A Day at Andersonville

 Yesterday, for one last trip before school begins on July 30th, we visited Andersonville Prison in Andersonville, Georgia. I hadn't ever considered how close this was to us but looking for something to do, we decided to go there on a total whim. Eddie even took off work for the afternoon because he wanted to go as well.

Not knowing much about it before we headed there, I honestly expected it to be a Civil War museum. We did do a little reading about it on the way up to learn what we might see.

If you're unfamiliar, Andersonville Prison was a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp during the Civil War. It's now a National Historic Site and a cemetery and is a beautiful area! The prison itself, when it was active, was extremely overcrowded with inadequate water and food and was terribly unsanitary. Of the 45,000 Union soldiers held there, around 13,000 died.

A few things to note if you visit with your family. First, there's a museum at the site that is about Prisoners of War. It does include things about the Civil War, but it is not a Civil War museum. The POW museum is VERY well done. They have two movies they show each day that are each 30 minutes. The biggest thing to note is that if you're going with children, stop at the museum FIRST and pick up a Junior Ranger book to fill out as you go through the site itself. We didn't do this and Will was highly disappointed! (The book is very interesting and interactive and he loved it, he just wished he had completed as we toured.)

If you are interested in a Civil War museum, in the town of Andersonville (just across the street from the site), there's a museum called The Little Drummer Boy Museum. We visited there as well and it was very well done. They have lots of things preserved - uniforms, weapons, and a model of the prison were the most interesting things to my boys. 

The town of Andersonville is quaint and a little unremarkable. We saw very few people while we were there and it just seemed so cute and quiet, but there's not much to it. Besides the museum, there's a country store with ice cream that we enjoyed. They have a city map that tells you what all the buildings are as you walk or drive through. They have a precious log cabin church that I was hoping would be open, but was not.

Before you go...check the times for everything! Lots of things closed early. Note that Andersonville Cemetery is still an active cemetery and you may come up on a funeral in progress. The prison site is large and the parts that you can access are spread out. You'll want to drive to each of them. Parts may be hard to access for some people. There are two audio driving tours - one for the prison and one for the cemetery - on the website. 

For us, this was an easy, educational trip! The drive wasn't bad and there was plenty to see while we were there. On the way home, we stopped and ate at Daphne Lodge at Lake Blackshear. It was a fun day!