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| Package from Captain John Smith Chesapeake NHT and Star-Spangled Banner NHT |
Last year (gah--has it been that long?), I had posted that I had sent out completed Junior Ranger books to both Captain John Smith Chesapeake NHT and Star-Spangled Banner NHT that I had downloaded and completed. And then I never posted about it again.
Maybe some of you were wondering what happened.
Well, so did I--cause I never heard back from either of them.
It was sort of surprising to just never hear back anything, but I had sent them out during that tumultuous time where the government was on the verge of shutting down and there was all that sequester business going on, so I just figured maybe there was some staffing cuts and no one was around to send me the badges. . . And over time, with all the packages I had sent out during that time, these had simply fallen through the cracks.
Recently, I had been conversing via email with one of your fellow readers who commented about working towards earning these badges, and it reminded me about my own package that I had mailed out. Looking back, I realized it really had been quite some time since I mailed them so I reached out to both the Captain John Smith Chesapeake NHT and the Star-Spangled Banner NHT explaining the situation and asking if they would send them to me. A nice ranger named Christine wrote back from Chesapeake and after apologizing for what happened, promised to mail them right away. And here they are!
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And that’s it! Please read a little bit about the trails, which I have posted below, and if you are interested in early-North American history and the War of 1812 in the Chesapeake region, check out the sites featured along these trails. But in the meantime…
Explore On, Junior Ranger! :)
Want your own Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail Junior Ranger Badge and Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail Junior Ranger Badge? Visit the trails' Junior Ranger Pages and follow the links to their books. After you complete the program, you’ll get a badge for your efforts. :)
About the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail
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| Captain John Smith Statue at Historic Jamestown, Virginia Photo courtesy smithtrail.net |
The Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail follows in the footsteps of Captain John Smith as he journeyed through the Chesapeake Bay area four hundred years ago. Along with a small crew, he set out in an open boat to explore nearly 3,000 miles of the Chesapeake Bay and rivers, documenting American Indian communities. The map Smith created and the journals he kept during his travels are a remarkable record of 17th-century Chesapeake. These items, published upon his return to England, described the region's lush resources and his many encounters with the native peoples of the Chesapeake, which in turn attracted great attention to the region. His map and writings would later influence the exploration and settlement of eastern North America for many generations to come.
The Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail allows you to experience and learn about the Chesapeake Bay through the routes and places associated with Smith's explorations between 1607 and 1609. It follows Smith's two main voyages on Chesapeake Bay in 1608 and his voyages between 1607 and 1609 on the York, James and other rivers in the region. The trail encompasses approximately 3,000 miles in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia. The trail was officially launched in 2007 in conjunction with the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, Virginia.
About the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail
The Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail is a 560-mile land and water route which connects historic sites in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Officially established in 2008, the trail tells the story of the War of 1812 as it waged on for three years in the Chesapeake Bay region and commemorates the events which led up to the Battle of Baltimore, which inspired Francis Scott Key to write our National Anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner." The trail, which traces American and British troop movements during the War of 1812, introduces its visitors to the Chesapeake communities which were affected by the war and highlights the region's distinctive landscapes and numerous waterways.
