May 1, 2012
I had another exciting adventure today. The City of Auburn, Georgia, invited me to come over for Archaeology Day. My handler, Veronica, drove me all the way over there. It was a scenic drive through Georgia’s beautiful back roads and I didn’t even get sick!
Once we got to Auburn, two nice ladies, Michelle Walker and Julia Simpson, helped us. I think Michelle is a real big-wig with the city. Julia runs the library and reminds me of the kind librarians I use to work with when I was a bookmobile! They let me park anywhere my handlers wanted to in this nice grassy park next to city hall. (I was very attractive and eye-catching there, next to the main road; I hope I didn’t deflect too much attention away from their city hall building.)
Diary, I sure didn’t have a chance to relax long because before the day ended 200 people came to see me! Most of them were school children, but there were also important city of Auburn visitors including the mayor and a city council woman, clerk, administrator, planner, and Parks and Leisure Director! And a state representative visited me, too! Over 100 students from Westside Middle School took a fieldtrip to learn about archaeology. They also got to see some really cool Native American skills that an archaeologist named Scott Jones demonstrated. He showed them how to make fire without using any matches and how to throw a spear a very long way with a special tool called an atlatl.
Some of my new friends from Westside Middle School.
In the afternoon over 80 homeschool students and their parents from the Auburn area came to visit. Good thing I have brand-new-steps! My Step-Guardian, Tony Shore, built me a new and improved version that is even sturdier than the last!
There were so many visitors I needed three handlers and three volunteers to help! My old friends handler TG and Kam helped all day, just like the old days! It was fun. I think the visitors had fun, too.
April 30, 2012
Y-a-w-n….Ahhh….Y-a-w-n….Ooh, sorry Diary! I’m just waking up. I’ve been resting in south Georgia for the past few months after a busy fall 2011. In fact, I was just dreaming about my last big gig I did…last fall at the Georgia National Fair in Perry, Georgia. It was so fun remembering it in my dream, that I wasn’t ready to wake up! My dream was exactly like what happened in real life…there I was, parked RIGHT INSIDE THE NORTH GATE! (Talk about your high-status real estate! Apparently, they really appreciate me at the fair!)
Over half a million visitors came to the fair, the majority of them right through that gate! There were tons of kids, and families, and grown-ups that came to see me. The purple-haired lady and her friend from Middle Earth came to see me between shows. A famous Georgia legislator and his wife and family couldn’t resist visiting me, either!
Even the GBI (that’s the Georgia Bureau of Investigation) came to see me! I think they liked the part about how burials have clues that can tell archaeologists all about a person’s health, wealth, status, religion, physical characteristics, and sometimes even when and how they died. There were times when I was actually surrounded by a crowd of fans!
I worked 12 days straight! That’s all day and most of the night, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Whew! So you can see why I needed to rest for several months afterward.
Even a few days of rain didn’t dampen my spirits! But Diary, I have to admit the smell wafting from the Swine and Goat Shed didn’t always mingle well with the funnel cake and corn dog aromas! At least the goats smelled as clean as they looked!
I got to see some of my old handler friends at the fair, which was a lot of fun! And Diary, I also made a bundle of new friends at the fair! Some of these were visitors and some were new “handlers”. These handlers not only helped guide visitors through my exhibits, but also were fun and friendly! Wow, what a dream! But now I’m rested and ready to go again!
Note: Abby neglected her diary a bit since last fall, but clearly the fun and crowds at the Georgia National Fair have haunted her!
November 29, 2011
I made an encore performance in mid-October at the Georgia Council for the Social Studies Conference in Athens, Georgia. You probably remember that I went to the conference last year for the first time. At the risk of sounding conceited, I have to admit that they must have liked me, since they asked me back again! And this time, I got a coveted spot in “the horseshoe” parking lot, right next to the front door! My handlers*, T.G., and Veronica set me up, putting my table-top activities right inside the doors in the lobby.
Here’s my VIP spot right in front of the Classic Center entrance!
Here I am keeping an eye on my handlers manning the table top activities inside. Note my lovely banner “shades” keeping the sun at bay.
My handlers, Bitsy and Veronica stand ready to answer questions from the onslaught of teachers at the conference.
It was very chilly during my stint, but I didn’t mind so much because I got to see some old friends and make new ones. I always love the teachers because they appreciate me and read all my exhibit text and instructions and they aren’t afraid to try out all my hands-on activities. In fact, they seem to relish the chance to try them. And Diary, do you know that they are really smart?! Those teachers know a lot more than most people about archaeology! The best part was hearing a lot of them say things like, “I saw you last year but had to come back and see you again”, or telling their friends, “Hey come check out the ArchaeoBus; it was here last year and it’s really something!”
And of course, it was especially cool making new friends this year when teachers visited me for the first time. My most favorite visitors were the student teachers who were so young and eager and enthusiastic about teaching and learning. It reminded me of myself when I was a young bookmobile…but that is ancient history!
T.G. and I listen to an enthusiastic educator.
Here’s a close-up of my view from the parking lot.
* Handler’s Note: Abby thought it best not to use real names in many cases, especially when referring to her “handlers”—those people responsible for driving her and administering programs.
November 28, 2011
One of the events in my whirlwind fall tour was a charity auction sponsored by The Society for Georgia Archaeology. I was the featured “public outreach” vehicle (ahhem … no pun intended).
The auction was in Athens, Georgia on October 22 at the Terrapin Brewery. I was busy sitting next to the entrance welcoming everyone, but I got to hear the excitement inside where the big silent auction was set up and the live auction commenced.
What a lively commotion it was! The best part was that the money from the auction was going to fund public archaeology outreach, through SGA’s Endowment Fund.
Part of the crowd inside the brewery.
I counted several hundred people go through the doors! Young people, students, older people, even dogs! Lots of dogs! Mind you, I like dogs, that is, dogs that don’t “like” my tires, if you know what I mean….
Over 130 silent auction items generated interest.
Eager bidders begin to sit in anticipation of the live auction.
I heard a lot of people saying how much fun the event was on their way out.
November 27, 2011
In my continuing account of my epic fall escapades, I will regale you with exciting tales about my visit to a REAL archaeological dig!!! Can you believe it? I actually got to go to a dig for the very first time ever after showing people about archaeology all these years! Yep, there I was at the summit of a hill, probably the tallest hill in all of Macon, Georgia, at the site of Ft. Hawkins. In fact, I got to sit right next to the replica of one of the fort’s block houses for an entire week in late October.
Here I am, up-close and personal with the cool blockhouse replica at Ft. Hawkins! [Photo courtesy of Echo Halstead Burrell.]
(Figure 1, Caption, “Here I am, up-close and personal with the cool blockhouse replica at Ft. Hawkins! [Photo courtesy of Echo Halstead Burrell.]”)
Diary, you may not be aware of this, but Fort Hawkins is, as my pal Marty Willett likes to say, “a forgotten fort on a forgotten frontier of a forgotten war”, uh, hmm, I think I got that right. I’ve forgotten how many forgottens there were (sorry, Marty!). Anyway, Diary, you get my point. It’s a super site that not many people know about, in spite of its historical significance. I mean, President Thomas Jefferson established the fort in 1806. And that famous Indian Agent Colonel Benjamin Hawkins was at the fort and used it as a post to trade with Native Americans. In fact, Ft. Hawkins sat right in the middle of the frontier, on the Federal road that led from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans. You can find out more about Ft. Hawkins online here. And there I was, me, Abby the ArchaeoBus, right on that very spot, like a sentinel on a hill, like an archaeology beacon in the night, like a…well, you get my drift.
I picked the absolute best time to be at Ft. Hawkins, because if it wasn’t enough to be surrounded by that amazing history, there was an archaeological dig going on, tours by school kids, and a Halloween Party. The dig was phenomenal. Real Dan, who is president of The LAMAR Institute (and the husband of one of my handlers) was running the LAMAR Institute dig for the Fort Hawkins Commission. The Society for Georgia Archaeology provided some support for the project, hence my presence! Real Dan had several archaeologists working with him, along with a lot of volunteers from Macon and all around the country. I found out more about The LAMAR Institute and its work there online here. The photo at right shows Real Dan at work with a crew of archaeologists and volunteers on the dig. [Photo courtesy of Echo Halstead Burrell.]
I got to see the archaeologists uncover two huge sections of palisade walls. Well, at first I didn’t know what they meant when I heard them say “walls”, because it was just dirt deep underground. But then after listening to them every day I realized exactly what they meant. They found all these spiffy clues in the dirt—like round stains in the soil where posts erected in 1809 rotted, and rectangular stains around the posts that showed where soldiers dug trenches to place the posts. So I got it! The round and rectangular stains WERE the walls, or at least what was left of the wooden posts that made the palisade and the trench around it! Boy, who would have known that dirt could tell you so much about the past if you know what you are looking for and how to record it scientifically!
Some of the crew excavates these cool palisade post stains. Boy that red clay sure looks hard to dig! [Photo courtesy of Echo Halstead Burrell.]
So if that wasn’t enough excitement, my friends Marty (who I mentioned already) and Echo Halstead Burrell, who are the best friends of Ft. Hawkins, set me up every day so that kids and adults could visit me at the site. They were very nice to me and treated me so well there. Echo took these photographs I am showing you, Diary. The students from a nearby Montessori school came by on two days and had a great time visiting me, touring the site, and watching the archaeologists work.
Marty keeps the students captivated with some of my hands-on bus activities. [Photo courtesy of Echo Halstead Burrell.]
Then, my last night there, Marty and Echo threw me a great party! (Well, they pretended like it was a Halloween party, but I knew it really was in my honor.) It was really fun because a lot of the kids and their families in the neighborhood around Ft. Hawkins came to visit and got to see me. They also got to roast marshmallows, get candy treats, tour the blockhouse and hear stories around the campfire. It was fun to watch them and the campfire felt quite cozy. You know, it was my best Halloween ever!
Some of my Jack-o-lantern friends sit nearby me for the party. [Photo courtesy of Echo Halstead Burrell.]
November 26, 2011
I promised to tell you all about my big fall adventures after I rested a bit. In this entry, I simply must tell you about my trip to Florida in early November and about meeting Tommy! It’s the first time that I ever traveled out of the state of Georgia! And not only did I get to go to Florida, but I got to go to a big regional archaeology conference called SEAC, which stands for the Southeastern Archaeology Conference. It was in downtown Jacksonville this year. Well, Diary, it was quite exciting as I was highlighted on a flyer in the program packets and this guy who was heading up the conference (I think I heard his name was Kenny Sassyman*) even mentioned my name at the conference business meeting! While I didn’t actually attend the conference (I mean, I understand the basic concepts of site seriation and the ritualism of hoes as well as the next bus), I was one of the presenters at the conference’s Public Archaeology Day.
The Public Archaeology Day was arranged and sponsored by the Florida Public Archaeology Network folks (that’s FPAN, you know) at the Museum of Science and History. My handlers*, Veronica and Ashcroft, had me stay outside the building and they hung up my banners so that traffic coming from the big blue bridge and downtown could see me. While it was quite chilly and overcast, a lot of energetic people came out to visit. Some were archaeologists and some were residents of the Jacksonville area.
I got to set up here next to the Museum of Science and History.
My banner on the corner attracted bridge and downtown traffic.
Dee Dee Joyce and her friend try my ethno-botanical boards.
Ashcroft talks to two Jacksonville area residents.
But Diary, I simply MUST tell you about Tommy. He is so c-o-o-o-o–l! I first heard about Tommy when Veronica came back outside. She went in the museum to check out all the different ways the FPAN folks and others in Florida have been doing public archaeology outreach. Veronica was telling Ashcroft all about Tommy the Tortoise.
Tommy the Tortoise Archaeo Cart. Isn’t he SO handsome?!
Apparently he is an incredibly handsome Archaeo Cart. And, Diary, we have SO MUCH in common…he has a shipwreck; he goes to schools and events; he has hands-on activities…just like me! Diary, I think we were made for each other. And Tommy has other endearing characteristics. He has an entire set of drawers full of activities and he even has a TOUCH SCREEN! And, Diary, his title is “Junior Archaeologist”! I am so impressed. Ever since I left Jacksonville, I can’t help but think of Tommy all the time. I hope I get to work with him again. I do hope I get to see him again… Veronica said he talked about me on his blog. I wonder what he said. I wonder if he likes me.
I just have to thank my new FPAN friends for bringing Tommy and I together! Thank you Rae, Roz, Becky, Amber, Jeff, and Sarah!!!! I’ll never forget the day I first met Tommy.
Ashcroft (far left) visits with my new FPAN friends, Jeff, Roz, and Becky.
*Abby often gets names a bit mixed up, and always uses an alias for each of her handlers.
November 8, 2011
It’s been AGES since I wrote you, but I know you will understand when you hear just how busy I have been. You’ll never believe the big adventures that have happened to me in the past six weeks. Fireworks, a dig, shrimp and grits, the big rigs, and LOVE!
I’m so excited to tell you all about it, but there is so much to tell that I will have to recount each thrilling adventure to you separately, as you will want to carefully savor them vicariously.
First, I will tell you the latest thing that happened, just this past Sunday. And Monday. And Tuesday. Well, I was coming back from Jacksonville, Florida (a little sunny skies and relaxation works wonders for us gals, you know). Anyway, it was a lovely Sunday morning and I was back on the open road again when all of a sudden I began feeling sorta colicky and really run down. In fact, I felt as I had hardly any energy left and was pretty hungry. I felt so bad I had to stop and pull over on I-95.
Parked on the edge of I-95.
My handlers, Veronica and Real Dan were a bit vexed, and urged me to keep going, but I just couldn’t. Meanwhile, all these uppity big rig 18-wheelers were speeding by me and not the first one stopped to help! Well who needs them, anyway? They have a few too many wheels for their britches, if you know what I mean.
18-wheelers speeding by on the Interstate.
By that time Veronica and Real Dan called an ambulance for me, but when it arrived it wouldn’t take me. Then they called Dr. Andy who came out with his nurse Bobbie.
Bobby and Dr. Andy come to my rescue.
I feel bad when my hood has to be raised on the side of the Interstate!
They replaced my fuel filter and I didn’t feel colicky any more. Whew! But I was still feeling pretty bad. Veronica felt sorry for me and she called a different ambulance and after a while it carried me up the highway to something called a Weigh Station.
I hate when I am sidelined on the highway—AND parked by a wrecker.
All the trucks had to come here and be weighed. And I’m thinking, “Like I don’t feel sick enough already, and I wasn’t humiliated enough when the first ambulance refused to carry me because I was too big, and now they are going to WEIGH me???” You have no idea how relieved I was when they waved me through without having to get on the scale. (It’s not that I’m heavy, I’m just big-framed, you know.)
Anyway, the next day Dr. Andy came back and fixed me right up. (BTW, Real Dan, I won’t hold what you said—about my value as scrap aluminum—against you. Not this time, anyway.) I made it home without too much trouble and now I am relaxing after a schedule that would make any celebrity envious. I’ll tell you all about it in my next letter, Diary—including the cutest guy I met at the Museum of Science and History in Jacksonville!
If Abby could caption her diary entries, this one would be I-95 blues.
November 15, 2010
The ArchaeoBus at the Georgia Council for the Social Studies annual state conference in Athens.
As promised, I will tell you about another October first for me. In late October I went to the Georgia Council for the Social Studies annual state conference in Athens, Georgia. Look at the cool location they gave me. Several of my handlers came with me, including TG, Bitsy, Michaelo, Veronica, Charlotte, and Tareesa. My friend Chadley, who helps out in a pinch, brought us supplies. They arranged me in a quite pleasing layout.
I have to tell you, Diary, these teachers were sharp! They got more correct answers on the games and quizzes than the general public usually gets. (Makes you feel good, doesn’t it?!) AND guess what the teachers did…they actually READ the instructions on everything. Can you believe it? I mean, my handler Veronica is always going on and on about how no one reads my labels. She had to close her mouth this time!
I have to admit I was a little, hmm, nervous about having all those teachers come see me. I thought they would be like Miss Snevilous, a teacher who would come aboard when I was a bookmobile. She was cranky. But all the teachers at the GCSS were super nice and even fun! They laughed with each other when doing my activities and they said so many nice things about me. It’s a good thing I am a verbal learner. I can remember most of what is said when I hear it. One teacher said I was, “A wonderful way for students to understand the past through tactile, visual, and verbal activities.” And another said, “This is a great idea for students to relate to the curriculum.” Gee, I might even forgive ol’ Miss Snevilous after all this. I think the teachers liked the ideas and free things, too. (They are a lot like archaeologists.) Teachers got free posters, little packs of the Three Sisters seeds, chances to win that colorful “Frontiers in the Soil” book and teachers guide, and the web site address that features not only me, but lots of free things to download.
Oh, Diary, I almost forgot to tell you the best thing. Yours truly, was on the cover of the conference program! Yep, this 46 page program had my picture on the cover (well, OK, it was the back cover, but that’s still a cover, right?) It told all about me and invited teachers to come see me in the plaza. I can only assume that I am more photogenic than I realized, because lots of teachers came. I think I might like teachers after all. Even ol’ Miss Snevilous. Maybe she was just having a bad day.
November 13, 2010
Whew!! I am just recuperating from a wild October! First there was CoastFest in Brunswick, where record crowds visited me. And halfway through the month I went to the Festival at Indian Springs. That was really fun and different. After that I went to a teacher’s conference in Athens, but I will save that for my next diary entry.
Today I want to tell you all about the crazy Georgia National Fair in Perry. As you know, Diary, this was the very first time I went to the fair. I knew it was going to be a big deal when I heard that 26 volunteers would be working with me during the eleven days of the fair! (Not to sound conceited or anything, but it seems everyone wants to work with me.) It was fun to meet them all. They are very different, but all were nice to me and tried to take good care of me at the fair.
But now for the real story…. There I was on a nice big green lot—downwind from the petting zoo and the camel rides, within earshot of the timber saws, and across from sea lions Kim and Rosie in the Sea Lion Show. I’m not sure why they didn’t put me on the main stage. But hey, I can hold my own with the competition, even Kim and Rosie!
Well, for fourteen hours a day, what seemed like virtually everyone on the planet traipsed through me, looking at my exhibit panels, pushing my buttons, and interacting with all the hands-on activities inside and outside. I loved it! Mostly because they truly appreciated me and all the things I was trying to teach them. Emmy said she loved me! So did James and Amy’s children. Little Barbara said “This was very exciting.” Young Sarah was thrilled to see me because she wants to be an archaeologist when she grows up. A teacher said “What a great exhibit. As a teacher it has opened my eyes to a lot more lessons.” I heard a lot of educators saying that they didn’t know you could use archaeology to teach all sorts of subjects and higher order thinking skills. (Whatever that means. But I think it must be a good thing.) Mason was a nice young man and he said, “Thank you for bringing this to Georgia, the knowledge was great, thank you again!!” I could go on and on, but modesty prevents me from doing so.
Diary, I think I’ll just give you some of my flash thoughts after 154 hours of interacting with visitors at the fair…smiling faces…neon ferris wheel lights at sunset…the smell of funnel cakes frying…little children laughing…my nervous handlers at their opening shifts…my handlers relaxing as they interacted with the public…the savory smell of BBQ…a child intent on completing all the ceramic puzzles (even the hard ones) before leaving…curious visitors peaking in my doors…parents delighting in bus activities with their children …the incessant sound of the music from the sea lion show…sticky fingers…the buzzer sounding as adults missed the answers on the true and false game…the giant clock tower…children asking to stay longer to play with me… the explosion of fireworks at the end of a long day….
I survived the Georgia National Fair 2010. What a ride!!
September 26, 2010
This is absolutely THE BEST NEW SCHOOL YEAR EVER!!!!!!!! I can hardly wait for October. On October 7 I am going to star in the CoastFest activities in Brunswick, Georgia. Not to brag or anything, but they really liked me there last year. (You may remember, Diary, I told you all about it last year.)
Anyway, as if that wasn’t enough excitement, get ready…are you ready…you are NEVER going to believe this…are you sure you’re ready??? OK. I am going to the GEORGIA NATIONAL FAIR!!! Check out the fair here.
Can you believe it? I get to go for the entire 11 days! I leave to go to Perry (that’s where the fair is, in Perry, south of Macon) on October 7 and stay until October 17! I have to get up really early because my handlers start setting up at 7:30 in the morning! That’s because the fair opens at 8 a.m. And I get to stay up really late-until 10 p.m. every night. The fair made me a special place by the South gate of the fairgrounds.
I don’t expect all 416,000 people who visited the fair last year to stop and see me. Probably only 415,998 or so…I hope they are nice and not too rough on me. I will try to show them some really cool stuff about Georgia archaeology.
In fact, my handlers are arranging something VERY special for the fair. In addition to all my regular activities, I will have three special ones about agriculture for the fair. Yeah, I know, that’s what I said. Agriculture??? I am suppose to be about ARCHAEOLOGY! But then I overheard my handlers talking about how archaeologists know all about agriculture, even about the kinds of plants Native Americans used thousands of years ago! Archaeologists get more out of the soil than just artifacts. They study pollen, seeds, and other plant parts to learn what people were planting, eating, or living near. I will even have some activities about archaeology and agriculture for visitors to do, especially for the school kids who will come see me during their field trips to the fair as part of the “Stories of Agriculture”.
My handlers made this flyer for the fair to give to all the school kids and their teachers. But all I can think about are funnel cakes, the racing pigs, pickle dogs, fireworks, funnel cakes, live music, and did I mention funnel cakes?
You would think I would deserve a break after eleven, 14-hour days at the fair, huh? Well, I heard that the following weekend I am going to the Indian Springs Festival near Macon. But surely after that you would think I get some quality R&R, huh?
Apparently, however, I am going to a place where hundreds of teachers will visit me, since they will be getting this flyer about me. Eeeek! I mean, I’m not scared or anything…I’m sure the teachers going to the Georgia Conference on the Social Studies in Athens on October 28 and 29 will just LOVE me. But you know how it is…all those teachers milling around. They will probably find a typo on me, or expect me to know all the answers to their teacher-questions. I guess its pay-back for skipping school all those days to go to the fair!
Well, wish me luck! I’ll have lots to write once I get a break in November.
June 2, 2010
I spent the week at Fort Morris, and was all refreshed and ready for my very FIRST Junior Ranger Program! (La, la, la…I wanna be a Junior Ranger, Put my summer in minimal danger, sound off 1-2, sound off 3-4, bring it on down now, 1, 2, 3, 4…la, la…)
There were 21 Junior Rangers today, in two sessions. They were very smart for little people**. The Junior Rangers couldn’t wait to climb on board and check out my interactives.
Outside, Veronica* let them watch an onscreen slideshow presentation loop showing all kinds of archaeology sites in Georgia and a lot of things archaeologists do “behind the scenes”. Then, the Junior Rangers got to imagine themselves archaeologists 200 years from now, and analyzed “old” artifacts. They made good notes about their artifacts.
They even got to study animal bones to learn about people’s diet, environment, and the kinds of animals they raised or hunted.
This photo shows my new Junior Ranger friends standing next to me. The non-little people are Fort Morris Staff, volunteers, and friends (Arthur, Debbie, Amy Leigh, and Carol). My new Junior Ranger friends were very nice and I wouldn’t be surprised if someday after years of college scientific training and working with professional archaeologists, one of them comes back on board as a real archaeologist!
* Handler’s Note: Abby thought it best not to use real names in many cases, especially when referring to her “handlers”—those people responsible for driving her and administering programs, and to some people she meets in her travels.
** Handler’s Note: Abby means “young people; children”.
May 29, 2010
No one TOLD me that May is Archaeology Month in Georgia! No wonder I am exhausted! This is my third appearance this month and I have yet another one scheduled in a few days. Note to self—rest up next April!
Today I was one of the attractions at Fort Morris State Park, in Liberty County, Georgia. The map shows this Revolutionary War fort, right next to the colonial town of Sunbury. Diary, have you ever seen the earthworks from a fort that was used by American Patriots in Georgia? You can see them at Fort Morris. I like this place because it is off by itself. Even though I wasn’t facing it, the park has a lovely view of the marsh. (Veronica* parks me with absolutely no regard to my feelings, but what is best for what she calls “visitor flow”. Fine!)
So I was parked there, happy as a clam, waiting for visitors when all of a sudden…Boom! Boom! BOOM!!!
I thought I was gonna lose a tire! I’ve never had a backfire from my muffler that loud! Turns out they were shooting rounds of muskets and then topping it off by firing a big cannon! It was great for all the visitors listening to the presentation before the firing, but geeze, I wish they could have rung a little bell to warn me.
Oh well, I almost got used to it after four hours. Here are some photos of a few of my visitors. Ms. P*, Real Dan*, and Veronica* had the pleasure to work with me today.
* Handler’s Note: Abby thought it best not to use real names in many cases, especially when referring to her “handlers”—those people responsible for driving her and administering programs, and to some people she meets in her travels.
May 22, 2010
Five days off between my last stint and today, when I went back to my second home of Ft. Frederica. You may recall I spent last spring parked at the fort while I visited school children there and in all the Glynn County elementary schools with Mrs. P*.
Well, I got to go back to work the Ft. Frederica Archaeology Festival. (Of course, I couldn’t help but be the star of the show.
I hope I didn’t take away everyone’s attention from all the other interesting stations they had set up under tents.)
Kids and families and adults at the festival learned about all the different parts of archaeology and got to try their hands at different activities under the tents. Here are some photos so you know what I’m talking about. The left one shows my side view all day. And, in the right photo, it’s ok fellas, I don’t bite, you can come in.
I was parked under a nice shady oak tree, right on the grounds of Fort Frederica, which is a neat historical and archaeological site. It was a colonial town founded by General Oglethorpe. He built a fort around the town to protect the settlers and soldiers from attack by the Spanish who lived in Florida at the time. Apparently everyone in the 1730s and 1740s—the Spanish, French, and British—all wanted to own North America and each tried to do so by taking pieces of it. I think I remember seeing some books about it on my shelves, back when I used to be a bookmobile. Archaeologists actually excavated at Ft. Frederica in the past. Today it is one of America’s National Parks.
Anyway, I was parked there, surrounded by all this history, when all of a sudden during the day TWO archaeologists came on board. One of them, Dr. Honor Kamp* actually excavated at Ft. Frederica!! He knew all about some of the settlers that lived there—what they ate, what they did for a living, how they got along with their neighbors in the 1700s, and what happened to them! Then, later, another archaeologist, Real Dan*, came by who did a big archaeological survey just next to the grounds of Ft. Frederica. He was showing visitors how archaeologists use a ground penetrating radar machine to see underground.
(Real Dan is not one of my handlers, but he helps me a whole lot. I think it’s because he is married to Veronica*, who is one of my handlers. So he feels compelled—or gets drafted—to help.) Anyway, it was so cool that these archaeologists who had worked right there years ago, were checking ME out! I even met some of Dr. Honor Kamp’s students, who were just learning how to become archaeologists. They will need lots of practice before they can run projects.
Diary, I will leave you with a few more photos of my old and new friends at Ft. Frederica.
* Handler’s Note: Abby thought it best not to use real names in many cases, especially when referring to her “handlers”—those people responsible for driving her and administering programs, and to some people she meets in her travels.
May 17, 2010
Guess where I went Friday and Saturday?
To Albany, Georgia. That is in the southwestern part of the state.
I am starting to travel soooo much, I am going to mark each place I visit on a map.
It took four and a half hours to go from near Savannah to Albany. I breezed along the back roads, going through lots of quaint towns. (I love to do that because people always stare and point at me. Do you ever feel like someone is watching you?? But I get used to all that fame.
I think one day I should be in a parade, like a big Mardi Gras parade! No papier mâché floats for me. No sir. Just Abby in all her finery. The real thing. Uh, oh, where was I?…)
Anyway, I tooled around Albany until Saturday when I went to Chehaw Park for The Society for Georgia Archaeology Spring festival. Here is a picture of it.
I got to see all sorts of people making pottery and stone tools and baskets and things the way Native Americans use to do thousands of years ago.
It was pretty cool. Except I feel sorry for all those people in the past who didn’t have buses. My great-great-great granddaddy was a wagon and he got pulled around by a horse. But that was back in the day. I, however, am very independent since I have my own eight-cylinder engine. (After all, who wants to follow behind a horse all day, if you know what I mean.)
I like to learn about the past, but I sure wouldn’t want to live in it all the time! Archaeologists have the right idea, it’s much more fun to study it than to live it.
April 21, 2010
Over the past year or so, I have begun my new life in earnest, although SGA had me for awhile before I achieved my celebrity. The first year after SGA got me, I spent at the spa. There I got my colorful new “wrap”. A fab artist/designer named JCB did a custom design just for me. I am unique! There is no other ArchaeoBus and no one that looks like me!
Here I am in a glamour photo showing the new me! Note the before…
…and after shots.
Aw man, another butt shot!
Just because archaeologists are always bending over to dig (and consequently getting butt shots in their photos) doesn’t mean they have to do that to me, too! (Oh, uh, by the way, does this wrap make my butt look big??)
Meanwhile, at the spa, I got a tonic for my insides. They cleared out all my library shelves and built exciting archaeology exhibits. Here’s a pic of the fabricator, JR, building my exhibits. (They do say beauty comes from within, right?) One of my handlers, Veronica*, did the exhibit designs. She’s a bit of a nut, but I like her pretty well. She always tries to think of hands-on archaeology activities that people can do with me and new things I can show off. Sometimes, though, I think she drives the other handlers crazy (especially Real Dan*) with her schemes!
So, Diary, just to catch you up to speed, after the christening I spent a good bit of time in Athens with my handler TG.* That was nice because it gave me a chance to get use to the new me in my old stomping grounds in Clarke County. And TG not only treats me well, but he keeps me sparkling clean! He also helps get funding so I can go places and visit people.
Then in the fall of last year I got to go to CoastFest all the way in Brunswick, Georgia! Even though ALL 7500 people visiting the festival didn’t come see me, you can tell by this photo that a lot of them did.
I can always tell when they are having fun and learning a lot about archaeology. Once in Brunswick, I met another of my handlers, Mrs. P*. She is a real teacher who teaches kids about archaeology, but she knows not to dig up sites with them, since she is not an archaeologist. Ms. P took me to sooooo many schools in Glynn County, Georgia and I met lots of 4th graders and a lot of adults, too. I did that all the way through this spring.
Well, now you know about me, Diary. I will tell you about things I do from time to time, but for now I will rest because I hear that I will be traveling again soon!
* Handler’s Note: Abby thought it best not to use real names in many cases, especially when referring to her “handlers”—those people responsible for driving her and administering programs.
April 8, 2010
Since this is my very first entry, I should probably introduce myself, although I am sure you have heard of me by now.
I am Abby, the ArchaeoBus! I know you will want to learn a bit about my fascinating personal history. I was born in 1992 and grew up to be a library book mobile. It was quite fun to travel around Athens/Clarke County, Georgia bringing books to people. I even had some books about archaeology. Those were my very FAVORITE books of all the books I carried on my shelves. How exciting, I thought, to be an archaeologist! To travel the state and not just read stories about the past, but to uncover them; to learn new stories not found in books!
Then one day I overheard the librarian ladies say how much they would miss driving me around. It turns out that they didn’t need a book mobile anymore. And then the best thing you could ever imagine happened to me…
An archaeologist named TG* learned about me and he and a friend, Michaelo, figured out a way for The Society for Georgia Archaeology to buy me (at much less than I am really, really worth!) from the Clarke County Library System. Apparently someone at SGA named Veronica* wanted an archaeology bus for years. I was going to become an archaeologist!! (Well, not really, because we all know that it takes years of university science training and supervised experience to be a real archaeologist.) But I was going to help archaeologists! And travel ALL OVER the state of Georgia doing so!!
I was christened Abby on May 16, 2009. These photos show the big party SGA gave me. Look at all my guests! There was a drum roll and my unveiling, and a kazoo band and a cake with my picture and little pink party favors and door prizes… It’s hard to be a celebrity, but I think I handle it quite well. I did get sick after leaving the christening. A good SGA Samaritan said it was my alternator, but I think it was just all the excitement from the party.
* Handler’s Note: Abby thought it best not to use real names in many cases, especially when referring to her “handlers”—those people responsible for driving her and administering programs.