Blue Bubun headed over to the Potomac river to check out some historical forts. The first fort he visited was Fort Foote.
Fort Foote is on a bluff looking downstream along the Potomac, to spot incoming enemy ships (and shoot them with big cannons). It was built during the Civil war and mostly abandoned in the late 19th century, so now the area is overgrown.
Walking out to the fort, you can hardly tell that there used to be anything here.
Most of the fort has disappeared, only the foundations remain on the top of the bluff.
The other part that is still there are the two large Rodman guns, that could shoot a 434 lb cannonball 3 miles downriver. These were never fired in battle.
Blue Bubun got to climb carefully into the guns! That is all there is to see, so he headed further down river to the National Colonial Farm.
The park has several sections, including an 18th century farm with historical interpreters. He met several new friends!
First were the farm chickens, running loose in the yard.
Then there were three pigs nosing about in the mud.
Finally, this friendly bull stopped to chat in the shade.
He also toured the tobacco barn to see the tobacco harvest drying on tobacco sticks.
The farm is on the banks of the Potomac, and has a fishing pier .
Looking upriver, downtown DC has already disappeared around the river bend.
There were a variety of snail and mussel shells washed up on the riverbank.
Next, he headed across the river to Virginia to see the other side.
Fort Hunt is on the opposite side of the Potomac, and was built much more recently than Fort Foote. This lookout tower guarded the land approach.
Other areas of the fort used to have a view of the river (now overgrown by trees) with guns and barracks and such. During WWII, it was used for military intelligence purposes and the interrogation of enemy POWs.
