Saturday was history day!  My sister’s birthday was earlier in the week and I asked if she wanted to do anything over the weekend since we didn’t get to see her on that day.  She wanted to go to the Saratoga Battlefield, so wish was granted.  The girls decided that they did not want to come, so it was just the sisters.

The battlefield area is such an important part of the Revolutionary War.  It was really the start of the turning point for the Americans with the surrender of Burgoyne.  Here is a large overview of the battlefield areas:

 

It’s hard to imagine thousands of soldiers running around in this area:

 

There is a 10 mile loop that goes around with 8 spots to stop and walk around.  There is a little bike lane, so it might be fun to bring our bikes down some time and go around this.  John hasn’t been here.

There were also a couple re-enactors around as well.  At the main visitor’s center, there was a woodworker carving a spoon:

 

Then there was someone dressed as a soldier:

 

I can’t believe he wasn’t cold.  It was 40 degrees and windy.  He also had a revolutionary era short sword (mostly used for hunting, not fighting).  Deer antler handle and brass hand guard:

 

We saw a lot of wildlife as well.  Deer were just crossing the road and eating and weren’t bothered by us at all.  I took this out the car window. Nom, nom, nom.

 

They were aware of us, though:

 

Lots of cannons to be seen around.

Quite the vantage point on these hills.

 

We saw evidence of beaver chewing.  (Not part of the tour, but we were also looking for wildlife.  My sister is quite the birder.)

 

Then found the beaver home and beaver dam.

Sisters!  We asked a biker to take our picture.   Doesn’t it look like a cold fall day instead of spring?? I had 3 layers on.

 

They also were doing a controlled burn in some areas.  This is to keep the park healthy.  Look at the blackened earth.

 

They had done this the previous 2 days and you could actually see heat waves coming off the ground.   There was a crew behind us here keeping an eye on things.

Here is one of the farm buildings that was fought over (rebuilt)

Freeman’s Farm.

 

It took us several hours to get around the 10 miles 😀 . This was quite a neat park and amazing to think of the history right in our backyard pretty much.

Of course, birthday doins’ also include lunch out!  This was a late lunch (2:30) and we were staaaarving! We stopped in Schuylerville at a place called Espresso Huis.  Roasted red pepper soup with smoked gouda and a latte:

 

Along with an unpictured sandwich.  Then dessert!  This was a delicious cupcake:

 

I am such a good sister to treat Colleen to a nice day out.  The girls really missed out!