Our first stop was Copwens, we arrived right as the Visitor's Center opened at 10 and got to see the first movie showing of the day. The battle was fought on January 17, 1781. I am going to quote from the website, as they do a better job summarizing than I could: Cowpens "became known as the turning point of the war in the South, part of a chain of events leading to Patriot Victory at Yorktown. The Cowpens victory was won over a crack British regular army and brought together strong armies and leaders who made their mark on history." After the movie, we talked with a very friendly park ranger, who set Luke up with a Junior Ranger book. He had to complete 5/8 tasks. We did the outdoor walk, which was just over a mile. It was a beautiful day and Luke enjoyed finding the answers to questions in his book. He did the outdoor scavenger hunt, indoor hunt and 3 other tasks. We stayed until about 1130 and Luke was able to complete the 5 activities and be sworn in as a Junior Ranger, which he loved.
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| Seeing what's next for in the Jr. Ranger book |
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| This monument commemorates Major William Washington and his cavalry (erected 1856) |
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| We have many similar pictures of the older kids doing this :) |
The drive to the next battlefield was only about 30 minutes. I had looked along the route and found a Wendy's. However, the dining room was closed. So, we went next door to Popeye's. I had been wanting to try the Popeye's chicken sandwich since it became a media sensation in 2019, so I was excited about this turn of events. We all thought our food was good (we had never been to Popeye's) and would go back again.
We got to Kings Mountain at 12:45. The movie started at 1:15, so we looked in the museum first. It was really nice. It was set up like a forest and the "trees" played movies or had exhibits describing the battle. We all enjoyed walking around. We watched the movie, which was done by the History Channel and was really good. Here's the battle summary for this one: ""Thomas Jefferson called it "The turn of the tide of success." The battle of Kings Mountain, fought on October 7th, 1780 was an important American victory during the Revolutionary War. The battle was the first major patriot victory to occur after the British invasion of Charleston, SC in May 1780." The war had not been going well for the British in the north, but they were having a lot of success in the South. There was a possibility that they could win the South and cut off supply lines to the North. There were also more loyalists in the south. The Americans were outnumbered, but managed to claim victory at Kings Mountain, and kill Major Ferguson, which was a huge blow to the British Army. This turned the tide on the Southern campaign.
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| Inside the visitor's center |
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| If those trees could talk... |
The battlefield walk was about 1.5 miles and very hilly. It had an audio tour where you called from numbered spots to hear information corresponding to that part of the battlefield. It was really interesting and something I hope all battlefields incorporate. It made it very easy to understand what was happening and where the troops were positioned. We really enjoyed it (well, all but Kara and Luke who were not in the mood for more walking). We finished up about 2:45 and started the long drive home.
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| The stone on the left was erected in 1815 to commemorate the battle. It is the 2nd oldest memorial in the country. |
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| The newest marker was erected in 1909. |
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| This marker is where President Hoover spoke to 75000 people to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the battle. |
Traffic was rough at points, but not as bad as the drive to NC, probably because by the time we hit Georgia, it was getting later in the day. Our last stop was Buc-cees in Daytona, a new amazing gas station that has been big news in this area. We could definitely see what the hype was about. They had 12 different icee varieties, bathrooms with dozens of stalls, over 100 gas pumps and lots of snacks, including a wall of beef jerky, a wall of gummy treats, a fudge counter, barbecue, etc. Even though it was 10:30 p.m., we couldn't resist trying a cotton candy icee (mixed reviews, I really liked it). We got home around 11:30, brought everything inside and went to bed!
For a short trip summary--I think it was an amazing vacation. It was great to be with the Wills and everyone enjoyed all the activities. It was really nice to do a more nature-focused vacation. I asked everyone to list their top three things from the trip, but people said it would be too hard to rank. So, in no particular order:
Kori and Anna: horse-back riding, river float, Catawaba Falls
Thomas: battlefields, horse-back riding, river float
Kara: floating, retrocade, horse-back riding
Luke: sliding rock, retrocade, Catawaba Falls
Jack: battlefields, retrocade, floating
Sounds so fun! I'm glad you guys had a good time!
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