“A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done” -- Dwight David Eisenhower

For many years now, my children Maureen and John and my wife, Kathleen, have criticized me for laughing too heartily at my own jokes. My brother, Kevin, often says, "No one laughs as hard or as long at his own jokes than Joe". Before our trip to Williamsburg, VA. with the Boy Scouts, I thought perhaps that it was an anomaly from which I alone suffered. Perhaps it was some mental condition from which I suffer. "No one thinks my jokes are funny, but me, so therefore I am sick in the head", is the thinking in my own head that all of this criticism from my wife, some of my children and my brother has brought upon me. Now I am even more concerned. It appears that the madness is congenital.

When it comes to the boys, it is important to know why we took these cats down to Gettysburg, Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown. These guys have been scouts from the time they were in first grade or so. In camping, as shown at the left, they have gone through campouts in the snow, rain and wind. They have had to undergo the "manly abuse" poured down upon them when they were the young scouts and the older boys would make life a bit difficult upon them. It was time to get them out of the wind, rain, snow and abuse and down to the sunny state of Virginia.

So, we started a series of 15 miles of hikes all along the battlefield lines of Gettysburg, PA. They boys learned about the three days of battles that culminated in Union victory on July 3, 1863 -- the "high water mark of the Confederacy" -- but the effective end of the threat of the Confederacy, thought the war would bleed on for another two years. There is nothing like walking the battlefield, with a good tour guide, (me, of course), to understand why Generals take certain positions and why battles are won and why they are lost.

At Jamestown, we learned of the first permanent English settlement in North America. We also learned about the ships that brought the settlers into Virginia. Finally, we learned that those who work ate, and those who did not, starved.

Jamestown also has a fantastic museum on the grounds in addition to a working and interactive Native American village, 3 working ships and a replica of the early Jamestown settlement. It's a great place to see.

We also learned at Yorktown about the English surrender to the Americans and the French Fleet that ended the Revolutionary War. The boys also learned first-hand how to operate an artillery battery and fired off a mortar. Though they look small, they pack a wallop and their percussion knocked us all a bit back! Here, too, was a working replica of a Revolutionary War camp, a working farm of the era and a great museum.

We had a great time. Of course, though, the boys wanted to go to Busch Gardens. More on that, later.