaron’s decision).  I wasn’t a fan of the extra cheese but he was.  It did have a nice crispy crust and the appetizers were large.  Overall a good meal.

Our day was know officially over and we were headed home.  We had spent a day adventuring and learning about history that is within an hour of where we call home.  There are still many adventures so close to home that I need to explore.

We ended our day driving the  backroads so my mom could enjoy just a little more of the fall trees.

Just look at those beautiful trees.

 

We encourage you to find some time to explore close to home and tell u about it. 

Find out about Fort de Chartres.

Find out more about the Liberty Bell of the West.