Last weekend we went to the Civil War Weekend at the Wade House in central Wisconsin. The Wade House is an old stagecoach inn from the 1860s built by the Wade family.

The historic inn, sawmill and carriage museum have been restored and are open to the public for tours.

My sister used to work at this museum when she was in high school, just a few years ago. (I see they are looking for a seamstress. Wouldn’t that be fun?!) She used to wear these costumes and tell visitors about each room and the duties of each family member to keep the inn running. So it was fun to go back in time and reminisce for her, since she will be out of town for awhile.

The museum provides transportation between the Wade House and the carriage museum with horse-drawn wagon, which I always thought were such a pretty and nostalgic sight.

The carriage museum was full of many, many beautiful carriages.

That sleigh above and this winter scene were my favorite:

The museum hosts a big Civil War re-enactment, where Confederate and Union armies set up camp on the grounds. The public can talk with the troops and women who accompany them, and see first-hand how they bring history back to life.

I enjoyed looking inside the tents to see the domestic side of things back in the 1860s. Notice the sampler quilt hanging on the back side of this tent-

Notice the quilts on the beds inside this tent. It looked like his side and her side. A girl’s gotta have her space, right?!

I wanted to see more quilts, so I snooped a little.

Here are some of the women demonstrating old fashioned cooking over an open fire. I think she was making apple fritters in one pan and potatoes and veggies in the other pan.

A local quilting shop had a tent set up with reproduction quilts on display from the era and fabrics for sale. Here is one of the employees working on her hand sewing:

Over the course of the weekend, two battles take place each day. The soldiers are represented by cavalry and infantry with artillery duels between Union and Confederate troops, even canons too!

Here were the soldiers from “the South”

Here were the soldiers from “the North”

I’m not a big history buff, although I do find history very interesting. It was a little weird to be standing in the middle of a battlefield, watching these soldiers shoot at each other, and then hearing someone’s cell phone ring in the audience. Being there gave you an idea of what life was like during the 1860s and during the Civil War.

I can appreciate what people did to survive back in time, but I’m so glad I live in the modern day!