History is so cool!

I wanted to write about something that has nothing to do with running (but I have still been running and going to the gym). The other day Brian and I went for one of our spontaneous road trips. Now here's the thing about me and road trips. If I see an interesting looking graveyard or if I see a blue sign that denotes an historic site. I HAVE to stop. Because I am a nerd. Luckily Brian is well aware of this fact and humours me (but secretly I think he may be a nerd too.


So my parents are moving to London, and just across the street (sort of) from their house is Reservoir Park. I've seen the sign for this park before but never stopped. We decided to check it out and guess what! A plaque! A War of 1812 plaque to be precise. I love that I've lived in this city for 11 years now and I still find bits of local history that surprise me. I mean I worked at Fanshawe Pioneer Village. You would think I'd know this stuff. In this park, which at the time was just a road through a ravine, a British captain ambushed a bunch of American soldiers returning from a raid on Ingersoll. (I didn't even know Ingersoll had been involved in the War of 1812. I guess they do more than make cheese there afterall.) If you can make out the inscription on the plaque at the top of this post, it provides the details. So almost 200 years ago, there was a battle fought (small yes, but it was a battle)here. British officers captured by American rangers were set free. And this happened on the same piece of land we were standing on. These were real people. Real people with guns and uniforms and horses who could never imagine that this road would someday be a busy main artery through a fairly substantial city. I'm not trying to romanticize this, but every once in a while a fact like this will sink in and it just gives me chills. It suddenly feels so real.

And that was only our first stop on the impromptu War of 1812 themed road trip.
Here are pictures of the Tecumseh monument that stands near the location of the The Battle of the Thames. It absolutely blew my mind that again, almost 200 years ago there would have been a major battle being fought. A battle where Tecumseh (for whom we have towns and roads and schools named after) was killed. And across the road...
...there's now a big blueberry farm where families pick berries and stuff their face with muffins.

How can that be possible? Is it just me or is that not amazing?