Road Trip! Today we are heading North on the 15 Fwy to explore Calico Ghost Town in Yermo, CA. Some of us have been there before, but a LONG time ago. Some of us have never been. And in either case, we are eager to see what this old silver-mining town from the 1890's has to offer.
But first . . . we are stopping in Victorville at the brand new Cracker Barrel Old Country Store for breakfast.
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| Cracker Barrel |
We are very excited that Cracker Barrel has finally come to California, even if it meant a 90 minute wait for a table. Meanwhile, we entertained ourselves by strolling through the country store, and trying out the rocking chairs and benches on the porch . . .
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| Waiting for breakfast |
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Seated - finally
L-R: Carol N, Seema, Leslie, Chris, Joy, Carol L, Debbie, Barbara |
The food is soooo good here . . . not necessarily diet-friendly, but definitely delish. Highly recommend adding the Hash Brown Casserole and Fried Apples to whatever else you might order.
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| Fried Apples & Hash Brown Casserole - YUM! |
With our tummy's full, we were back in our cars and heading north again to Calico Ghost Town. It is Presidents' Weekend and Calico is having a Civil War Reenactment, which has attracted many many visitors. So much to see and do - Let's let the pictures do the talking from here on . . .
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| Calico in the distance |
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| The long line of cars slowly working their way to the entrance |
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| Getting Closer |
Finally inside the park, we immediately noticed the . . .
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| Really interesting rock formations |
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| More intriguing rocks |
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From the parking lot, there was quite a long rock-stairway up to the town.
Here's the view from part-way up. |
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| We made it! Here we are peeking through the leaves |
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The town has been restored thanks to Walter Knott of
Knott's Berry Farm |
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| Tribute to Walter Knott |
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Flags at half-mast in respect/memory of the school-shooting
tragedy in Florida a few days ago (so sad). |
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It was so interesting to walk down the street and look at
everyone all dressed as they would have been when Calico
was in it's glory. |
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| The ladies of the town |
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| Music and . . . |
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| Dancing in the street |
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| Miners and town citizens everywhere - just hanging out |
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| And visiting along the walkways |
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| Of course, every town has a Saloon . . . |
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| With a big poker game going on inside |
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| The washing never ends |
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| Lots of visitors in town today . . . |
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We wondered if it was this crowded during the days of the
Silver Mining - and we tried to picture everyone dressed
up in period clothing. |
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| Leftover mining equipment? |
We strolled through some of the little stores, and eventually made our way over to the Maggie Mine.
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| On the way to the mine |
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| We stopped at the Bottle House |
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| Made from over 6,000 wine bottles. |
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| The Maggie Mine |
We absolutely had to take the tour to see what this Silver Mining is all about . . .
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| Silver Certificates |
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| This handsome miner called us over . . . |
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For a photo before we entered the mine
L-R: Carol N, Carol L, Joy, Debbie, Barbara, Mr. Miner, Leslie, Chris |
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| Once inside, the mine was very dark |
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Miners sometimes used hydraulic drills driven by steam power,
but most miners used their picks, and blasted with
gunpowder or dynamite to break things lose. |
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Ore Chute - The miners used a system of bell signals to
indicate which chute the ore would be coming down, and
as as warning to stand clear. |
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| Here comes the ore - stand clear! |
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Dead Man's Drift
Large open "rooms" (called stopes) were formed as ore was dug out of
a series of veins in a concentrated area. Because there was no
shoring of the walls or ceiling, the chances of a cave-in
were great, and more dangerous to work in than a tunnel. |
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The Mulcahy Brothers
John Mulcahy bought the Maggie Mine after the silver mining
died out. The name "Maggie" came from a popular song
of the time. He was known to sleep in the mine during the winter. |
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Ore was hoisted up to the top in massive ore buckets or
moved out through the tunnel entrance in ore cars,
whichever was closer. |
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The Glory Hole
Record of silver ore mined from the Maggie Mine |
After our mine tour, we made our way back to the center of town for the Civil War Reenactment . . .
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| Union Army preparing for battle |
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| Union Army Encampment |
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| School House on the ridge above the battlefield |
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| View of the town before the battle |
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| Confederate soldiers readying their cannons |
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| Union Soldiers on the ridge, readying theirs |
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| And the battle begins with cannon fire from the Union |
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Quickly followed by return fire from the Confederates
(Those blasts were LOUD!!!) |
The cannon-fire continued while the foot soldiers got into position . . .
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| The Confederates heading up the hill |
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| The Union Soldiers came down blasting as they neared rifle range |
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| The Confederates quickly returned fire |
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| And the Union fired back |
The battle waged on, one side and then the other firing and reloading. (It was quite interesting how they took turns - wonder if that is how it really happened - probably not!)
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Soon one platoon of Confederates made their charge
as the Union soldiers retreated back up the hill |
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Another Confederate platoon headed down into the valley.
It looked like they were winning. |
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| But the Union Soldiers were waiting on the hilltop, loaded and ready |
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| And lost no time in chasing the Confederates back down |
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| Leaving heavy Confederate casualties in their wake |
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| The Confederates quickly signaled surrender |
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| With the playing of "Taps" |
Great victory for the Union! Hip Hip Hooray!
After the battle ended, we took a ride on the Calico & Odessa Railroad . . .
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| Train Station |
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| Portion of track |
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| Another portion that leads to a tunnel |
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| Freight |
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| Here she comes |
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| Calico & Odessa Railroad |
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On the train . . .
Chris, Leslie, Carol N |
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| Carol L & Barbara |
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| Debbie, Seema, Joy |
After our 8-minute ride on the train, we hurried back to the center of town to hear President Abraham Lincoln deliver his Gettysburg Address . . .
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President Abraham Lincoln
He first gave some interesting background about the speech |
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| Then beautifully delivered the Gettysburg Address |
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Thank You Mr. Lincoln for taking time out for a pic . . .
Chris, Seema, Debbie, Barbara, Abraham Lincoln, Carol L, Leslie, Carol N. Joy |
Such a fun day. A quick last look at the town, back down those rocky, uneven stairs, into our cars, and heading home. Our last stop of the day - Dinner at . . .
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Original Roadhouse Grill in Victorville
YUM! |
Couldn't have asked for a better day - perfect weather, a very interesting town, a fun Civil War reenactment, meeting Mr. Lincoln, and the best group of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. anyone could ever ask for. What could be better? See ya next month!
