WHEN IS A FORT NOT A FORT?

When is a fort not a fort--when it is Fort Kearny State Historical Park.  

It was cool out today so we thought it would be a good day to explore Fort Kearny.  It's less than 5 miles away.  It was  $2 per person admission and $5 auto park pass to go through the "fort".  The park museum started with a poor 18 minute video without closed captioning. They had a display of items found on the grounds.  

They had a small notation about the pony express.

This was the first post office in Kearney County.

We did notice that Fort Kearny is not spelled the same way Kearney which is about 5 miles away is spelled.  The fort is named for Stephen Watts Kearny 1794-1848, a general in the US Army.

Bill didn't miss reading everything but that didn't take long.  

We learned more about the Sandhill Cranes than we did about the Fort.  

J. G. Lowe, owner of the land that had been the fort, wrote that one of the governments surveyors "corner stones" was a rifle barrel and a whiskey bottle--both empty.

We walked outdoors and the grounds were beautiful with many tall trees.

This was a reconstructed sod blacksmith and horse barn.

This was a modern made wagon.

Inside the sod building

You can see in the background there are no other buildings, just markers to show you where it used to be. 

We walked over to the stockade fence to see what was inside--nothing.

Bill thought he'd move the wagon and put it inside the stockade so there would be something there.

Since we'd already paid for a state park pass for the day we decided to go up the road 1 mile to the Fort Kearny Recreational Area.  We were pleasantly surprised.  

There were many lakes and smiling fishermen.

They also had a swimming beach with no one there.

It seemed strange to me that the lake had shells.

There were brand new 50 amp pedestals for the campsites across from the beach.  We drove back through the park and while all sites had electric they had no water.  There was a dump station and water station.  

I saw on the internet that the "Stagecoach Souvenir Shop" was listed as an attraction.  I just had to go and see what all the fuss was about.  They had some beautiful jewelry, pottery, and better than normal souvenirs, if a person was into buying souvenirs.

I thought I'd take a picture of this sign since I mentioned the Sandhill Cranes.

We made a stop at an antique store not far from the RV park.  I spotted something immediately.  

 What do you think of a pair of boots for $5.00?  Actually, it is a planter but I thought it was something I had to have.  

Turtle Safely.......