Oh Shenandoah!

As of yesterday, I hadn't showered since Friday morning. I wasn't able to wash my hair properly or wear clean jeans or boots. I ate greasy and fried food, drank beer and smelled like campfire smoke and black powder. I spent most of that time wet and cold, but in the end it was all worth it. I spent the weekend in Winchester, VA at Fort Shenandoah, home of the North-South Skirmish Association (N-SSA) for the Fall National Civil War shoot.

My cousin and I drove down on Friday night amongst the 18-wheelers and late night travelers. Both my grandfather and her father are members of the N-SSA, and we have both been attending the nationals (spring and fall) since we were babes in arms. We grew up among the Civil War uniforms, fancy hoop dresses, muskets and carbines, mud, freezing cold and broiling heat. On our way down, we came to a consensus (that was later confirmed by a number of other "skirmishers"--as we call ourselves) that you can't really explain the N-SSA or the shoots to someone who has never attended one in person.

For example, where else can someone walk down the road to the toilets, groggy, dressed in pajamas with hair messed up and bad breath, and no one cares? In fact, everyone else you meet along the way will most likely look the same as you. After you get dressed and have breakfast (which could be cereal and milk in your camper or a sausage, egg and cheese sandwich from the Ruritan eating pavilion at the range), you walk down to the shooting range to see the first phase of competition. If it's Saturday, the carbine shoot will be followed by artillery. Always a sight to behold!

After your cheer your team on (mine is the 1st Virginia Cavalry), you take a walk through Sutlers, where you can buy anything from Civil War clothing to antique jewelry and guns. You may end up at the dress competition, watching all of the ladies and girls in their finest Civil War dresses and ball gowns. You eventually end up back at your campsite and have yourself a beer. Or two. Or three. It doesn't matter, because you can start drinking at 2:00 in the afternoon, drink all day and night, never get drunk (or get very drunk, as we have all seen), and no one cares. A camp cookout follows around 5:00PM, and finally a number of people find themselves up at the barn dance, where you can dance however you want, and NO ONE CARES!

Sunday morning brings the musket shooters out to the range and more greasy cheeseburgers to hands and mouths than should really be consumed. Eventually everyone packs up and goes home, though some stay over on Sunday night to get a quiet exit first thing Monday morning.

Coming down to Winchester twice a year has been a major highlight in my life. I have made life long friends, learned about American history, heard great tales around the campfire of the good old days and have added a little bit more to my memories each year. For two weekends a year, I can forget about work (no cell phone reception!), traffic, the internet, bills--EVERYTHING! It's so peaceful and away from everything that you don't even know the rest of the world exists. Everyone is polite, the men don't make disgusting remarks to the women, the food is out of this world, and the company you keep is like no other.

This trip down, I decided that it was time for me to join the team as a competitive shooter. My grandfather spoke to our officers and my letter of request went out yesterday afternoon. I'll be joining my grandfather on the line at the range and carrying on what I would like to see become a family tradition. I want my children to enjoy the same time away from busy New Jersey and make lifelong friends the way I have.

I'll be spending the rest of the fall and all the way to next spring learning how to shoot, but it will all be worth it. Next May will be my inaugural shoot and it will be great! This is a part of my life I never want to give up, and I'm glad that I'm now able to join as a member to keep the organization going. Now if I could only convince my husband to shoot...

I recommend you look at:

N-SSA official site to learn more.

Also, check out

"You Might Be a Skirmisher If..." to learn more about the crazy things that only our little community seems to understand.