background

Monday, May 6, 2013

Sunday's hike and our first Blogiversary!

On Sunday we visited Fort Hale State Park.  This park is about 10 minutes from our house, and is a very small park.  This park is rich in American history, and was the site of one of the battles of the American Revolution!  The Fort was part of the Battle of New Haven, and 18 soldiers manned the cannons to help fight against the British troops that were invading both East Haven and New Haven.  The American soldiers eventually ran out of ammunition and were captured by the British.  The Fort, originally called Black Rock Fort, has been rebuilt, because it was destroyed in the Hurricane of 1938, and through years of neglect.  But the bunkers, where the soliders lived, are still standing.  They were built to hold the entire garrison, and covered with dirt and sod.  During the Civil War, the Bunkers were reinforced, in case of bombing from Southern troops.



By the time we arrived at the park, in the late afternoon, it was already closed. But we didn't let that stop us, because collies are intrepid explorers! We parked at the nearby beach parking lot, and then hiked along the beach to reach the park.




 

 



 


 
Up until 15 years ago, visitors were allowed free access to the bunkers, they are now gated shut. This is because of the risk of them collapsing, but also because local teenagers were partying inside the bunkers at night.




Here we are, pretending to be on the lookout for British troops!





"One if by Land, Two if by sea!"


It was an interesting park, and we enjoyed exploring all the Bunkers.  They reminded us of caves, and had the same damp, earthy smell.  We wanted to stay a while longer, and pretend we were actually wolves, and the bunkers were our homes.  But the humans didn't want to play, so we had to end our game.  After we were done taking our Mom and Sister on a tour of Fort Hale, we decided it would be a nice evening to have a picnic on the beach.  Our humans get hungy when we take them hiking!  (Plus, we needed a picture of people on a picnic for Parkday 2.0!  So two birds, one stone!)




How did you spend your Sunday?  Did you take your dogs hiking?  Did you get outside and enjoy some sunshine?  And we also wanted to let everyone know that today is our 1 year Blogiversary!  Thank you for reading our blog!

23 comments:

  1. What a cool place, we would love to explore that too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was interesting, and so close to home! I can't figure out why I haven't been there in so many years!

      Delete
  2. Oh those pictures are really good, we are getting close to our blogiversary also.....congrat's
    stella rose

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! It's hard to believe that when I first started this blog, little Scarlett was only 5 days old!

      Delete
  3. Great hike and well played on the Park Day 2.0. Moms used to have collies when she was a kid, so she loves seeing pics of them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's funny, everyone seems to have had a collie during their childhood. It must be because Lassie was so popular back then...

      Delete
  4. Happy blogaversary! Your dogs are so gorgeous. :) I grew up near a Civil War Fort, at the mouth of the Mississippi River, and it was a favorite hang out for teens. We always found beer cans and blunt ends in the caves. And in the cannon mouths. And everywhere.
    www.dogtreatweb.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's sad to see such an important part of history fall into disrepair.

      Delete
  5. That's an amazing place to go for a hike!

    Those pictures are really great!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congratulations on your Blogiversary!! that's a big deal. :-)

    I love the history in CT, I grew up in Coventry which is the birthplace of Capt. Nathan Hale. One of my friend's houses growing up had little hidey holes in the house where folks would hide when Indians attacked.

    ReplyDelete
  7. We have a couple of old forts to explore near our house too. Great smells and lot's of fun! Congratulations on your Blogiversary.

    ReplyDelete
  8. you have the most wonderful places to visit! I sure wish we had places like that.
    Mom and Dad took me to the park this morning but it is NOTHING like yours!
    HAPPY FIRST BLOGOVERSARY!
    We are so happy we met you!
    Barks and licks and love,
    Dakota and Mom

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a great place to visit - it is often amazing what you find if you look around close to where you live. Lunch looked pretty good too :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Awesome photos and what a great hike. Mom and Dad and Phantom used to live in Connecticut and are sorry they didn't visit more of the historic sites while they were there.

    Woos - Phantom, Thunder, Ciara, and Lightning

    ReplyDelete
  11. Happy Blogiversary!!! Going to historical places is so fun and even more fun when you're 4-legged "kids" tag along for the adventure.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Congratulations on your Blogaversary!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Looks like a great park. Great pics of your gorg pups!

    Happy Monday Mischief!

    ReplyDelete
  14. So the bunkers are original? It is amazing that they have survived so long. Cool park. Thanks for sharing it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. What a neat hike and Happy Blogiversary to you!

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a fabulous place to hike...You've got beach, bunkers and history too...Thanks for sharing this with us and Happy Blogaversary!

    ReplyDelete
  17. What a cool place! Your photos are great and such beautiful collies!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. So glad to find your blog - thanks for stopping by ours!

    ReplyDelete