Fort York Toronto
On Tuesday me, my sister and Grandpa went to Fort York on a home-school field trip, so there were planned activities and other kids.The first workshop (workshops may not be in the correct order) was the Officer's Kitchen. We made Jumbles, British cookies made with butter, eggs and flour, rolled in sugar and spice. Then we ate them. They we good.
Workshop two was Drills. We marched around with wooden guns and pretended to shoot stuff. We also had to pretend to reload after every shot because the guns in 1812 only took one shot at a time. That must have been really annoying.
In workshop three we learned to do a dance that people did during the war. I can't remember what it was called but I think it sounded like a guys name.
For workshop four we saw a re-enactment of the Battle of York with little paper people. The Americans won the battle. After the British and Canadian soldiers started to retreat, the Americans went on the land to chase after them. While leaving, the British and Canadians blew up their gun powder magazine and in the process killed most of the Americans. The survivors had to retreat and go home. A year later they returned with more soldiers but the British and Canadian people had rebuilt the fort. The fort was big and scary, and scared them away.
Workshop Five was Archaeology, we looked at old stuff and tried to guess what it was. They had items like toys, bowls and lamps.
Workshop six was Barracks Lore.
Seven was games of the soldiers children. We played Tag.
The last workshop was called Lifestyle and they talked about what soldiers did back then.
Dinner was based on an authentic soldier's meal in 1815. Beef stew, curried rice, carrots, bread and apple juice (substituted for rum ration). I had a vegetarian stew with one other boy. Later we had hot chocolate but couldn't have a campfire because it was raining. Some girls started singing, one kid brought a guitar. Then we slept in the bunk beds in the barracks. In the morning they fed us a breakfast of oatmeal, Shreddies, Rice Krispies and orange juice. (This is not an authentic meal. A soldier's breakfast consisted of peas porridge, cold salt beef, tea and bread.)
The most interesting thing I learned was that soldiers could bring their whole families but had to share a single bed. Most fighting didn't happen at the fort. It happened at the exhibition site. I slept at the fort and it didn't feel haunted. There is a police horse barn near the fort that really stunk of poop.
Overall the trip was interesting and educational but it really stunk and I didn't get any sleep because of noisy kids, uncomfortable beds and a wintery chill. I would definitely recommend the overnight program, especially for the boys.
