We had the AC on last night due to the heat and mugginess. Bob had an ARC meeting with his committee by phone at 9:30 this morning, so we had breakfast and hung out. The meeting lasted about 30 minutes and we were free to make plans for the day. The predicted high temp was 92 degrees, so we decided to tour Philly on Friday when the temperatures are expected to be cooler. We decided to take a short drive to visit the site of Fort Mercer and the Red Bank Battlefield HIstorical Park.
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It was located in the town of National Park (weird name for a town).
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The Revolutionary War battle took place in 1777 at Fort Mercer, which was built as part of a series of defenses created to keep the British from sailing up the Delaware River to reach the national capital of Philadelphia at the time. The fort was built on the property of James and Ann Whitall. The house still stands and is used as a museum.
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We walked around the house, but it was not open for viewing.
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Back of the house facing the river
Fort Mercer was named for Brigadeer General Hugh Mercer. This wall is located in the section of the park where Fort Mercer stood and is dedicated to Hugh Mercer.
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Red Bank HIstorical Park has historical significance and the history is told in plaques and monuments throughout the park.
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We walked along the bluff reading the historical plaques and learning about the history there. We took the pathway down to the water's edge and sat on a bench in the shade, watching the activity on the Delaware River.
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We could see some of the buildings in downtown Philly.
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There were 3 naval ships in port–one in dry dock and the other 2 in the water.
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A barge was anchored in the river and was moving around with the tide.
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This double-decker bridge crossed the river –the bottom level had traffic going one way and the top level of traffic went the other direction. Bob said he would not be able to drive on the upper level. Good thing we weren't going over that bridge to Philly.
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We enjoyed sitting by the water watching the action on the river. Even though it was hot, there was a nice breeze blowing. We left there and made the short drive to Woodbury. On our drive through Woodbury, we saw the historic Glouchester County Courthouse built in 1885. It was an awesome building. There were also a lot of beautiful old mansions in this town.
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We did some grocery shopping at Walmart and then came back to the campground. We spent most of the afternoon holed up in the AC with Auggie. They were forecasting storms for later in the evening. After dinner, Auggie and I started our evening walk in the hopes of getting our walk in before the predicted rains came. We were a couple of minutes into our walk when it started to pour without any warning. I had no time to get back to the trailer, so I made a mad dash to the porch of a vacant cabin. Auggie and I hung out there waiting for the rain to let up, but it didn't look like it would happen anytime soon. My knight in shining armor came to the rescue driving the truck to come and pick us up. Neither Auggie nor I got too wet. It continued to rain for a couple of hours. It finally stopped before we went to bed.