On Independence Day, we celebrated America by visiting historic Brattonsville, SC. They had individuals in period dress, as well as several exhibits to view what life in the 1700 - 1800's were like. It was the first settlement in this area by Col. William Bratton - and they have what would have been the first cabin on the land as well....pretty interesting.
They even had some animals - both Dad & Elise enjoyed feeding the ram...and you'll have to get a glimpse of the video below to appreciate the "bleat" of this thing...
John, Stacie & Elise celebrating the 4th.
A little history for you buffs out there...
Mom & Dad
At this same site in Brattonsville, approximately a third of the movie, The Patriot, was filmed. (You may remember the one with Mel Gibson). During our visit, they had several readings, including the Declaration of Independence & The Star Spangled Banner.
Musketeers 
In this dining room of the house, there was a scene of the movie, The Patriot, filmed. You may remember when the young boy was hiding under the dining room table from the Loyalists - this was the room where that was played out.
Have some good southern BBQ for lunch.
Elise - deep in thought...or maybe just savoring a bite of her cookie for dessert?
We cooked out for dinner back at our patio. We sang "God Bless America" as our prayer, and Curt looked at all of us and couldn't believe we knew all the words....I guess we'll need to sing it a little more often for him. We had brats, sweet corn, fresh tomatoes & basil from our garden & of course, sweet tea. For dessert: All-American Apple pie a la mode.
I made a plate of jello jigglers - in shapes of stars to show a little Patriotism, but Elise decided the whole plate was made for her (which in essence, it was) & she cleaned it out alone...and had about 4 or 5 small ears of corn.It was a wonderful weekend. We lit sparklers in the backyard & enjoyed watching the fireworks from about 3 different angles from the comfort of our patio chairs. Of course, the big fireworks are illegal in the state of North Carolina, but when you're as close to the South Carolina border as Charlotte - there are so many brought back over the border that we had quite a grand, festive display of fireworks. Elise was a little scared of all the loud booming, and continued to jump all evening, but after several, we had her clapping at the pretty colors. It was a late night as we all (including little E) crawled into bed around 11:30pm.
GOD BLESS AMERICA - LAND THAT I LOVE, MY HOME SWEET HOME!
