Union Mills
After getting off work this morning, I picked up LeKid and we headed out to the 34th Annual Union Mills Corn Roast. It was our first visit to both the annual corn roast and the Union Mills Homestead. Wish I had not been so tired but otherwise it was fun.
It was crowded - a lot more crowded than I like but well worth the time and effort. The food was good too and our timing perfect as it was just hitting 11:45am and stuff was winding up. There was a band and DJ playing classic rock hits from 1950's and 1960's. Stuff I really like so I was happily bopping in the line and annoying LeKid. She's so not into having a mom who happily (but softly) sings along and bounces to the music while waiting in what seems to be a mile long line.
The food was great. Fresh, locally grown tomatoes. A quarter of a roasted, decent sized chicken. A potato roll. And all the fresh, locally grown, roasted white corn you could eat. The corn was sweet enough on its own that it did not need butter or salt/pepper.
Then we strolled for a couple of hours, getting the tour of the house/homestead. Built as a 'Dog-run' log cabin in 1797, it was occupied by the Shriver family from then until 1957 when it was gifted to Carroll County for use as a museum/history exhibit. The old grist and lumber mill has been completely re-vamped and is in working order. The house is being re-furbished.
But I have to admit that the old house made me uneasy. Not 'cause of anything unusual but because the floors are often not level. So I'd be slightly off kilter and when added to fact that I started out with a very nasty sinus headache that I could not get rid of at work and the fact that my glasses weren't sitting straight due to severe pain of wearing them normally (not wearing them straight means slight doubled vision) I kept getting the wiggins as I walked through parts. Standing still in those rooms was worse though!
The fascinating thing was the fact that the house still had original furnishings and objects from the different periods of time. The Shriver family was/is famous for never throwing things away so they had over 150 years of mail, diaries, newspapers, and magazines that they had gotten. Magazines from the early 1800's, the 1900's, etc. Most of the paper goods, including Civil War newspapers and sheet music are now at the State Historical Society.
A lot of the things that are at the Homestead are not in the best of condition and look very fragile. And several of the books are ones I've read about but never, ever seen... they had a Blackstone's Law behind the glass door of one of the book cases. A complete set of George Eliot. Poe and Audubon (of course).
There were no 'exhibits' in the old house, but a lot of history. A Vitrola. Trundle beds. Wood stoves. A 1930's era electric stove. Stage coach waiting bench. Union and Confederate memorabilia. Furniture with bullets still in it from the Civil War. A letter from Thomas Jefferson on the wall. 1790's postal office desk. Notes on the first US Rural Postal delivery route (yes the Shriver's came up with the idea).
We did not get a chance to tour the mill even though we paid for the House and Mill tour. By two o'clock I was fading fast and standing in the sun waiting was not a good idea. So we headed out, pausing at the tea kiosk to pick up a few (five) of the teas that caught our interest.
The worst part of the day? Discovering that I'd forgotten to charge my camera. So I did not get a picture of the awesome young pair of goldfinches. And I only got a couple of the house (outside only 'cause no photos inside) and a couple of the butterflies in garden. No film pics because nothing stood out enough for film.
LeKid took a few more with her digital but she's not so crazy about it. It has a very poor resolution screen and she has trouble seeing what she's shooting. Guess we try for a better camera for her when we get money enough.
It was crowded - a lot more crowded than I like but well worth the time and effort. The food was good too and our timing perfect as it was just hitting 11:45am and stuff was winding up. There was a band and DJ playing classic rock hits from 1950's and 1960's. Stuff I really like so I was happily bopping in the line and annoying LeKid. She's so not into having a mom who happily (but softly) sings along and bounces to the music while waiting in what seems to be a mile long line.
The food was great. Fresh, locally grown tomatoes. A quarter of a roasted, decent sized chicken. A potato roll. And all the fresh, locally grown, roasted white corn you could eat. The corn was sweet enough on its own that it did not need butter or salt/pepper.
Then we strolled for a couple of hours, getting the tour of the house/homestead. Built as a 'Dog-run' log cabin in 1797, it was occupied by the Shriver family from then until 1957 when it was gifted to Carroll County for use as a museum/history exhibit. The old grist and lumber mill has been completely re-vamped and is in working order. The house is being re-furbished.
But I have to admit that the old house made me uneasy. Not 'cause of anything unusual but because the floors are often not level. So I'd be slightly off kilter and when added to fact that I started out with a very nasty sinus headache that I could not get rid of at work and the fact that my glasses weren't sitting straight due to severe pain of wearing them normally (not wearing them straight means slight doubled vision) I kept getting the wiggins as I walked through parts. Standing still in those rooms was worse though!
The fascinating thing was the fact that the house still had original furnishings and objects from the different periods of time. The Shriver family was/is famous for never throwing things away so they had over 150 years of mail, diaries, newspapers, and magazines that they had gotten. Magazines from the early 1800's, the 1900's, etc. Most of the paper goods, including Civil War newspapers and sheet music are now at the State Historical Society.
A lot of the things that are at the Homestead are not in the best of condition and look very fragile. And several of the books are ones I've read about but never, ever seen... they had a Blackstone's Law behind the glass door of one of the book cases. A complete set of George Eliot. Poe and Audubon (of course).
There were no 'exhibits' in the old house, but a lot of history. A Vitrola. Trundle beds. Wood stoves. A 1930's era electric stove. Stage coach waiting bench. Union and Confederate memorabilia. Furniture with bullets still in it from the Civil War. A letter from Thomas Jefferson on the wall. 1790's postal office desk. Notes on the first US Rural Postal delivery route (yes the Shriver's came up with the idea).
We did not get a chance to tour the mill even though we paid for the House and Mill tour. By two o'clock I was fading fast and standing in the sun waiting was not a good idea. So we headed out, pausing at the tea kiosk to pick up a few (five) of the teas that caught our interest.
The worst part of the day? Discovering that I'd forgotten to charge my camera. So I did not get a picture of the awesome young pair of goldfinches. And I only got a couple of the house (outside only 'cause no photos inside) and a couple of the butterflies in garden. No film pics because nothing stood out enough for film.
LeKid took a few more with her digital but she's not so crazy about it. It has a very poor resolution screen and she has trouble seeing what she's shooting. Guess we try for a better camera for her when we get money enough.