Here are some pictures I took at today's Brooksville Raid. There was no Civil War battle fought in Brooksville but our "battle" draws the largest crowd of any other reenactments in Florida and has more than 1,500 reenactors.
To end the Raid, each reenactor stands in a line and fires off their weapons at the same time ... at least that's the way it is supposed to happen. However, this year, the one saying "Ready, Aim, Fire!" wasn't speaking loud enough. Yet, I think it ended up being pretty impressive. To watch the clip of the final emptying of the weapons, click here.
Going to the Brooksville Raid each January is getting to be an Ellis tradition. Today was our third time in as many years. It is an educational experience to be essentially transported back in time by about 150 years.
The Brooksville Raid is this weekend (January 21 & 22, 2012)! My family LOVES going! We'll definitely be there!
You can walk through Confederate and Union camps and, except for those of us in contemporary clothing, feel like you've gone 150 years back in time. You can feast on Kettle Corn and drink Sarsaparilla to wash it down. There will also be plenty of souvenirs to check out. There's tons of other things to check out and enjoy!
Then, at 2:30pm on Saturday, gather with a few thousand folks to watch a reenactment of battles as they were fought in the Civil War.
You can get more information at http://www.brooksvilleraidreenactment.com/. There is a small fee for parking and you'll need cash for food, drinks and souvenirs. (They don't have ATMs. Imagine that. HA)
