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Saturday August 8th and Sunday August 9th, Historic Fort Snelling will be hosting a Civil War Weekend.  Costumed staff will be participating in artifact displays, weapon demonstrations, crafts, dance, and civil war reenactments.  The costumed guides will also be demonstrating 19th century life through hands-on activities in the school, shop, hospital, wheelwright shop, and blacksmith shop.  Infantry and cannon drills will also be offered.  What doesn’t say “Thank God it’s the Weekend!” like the blasting of a cannon?

At Fort Snelling, frontier life is all around you.  Costumed guides are staged in various rooms around the grounds and regale visitors with 19th century speak.  A soldier with tiny bifocals and mutton chop sideburns meets you at the front gate and says in a blustery voice, “If a door is open at Fort Snelling, then sir, you may go in that room.”  A soft spoken woman in a bonnet sweeps the floor next to a kettle fire and says, “The good people at Fort Snelling wouldn’t hire bad people like fur traders and such, who will, you know, start wars.”    In the hospital, you will learn about a soldier named Peter Trainer, a native of Monaken, Ireland, who lived at the fort and got drunk on duty, ate spoiled meat, and was given Peruvian tree bark to drink to heal his wounds.  The Round Tower, the looming defensive structure seen from the freeway, is the oldest standing structure in Minnesota, having been built around 1820, gives you a stunning view of the ancient walls that tower above the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers.

Plus, there still is rock candy for sale (come on, you know you were thinking about it).  Don’t worry: It still tastes awesome.

What:  Civil War Weekend

Where:  Historic Fort Snelling (At the Highways 5 & 55 near the Airport)

When:  August 8th and 9th 10 am to 5pm

Cost:  $10/adults, $5/kids 6-17, and kids under 5 are free.