Mississinewa 1812 (part 3)

I haven't gotten this post up as quickly as I wanted due to a busy few days and trying to fight off a cold.  I think I'm winning the battle but I won't call it won yet.

We greeted Saturday morning refreshed and renewed after our hot butter rum tottie slumber.  Our wonderful neighbours had an enormous pot of coffee on the fire which was amazing.  I'm very much a coffee girl in the morning, especially Tim Horton's coffee.  Given that there are none in the USA, or at least in the parts that we were travelling through, I had been making due with whatever truck stop gas station coffee we came across.  I drank the campfire coffee black which is very out of the ordinary for me, but at that point I didn't care.  It was liquid gold as far as I was concerned.

JM had a bit of a head start on me in the morning, which anyone who knows me won't be terribly shocked to hear.  I met up with him and the large event tent at the middle of the site where one of our fellow MLHS members, Claire, was giving a workshop on how to properly tailor garments.  It was incredibly informative!  I knew she was a genius when it came to making clothes but this was unbelievable!

After the presentation, we decided to hit the town and burn a hole in our haversacks buying up any and every historic trinket we could find.  That and we needed to get some breakfast and what a tasty meal we found.  Enter the epic giant baked potato!

....................... Now that I've given you all a moment to drool over that wonderful tasty mess of potato, butter, sour cream and chives, I'll continue my tale.

JM accepted an invitation from Sally at the American Military camp for us to take tea with her at 2pm that afternoon.  Click here to read about taking tea.  The only variation from this website to what Sally explained at the tea, was the end of the tea was signaled by passing around the cake platter.  But before I get ahead of myself, back to the fun.  JM and I had almost 3 hours to kill walking around the market area known as Rivertown or Merchants Row.  We bought everything from a walking cane for JM, teas, fabric, books, ear rings for the dance that night, EVERYTHING!!  Here are a few pictures of the things I bought and of the tea that afternoon!

My new burgundy hat, beeswax candles, cutlery set, teas, lantern, fingerless gloves, fan, ear rings, lip balm, tea ball, french reproduction coins, silk fan and broom!

Modeling my new hat!! I love it, although Big D claims I look goofy in it.

JM dressed in his afternoon best ready for tea

At tea in Sally's tent.  JM sitting next to Millie in the gorgeous blue spencer jacket! (I wanted to snatch it off her so bad!!) Next to her is the amazing Claire who gave the workshop.

After tea, JM and I did a bit of reading from his Jane Austen manners book to make sure we were nice and proper for the dance that evening.  I scoffed at a few of the instructions, including her insistence on pinning up your train when going to a dance.  I figured with my dress only having a small 3" train that I would be fine.  Yeah, right!!  Tell that to my muddy hem after JM stepped on it at the dance!!  Boy did he have fun giving me a  hard time over that one!  At Jane's suggestion, he decided tot ake a nap as "one should be well rested when not accustomed to dancing til 5 in the morning".  I decided against it since our dance had an end time of 9pm.  I went to visit Barb and Dennis for a bit and enjoyed some of their music and company.

A little before the dance was to begin, I woke JM and we drove into town for dinner.  The vendors had closed but we found a "McDonald's Inn" to have dinner.  Classy, I know but that's how we roll.  We returned in just enough time to dress for the dance.  I unfortunately don't have ANY pictures of us at the dance.  The lighting wasn't very good for pictures and we were having such a good time that it didn't even cross our minds.

After the dance, Debbie, another one of our MLHS members, stopped by our tent for a drink or two of Kraken.  We walked her back to the British Military camp where the rest of our group was staying and got a first hand look at their marquee tent.  It was slightly more glamorous than our tent, with two bedrooms and a dining area.  JM went back to bed but I decided to stay and enjoy the festivities with the rest of our group and some of the American friends we made.  Boy was it ever a wild night!

The large, elegant table inside the marquee tent

Me and Jane.  Her and I go way back, long before our MLHS days.

Alex, one of our MLHS gentlemen on the far right, with a few of the others in the British military

It was a rough morning the next morning, but JM and I found the perfect solution to get going on a very rainy Sunday...more of the giant baked potatoes and a smoked turkey leg!  This thing was massive!  JM had suggested we each get one, but sharing one seemed like a better idea.  Good thing we decided to do that because we hardly put a dent in it.  Here are a few goofy pictures to give you a good laugh.

We wandered around, picked up the last couple of trinkets we just couldn't live without and took some pictures with our friends.

JM and me with Barb and Dennis.  We look a little like drowned rats because there was a torrential downpour 5 minutes before this picture was taken.

Sadly, our time at Mississinewa 1812 was coming to an end.  We packed up our camp, said goodbye to our friends, wished a safe trip to our other MLHS members and headed out on the road.  We managed to find a route that did NOT take us through Chicago and it was a much nicer drive home.  We laugh, sang, plotted and schemed over costumes for next year and craft ideas for all of the wonderful fabrics we picked up on our trip.  All in all, it was an amazing experience and I can't wait to go again next year.  In the meantime, I have adjusted back to modern life quite well, although I drink a little more tea than before and read a little more Jane Austen.  

JM and I couldn't have done it without the help of all our family and friends though.  My mom and dad for giving me the gift of spending cash and their GPS which we named Gertrude Patricia Sutherland....or Dirty Gertie when she decided to act up.  Mr E and C for lending us their tent and vehicle and Meeko and Kokanee, my fur babies, for putting up with a very bored and antsy Big D for 5 days, lol.  Now all I have to do is wait until next year!!!

**UPDATE**

One of our fellow MLHS members just shared this video.  Our members from the British Military camp are now famous!! Check it out and see what all the fun is about!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1pnlwpZhnc&feature=share